One of the first things I noticed when walking around the University of Mainz campus was the large amount of uncovered graffiti thrown up on the walls of buildings and on bathroom stalls. The frequency of graffiti continues in the city itself.
Most of the pieces are simple tags or political messages (“Freedom for Bradley Manning” is a common theme. One bathroom stall on campus is covered in “Kony 2012.”), and these are usually nothing more than eyesores. But there are some pieces around the city that stand out as true street art.
One of my favorites is the depiction of a sad, grey woman with dark and droopy shoulders. In most iterations she wears a striped sweater with the outline of a heart on it. The beautiful – though melancholy – piece can be seen in three different locations in Mainz.
Somewhat less artistic, but still entertaining (to me, at least), are the numerous inscriptions in bathroom stalls throughout campus. One memorable exchange between several artists started with a simple poem, “Here I sit and wait / wondering if I will shit or masturbate.” The response didn’t point out the poet’s loose grasp on rhythm and meter, it simply asked, “Why not both?”
Despite all the graffiti around campus – some good, most pointless and ugly – there seems to be little to no effort by the University to clean its walls. Several of the students said they didn’t mind the graffiti all that much, and they suggested the school didn’t invest in cleaning it off because it will only create a new blank canvas for taggers to work with.
Additionally, schools in Germany have less funding for a Sisyphusian battle with taggers because they charge no tuition, only student fees. I think it’s an easy choice between paying tuition and seeing some spray-paint on school buildings.
