Not far from my home in Chicago is this underpass. The Union Pacific Railroad runs above it and the bridge itself is over 100 years old. Some years ago, the city decided to allow artists to paint murals, to help brighten up the neighborhood and cut down on the unsightly decay of a bridge in bad need of replacement.
A local artist created the "You Are Beautiful" theme. You probably have seen the stickers with the phrase on them. People will stick them everywhere and, in some ways, it is nice to be reminded that indeed, every one of us is beautiful.
I have seen people with photographers gather at this mural for professional photos, wedding pictures set against the backdrop and even locals snapping a shot or two.
But there are also people who tag. Tagging has been made somewhat fashionable by artists such as Banksy. It could be argued if tagging is art. I have seen some tags that for all purposes are art. And, I have seen tagging that is pure defacing of property. Taggers are resilient. Like artists, they must have an overwhelming desire to be noticed in this world. And truth be told, some of the ancient history we learn about has come from graffiti on buried walls and even in caves. Or is it art? There must be a reason it is called "Cave Art" and not "Cave Tagging."
This picture shows that some local tagger, by the name of "Toroe" decided that the mural was not art, but rather a canvas to put the tagger's name on. It was hastily done, which makes me think the act was done in the knowledge that some people would be upset with Toroe's interpretation of the mural.
Is Toroe right? What is so artistic about a bunch of "You Are Beautiful" signs painted in various colors and at different angles? Or is it art because it is a whole of an idea, thought out and executed with intent to inspire. I have no ready answer to this, but it intrigues me as I have seen tagging around the world and I have seen art around the world as well. For me, I would say the majority of tagging is nothing more than just a desperate attempt to tell the world "I exist." Every so often though, the tagger becomes an artist and one beholds art that says "you exist also." And again, art is about all of us, right?