In 1995 I was a freshman in high school living in Connecticut and part of my daily commute to school was spent on Interstate 95, traveling toward New York. There, a series of overpasses, each with samples of graffiti, were a daily point of intrigue. The first: in red, shaky capital letters asked, “What’s Gonna Set You Free?” Neat, compact white text on the next overpass provided a cheeky answer: “perhaps some chocolate chip cookies and milk.” Not to be left out, the third overpass in messier white letters riffed, “got milk?” These chatty bridges made for a thought-provoking ride to school. I was fascinated with how the overpasses were transformed into a canvas that projected the personal expressions of three individuals. An attentive audience and the unexpected posture of graffiti contributed to the strength of the messages.
The relationship between the private message of the graffiti artist and the public placement on the overpass is the crux of this thesis.
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May 12 at 1:37pm, via Facebook
Email from Rich Freitas:
it was the summer of 1992. the beastie boys “check your head” lp had recently come out and was burning up stereo systems all throughout the local music scene.
it was a truly inspiring time because we felt on the brink of a breakout- the 17 relics “hereafterhis” album was chosen as the “futures” feature at cmj on the front cover, lotus was touring and opening for big acts all up the northeast, and the next crop of bands was excellent.
a handful of us were into stylized graffiti-as-inspiring-anonymous messages throughout town. one example was a small stencil i made about two feet long that read “we know the truth”, which was sprayed randomly in hidden locations around downtown. i did another that read “american freedom fighter” on the john mason statue on pequot ave. rich martin did some excellent stencil work on the i-95 stanchions on river road.
“what’s gonna set you free?” was a refrain in my head from the beastie boys song “maestro” from “check your head”. i thought it would be an inspiring read to the thousands of cars passing under an overpass along i-95. i chose the allyn st. overpass because i could ride a bike to the spot, stash the bike in the wooded area near the on ramp, and get on the bridge before anyone could notice me. i walked along the abutment, which was about eight inches wide. i walked over the entire roadway, and once i was ensconced on the far left, i worked my way back writing the lyric.
at that point, i was so far into the work that i couldn’t stop. had i thought of the air drafts from passing tractor trailers sucking me off the ledge, i may not have gone through with it. but i finished before any authorities found out i was up there, and i got on the bike and headed back to my truck a mile away on algongiun drive. i then circled back from the northbound exit 90 to southbound to see the result. just as i arrived, some groton squad cars entered the highway. i drove right by to them as they pulled over to look for the writer.
in essence, i wanted to convey a message that you could, on your own, figure out what was going on in your personal life.
let me know how it goes.
thanks
rf