I’ve previously blogged about the skate park near my home:
https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/09/19/graffiti-and-karma/
https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/1-killed-6-injured-in-albuquerque-skate-park-shooting/
In front of the park is a piece of art:
It’s not my favorite piece of artwork in the city, but it is colorful. Hard to get a good picture of it.
A kick flip is a move in skateboarding.
When I was driving by, I noticed some dickhead had damaged the artwork, so I stopped by yesterday to take some photos. Sometimes, graffiti is just plain stupid…
If you’re a real artist, you wouldn’t mess with another artist’s work. It’s called respect. Do I need to spell it?
I can’t even interpret this crap.
Behind the skate park sits the football field and the school. These two photos are from last year:
This photo is from yesterday:
I see Homer Simpson, who appears to have a cough.
These are also from last year:
Some of these messages are easier to decode.
Seems like bud lovers are, shall we say, more artistic. Do you see the piece of pizza? (Pizza, yum.)
I like the tongue, but it’s sad to see that gay is being used as a slur.
Somebody doesn’t like bud.
And somebody likes mushrooms.
Religion is represented.
And the spiritual.
Somebody’s wishing for patience.
Old person unable to decode this one…
Does it say rad? Probably just a tag.
I think the aliens did this one. Looks very… interstellar.
From Google: “Spear chucker or Spearchucker can refer to: An ethnic slur for people with African ancestry.” Major bummer.
Someone is using a chicken to spell cock, which is rather clever, right? 🙂
Skate or die. Typical teenager. And I suppose if you’ve been harassed by the police, you might want them to fuck off.
These might have been something interesting:
A Prophecy Misread is a “MetalCore” local band.
What is so important to say that one must climb a pole to say it?
Oh, look, I think it says Me & Mom. Sweet, but maybe a little weird.
What do the kids in Albuquerque drink?
Alcohol (with cigarettes), not surprising. This seems to be a popular brand of alcohol, so it must be cheap. (These photos were taken yesterday in the parking lot of the park.)
Looks like ketchup. I just hope it’s not blood.
These bottles are plastic, not glass.
This one says it’s imported. La tee da.
Wow, “Belgian-style wheat ale brewed with citrus peels and coriander.” Almost sounds healthy. Is this something a hipster would drink?
This also looks very hipster-ish. Is this a bottle of alcohol or ginger ale?
The American diet, from a very early age. (Sure could use some french fries right about now.)
I found this sign in front of the park, and although I tried to set it upright, I wasn’t strong enough to make it stand up in the dirt. Yes, I did a Google search, and what do you know, there’s a photo of this house on the internet. Looks way too nice for me.
I can only hope that the person who wrote “kill me plz!!!” has gotten some help.
I don’t know what it’s like to be a teenager these days, but it seems to be a lot more depressing than when I was growing up. With all the upheaval in the labor market, I’m not sure what young people have to look forward to.
Instead of criminalizing drug users, maybe part of prevention efforts could be to create adequate job programs. Stable jobs with benefits. Affordable housing and healthcare. Give these young kids something to look forward to, give them a chance, and maybe they’ll bypass drugs. (Really, most of them will, even if some of them experiment once or twice.)
Why is this so hard to implement? Vote for me for President! (Hey, that rhymes.)
You’re very kind to have read this far. Gracias. 🙂
All Things Chronic 
When I look at this I see vandalism at best. I know that A LOT of people (my own hubby included) would vehemently disagree that graffiti is not art. So a few thoughts: I’ve watched a documentary on “famous” graffiti artists and was impressed by their artistic talent and ability to scale insane objects/buildings/heights to put up their masterpieces. I know that many projects are hired to be done in graffiti type style. I also feel graffiti serves as a message or voice of one or a few people. But still, it defaces and ruins other things while delivering said message or artwork. These kids need a roll of news paper or agood sketch book. I agree that being a teenager today must really be difficult. I hated it. It was so depressing. But now it seems more dangerous. I know many teens with some serious struggles. They are given everything too young – value little – and like you said, have little to look forward to.
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I think this is teenist 🙂
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graffiti are like landmarks for me, ‘specially a secret one on my favorite stop in nyc! 😎
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Graffiti is vandalism. Plain and simple.
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One person’s art is another person’s graffiti. What do you think about internet memes? A lot of people don’t see all of the trashy and racists memes available on the internet, but they’re there, in abundance.
Graffiti can be a type of pollution — like light pollution. It can signal apathy, just like an overabundance of artificial light at night can signal fear. But graffiti can also be a sign of someone fighting in the only way they know how — like a person who’s suicidal and ashamed to say it out loud.
I’m happy to report that the graffiti on the artwork has already been removed, just as most of the other graffiti pictured here. But that doesn’t stop it. Just like the sign and laws that ban alcohol at the skate park don’t stop empty bottles from showing up there.
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I hear you. I respect shouting in your only way, and still, that way disrespects others. I suppose we need a major cultural overhaul to relearn, rethink and reimagine communication, respect, mindset and empathy. As a whole, we sort of come up lacking.
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Teenagers learn all that stuff… eventually. And perhaps they all want to be like Banksy:
http://www.widewalls.ch/10-most-expensive-banksy-artworks-at-auctions/
With a loss of faith in complex investment vehicles… ‘people would rather put their money into butterflies than banks’. 🙂
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