This city is a ransom note Step by sign by brick this city kidnaps our attention, keeps us hostage while whispering that it will all be ok. Graffiti, signage, posters, garbage, and accidental letters spell out the constant babble of Baltimore. Sometimes funny, sometimes serious, often unintelligible, we’ve mapped the dialogue of cement, steel, and streets, back alleys, buildings and bus stops. Part memoir, part prediction, the photographs on these pages voice the promises of a city, those unkept, unmade, unspoken. This is our offer, our terms for release; meet our demands.
I ALWAYS SEEM TO
ALL OF
MY TIME DOING RANDOM THINGS.
BACK MATTER
BALTIMORE VERNACULAR Alex All Almighty Antiques Art Ass B.E.N. Baltimore Bar Belvadere Ben Best of Baltimore Bordom Bus stop Cancel Cap’y Cause Caution Chase Church Circus Clean Clear Club Coin Coming Wed. Conduit Counter-Revolutionary Crossing Guard Dane Decoration Decorations Deist Diamonds Dirt Domino Sugar Don’t Dump Drain Drink Alone Dumping Eat Eat Kids at Schools Ellicott Engaged Engine
Enter Ferrari Filthy Rotten Sex Machine Flamingo Flechers Français Free Free Jesus Fun Parenting Sold Here Furnishings Gas Gay Gets Gibson Girl Glory Grease Groove Guard Guitars Hanline Heart Heating-cooling High High volatage Highzero Hotel I’m Gorgeous Inside Introducing Kids King Kitchen Knuckles Lamborghini Lanvale Linking 13 Great States with the Nation Liquors Litter Look Everything $5 Lounge Lust Maryland Master Matches
Matt Mexico Mission Monumental Mountain Nation National Newfound No No Stopping Oeste Office Only Paint Parking Parkway Penalty Perpetual Pick Please Use Front Entrance Positively Potatoes Pretend Products Proud Psychic Push Push Button and Cross Rebel Reserved Restaurant Room Salon Savage School Serve Service Shop Shout Single? Sleeping Slide Society Soldier Spa Speakeasy Stereos Storage Storm Tempus Fugit; Aeternitas Manet Tenent Theater The Hexagon
Through Tim Tools Trance U.S. 60 Unlawful to post signs Up Urbanite Violators will be hauled Vista Vote Waste Water We’re closer Wells fargo West Western Wet When
x2
OUR SUBJECT
manholes strip clubs
graffiti
other
extremely important information
2 4 1
2
1
total AM people: 5
1
1
total PM people: 16
1
3
total of photos taken: 2,556
10
# of photographers
bathroom breaks coffee breaks arguments bad ideas pizzas
19 27 101 365,725.7 3
0 Su.
M.
T.
W.
Days of the Week
TH.
F.
S.
*please note: some people shot photos at more than one time and day.
DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO RISKED THEIR LIVES Zeynep Akay Robin Brunelle Ece Ciper Nicolette Cornelius Julie Diewald Anna Eshelman Colin Ford Sara Frantzman Grey Haas Leah Horowitz Jyung Im Ara Jo Cara Lichtenstein Katelyn Maclachlan Andrew Morgan Jasmine Sarp Michelle Stidham
Andrew wrote the intro Zeynep translated it into French Ece translated it into Turkish Ara translated it into Korean Sara drew the masthead This publication was produced as part of a course about making and publishing at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Design It Yourself, Fall 2008 instructed by Joe Galbreath.