We typically associate bathroom stall graffiti with “Call here for [some sexual act],” but the right–most men’s stall in the Fisher Fine Arts Library has nothing of the sort. Its thread–like postings provide entertainment and intellectual stimulation to all who visit in attempts to escape the banality of a writing seminar paper or the imminence of an Orgo exam.
As the wall itself asks, is there any purer form of art than bathroom stall graffiti? You would be hard–pressed to convince me otherwise. All such graffiti remains untainted by pursuits of fame, money and even resume padding. Authors retain their anonymity and, unlike virtually anywhere else, are at liberty to express their opinions free of consequences.
The literature of the bathroom stall ignores societal requirements of politeness and tackiness. It is raw and unadulterated. Just imagine if all of Penn’s campus were covered with lively, thought–provoking discussions, if people engaged in reflective discourse anonymously in chalk on the side streets of Locust.
Screw Ben Franklin quotes. Let's litter the campus with signs of intelligentsia and show that we go to an Ivy League school. Let's send messages, give advice and cause people to reevaluate their lives because of an aphorism written on the sidewalk or on a whiteboard of a random Huntsman GSR.
So I ask of you — next time you sit down on the toilet, look around. You may be inspired. If you’re not, take the time to inspire someone else.
[media-credit name="Adrian Franco" align="aligncenter" width="300"][/media-credit]
Here, the artist questions the conventions of bathroom graffiti and poses the question that society has been mulling over for years: why is female sexuality so repressed in our culture?
[media-credit name="Adrian Franco" align="aligncenter" width="300"][/media-credit]
Posing a controversial opinion has the potential to spark a heated debate among artists eager to share their opinions with the world. Art is the truest means of expression, isn’t it?
[media-credit name="Pete Lodato" align="aligncenter" width="300"][/media-credit]
The art of caricatures is an age–old practice that asks the viewer to reevaluate the norms with which we judge those around us. In this piece, caricature sketch works to create ambiguity in the portrayal of animate and inanimate objects.
