http://norman.walsh.name/2005/05/27/urbanart 8 84 2005-05-27T22:38:50+01:00 $Date$ Norman Walsh 2005 Norman Walsh Have something important to say? Just stick it !!!! Amsterdam exhibited a form of urban art that captivated me. I've seen occasional evidence of it in other photoblogs, so I have no reason to believe that it's unique to Amsterdam. It's probably present in any urban area, but I don't live in one of those. It consists of a staggering variety of stickers—in Amsterdam, most often on drain pipes and utility boxes of various sorts. Most are, if not quite unobtrusively located, at least placed on otherwise ugly corners of the urban landscape. I don't know what the locals think, but it doesn't look exactly like vandalism to me, they aren't stuck on shop windows or plastered across bridge railings and the like. Some of the stickers are clearly advertising. Some are less clearly advertising. Some are social commentary. A few appear to be part of a larger theme that I suppose is recognized and understood by the community that places them. But most of them are just…art. I snapped lots and lots (and lots) of them. You can see most of them, and a few examples of traditional spray paint vandalism, on Flickr in Amsterdam Urban Art, May 2005. Most, but not quite all, are “workplace safe”, though they are not all in good taste. None are are defamatory or culturally insensitive, as far as I can tell.