Believe In People: Yale Graffiti

Chap Writes:

When I first met the "Believe In People" character, my first impression was, "which people?" of course, knowing whomever I'm dealing with, I find that people who wished to be believed in are often the least deserving.  At first, his work was horrible.  Absolutely kitchy and at the same time abhorrent in its lack of any skill.  Clearly, this person was infatuated with graffiti, perhaps a particular writer, and was practicing in front of all of us at night, for us to see in the morning.

I was walking by the old Co-op behind Morse College one day and there was a raccoon who had painted a sign, which said:

Well, you can read it, since I took a picture of it with my phone.  It said "reach for the bright side" but this clearly was not a very bright individual because the "Rs" were all painted backwards, and everybody knows that's been copyrighted by Toys R Us at this point.  Then, as you look to the bottom, you realize that this is not in fact a young Yale student painting this stuff, but only a small raccoon, in clear visibility, however made out of paper.

A painting cannot paint itself, but if the other thing is made out of paper and then adhered to the wall using some kind of glue, then I suppose it's possible.

Now that's great, I would normally say.  This person is clearly an individual capable of being recognized for his talents.  Right?

Wrong.  As I said, I would say this if it were original, but the technique of having the paper things writing the painted stuff has already been patented as well.  Except not by Toys R Us, but rather by another fool across the pond.

A really simple Google Image search for this artist displays a fairly similar piece, even if it were not for the use of stencils (which is close to the black and white wheat-pasted stuff).

Now that's additionally all well and good, but then you get into the heart of the matter, which is that this guy is clearly copying that other guy's style.  Why on earth would someone go through great lengths to disguise himself as someone famous, unless...


Clearly, he wants to be famous.
So he does this.

A giant Anne Frank.

One of the hallmarks of a propaganda machine are to use ubiquitous symbols that everyone agrees with, to propose to the masses that we should essentially "obey."  That said, who on earth could possibly complain about a giant Anne Frank piece, other than me?

Possibly no one.  And I'm not saying this to be contrary, but the other remarkable thing is how precise it is.

I can knowingly say, from looking at this person's other work, that this was not done freehand.  Sorry, but it was only a few months before when I noticed more horrendous works of art made of wheat paste and other methods made popular by other artists which were falling apart, or worse, not in proportion.  I wish I had taken photographs of that crap, but now next time I see some awful piece of street art, I'll be sure to take a flick of it, just in case the guy keeps trying.  What you can't see in this picture is the proximity to the Yale Art School.

Now here's what frightens me a little.  There's this great article here which features the artist, written with exclusive permission granted to one person, a selected journalist.  That within itself is a recipe for disaster, when it comes to objectivism, because clearly they're friends.  The problem with that is if this "Believe In People" person makes more friends in the tight-knit communities around here, it's guaranteed to turn into some ugly form of propaganda that I could just see unfolding with my very eyes.

Sorry For Graffiti,
Chap (character from Phiction).