Graffiti Tanks
Graffiti Tanks
W
hat do you call these things? Nestled in the Washington Grove Woods on Cobbs Hill are two abandoned metal water reservoirs that have long served local graffiti artists as a living gallery. After my last visit I encountered a bird watcher who asked whether I had just been photographing the “graffiti tanks.” So that’s what they’re called! The graffiti tanks present more wall space than all the other galleries of Rochester combined. This includes both the exterior and interior surfaces. Until last year, the only way to get access to the interior surfaces was to climb through small openings, or scale the exterior walls. After someone was injured last year scaling the wall, the city cut open large portals that allow safe easy entrance. When I recently encountered a graffiti artist at work, I asked about the etiquette of painting over previous work. “If there are markings covering part of a previous work, it’s OK to continue to paint over it. Otherwise it’s not OK. However, people sometimes paint over the work of others if they are having a feud. The rules are complicated.” Are there rules about photographing the artwork, and then publishing a book? I didn’t ask. The photographs in this book span a few years, during which time most of the earliest artwork has been painted over. Frank Cost May 26, 2019
About the Author Frank Cost is the James E. McGhee Professor of Visual Media in the School of Photography at Rochester Institute of Technology. He has taught a wide variety of courses in the field of visual media for more than three decades. Frank has been photographing professionally since 1975 and has authored both textbooks and experimental photobooks exploring new forms of graphic expression enabled by digital technologies. He can be contacted at frank.cost@rit.edu. To learn more about Frank Cost and RIT, visit the following URL: http://cias.rit.edu/faculty-staff/2. Cover aerial photograph by Nikita Fox
Books that gain value with the passing of time.
100 Parkwood Avenue Rochester, NY 14620 fossilpress.com
Cover photograph by Nikita Fox