One of most inspiring urban place I have recently visited completely by chance is 5Pointz, a graffiti mecca with artworks & graffitis covering one of the most recognized industrial building in L.I.C. The factory-like building is covered with colorful tags, compositions, typography, cool visuals and artist's dreamy imaginations, reflections of their realities and personal styles. A lot of famous graffiti artists are represented here, their artworks are preserved and recognized by other fellow artists, the rule goes like this "you don't mess with legends", so it's very bad reputation if you paint over someone's famous artwork. The over all atmosphere is a setting of old New York with Train 7 going above your heads making sketchy noise, and old auto mechanic shops contribute to overall industrial feel. Someone could sense a feeling of decaying post-industrial revolution. The artworks only capture certain fragments of time, just like in the comic boks, they illustrate varieties of visual languages and as a whole picture create a Mega-collage-like entity for 5pointz. There are a lot of different voices, but somehow it is a powerful presence, especially when train 7 is passed away and it's quiet morning. The images just like oversized frozen-in-time tatoos speak the psyche of the time. The colors, shapes resonate with 70's, and 80's era, when graffiti as public art was living thing in NYC. 5Pointz is that place I would want to contribute with my piece one day!
