The Shapes Of Frustration

I posted a few of these a couple weeks ago, but have somehow since turned this into a full fledged series. Shot all within walking distance of my house, the shapes of frustration focuses on the accidental art of graffiti "removal." The idea of art through cover-ups in itself is nothing new. How many of you remember the Espo series when he volunteered for a clean-up crew only to leave key pieces of walls unpainted thus spelling "Espo" all over the city? Or this short film, sent to me after my first post, by Matt McCormick detailing the exact subject matter from a seemingly mockingly pretentious point of view?

The striking element in these walls isn't necessarily the colors or the compositions created in cropping (although that helps), but the level of sophistication in the layers of paint. Not to get all "art school" here, but I can't help but think an artist could work for days on a canvas and not achieve a piece as naturally executed as some of these appear to be. Makes me wonder what the hell art is anyway. And then here I come and merely take a picture of it and claim THAT to be art as well. A vicious cycle. Check out the ongoing project here.