Ozone Friendly Grafitti
Graffiti is almost as old as mankind itself. We only know so much about our origins as a species thanks in large part to the cave paintings that have recorded the lives of our hairy ancestors all those years ago. That, however, was just the beginning. Ancient graffiti has been found on the walls of the Pyramids, caves in Turkana and on rocks in Australia. It corresponds to that most innate urge to leave some sort of mark when we invariably leave this planet for the great break room in the sky.
Graffiti today is not different. Of course, with the advancement of the human race, graffiti has elevated itself from being a silly scrawl or naughty doodle on a wall to becoming a highly respected art form, with artists like world renowned Banksy, whose works are considered masterpieces and sell for tens of millions of shillings a pop. Closer home, (Bankslave) and Swift are ramping up the levels of adroitness and artistic vision in our local art graffiti scene. They are members of the graffiti art collective Spray Uzi Crew, who recently put out a plea for European paint manufacturers Montana Spray to begin to market their products here in Kenya.
According to Swift, the paint they use now is, to put it simply, not very good. “We have a problem with the paint we use now, it is poor quality,” he explains. “In order to get high quality end product we must apply many layers and the paint drips. Montana Spray is made specifically with spray painting in mind, and therefore these problems are not there”
The paradox for writers, as graffiti artists are also known, is that while they are thought of as voices for the voiceless and reject the establishment, they are unwittingly contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer- something associated with big businesses. Spray paint contains chemicals that are particularly harmful to the environment. The members of Spray Uzi use gas masks when they work, as the tools of their trade are quite toxic. Spray paint cans contain what are known in industry parlance as VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), which have a detrimental effect on the environment and the writer’s lungs. It is estimated that a standard can of spray paint releases 200 grams of harmful emissions.
Spray Can manufacturers like Montana Cans, based in Germany and American giants Krylon have begun to take this issue seriously. The former, in particular, have a line of paint cans made specifically for writers, which is less toxic and harmful to the environment. As well, their products have been endorsed by such writing luminaries as @cope2, a pro writing legend, according to Smokillah, another member of the Uzi Spray collective. Spray Uzi do not dispose of their cans, and are looking to recycle them once they find out where they can do so. While the levels of Kenyan writing will no doubt increase with higher quality paints, we can breathe easier knowing that this modern take on an ancient form of public expression is not contributing as much as it did to our planet’s demise.
