NYC SUBWAY deface

#43: 2011 Rockets Upgrade

2011-12-28T09:42:00.000-05:00

In 2009, The Radio City Rockets got an upgrade of their wireless mic system. Each dancer had a microphone installed on each tap shoe. Most dancers wear 2 shoes at a time, and they usually have costume changes in each performance. It adds up to around 300 microphones, using an 80 channel wireless receiver system. That's a whole lot of technical complication.

Judging by this photo, the upgrade to their look this year seems far less complicated.

#42: Is it in the lips?

2011-10-12T07:32:00.000-04:00

Not sure why, but I love these images. There's something esthetically pleasing about those square boxes. But somehow I don't think the square shape would translate well into sunglasses.

#41: "oohh, You Sexy M.F."

2011-10-03T09:13:00.000-04:00

No i'm not censuring myself in my own blog. I'm just making reference to Prince's song by that name. And that's how he called the song in the album. These photos make me sing the hook of that song out loud.

#40: And the winner is...!!?

2011-09-30T08:50:00.000-04:00

Zooey Deschanel has been recently criticized for being too cute and adorable… But everybody just loves her! Even these defacers, who couldn't avoid the temptation to fill in those armpits and draw some fun stuff on her. In the end, they caved in. "We actually like her <3 :)", they wrote!!! Yes Zooey, you really are THAT adorable!

#39: French Kissing

2011-08-01T16:39:00.001-04:00

As a kid growing up, I reached a point where I started to get really curious about the mechanics of 'french kissing'. I was too embarrassed to ask anyone about it. Until one day I saw a drawing in a MAD Magazine comic strip that showed something similar to what this defacer did on this poster. It was a big "Aha!" moment for me. "I knew the tongue had something to do in all this!"

The rest, well... I figured it out on my own.

#38: Eat Your heart out Angelina!

2011-07-19T16:37:00.000-04:00

Nothing like sexy lips and a winning smile!

#37: In Your Eyes

2011-07-12T02:28:00.000-04:00

"In your eyes, the light the heat
In your eyes, I am complete
In your eyes, I see the doorway to a thousand churches

In your eyes, the resolution of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes, I see the light and the heat
in your eyes, oh I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light, the heat I see in your eyes"

One of my favorite love songs.

#36: "In death, his name is Robert Polson!"

2011-07-05T15:20:00.006-04:00

I first took notice of "Moustache" guy in May of 2010 (post#25) when his mark suddenly seemed to appear everywhere and all at once. I have since admired his ubiquitousness all over the NYC subway system. On June 26th 2011, it was reported that the police caught the guy. That is always a bummer, but it's certainly an event that sends you into NYC stardom.

"His name is Joseph Patrick Waldo."

I'm posting here a sample of his work, as well as one of my favorites, where he actually made a side view of his famous moustache. This is a pretty unique piece I think, at least not commonly found.

#35: Weight Loss

2011-05-14T20:50:00.000-04:00

i THINK, I'm not certain, but i 'think' that these 2 ads are for the exact same product.

#34: Fill in the Blank

2011-04-08T11:49:00.000-04:00

Cut a hole out and let it be filled with a piece of the old poster that's underneath. I love these! There's always some crazy randomness that just seems to perfectly fall in place. Like life itself!

Posts #30 and #17 have other samples of these random 'fill-ins' that turned out great.

#33 Russell Brand is Dreamy!

2011-03-24T23:44:00.000-04:00

Katy Perry is such a lucky girl, Russell is just soo cute. A true ladies man. Just look at that sexy adorable smile! Worth a million bucks!

#32 Natalie Portman

2011-03-18T10:09:00.000-04:00

I hope Ms. Portman uses her newly earned and well deserved Oscar award to make some money to fix those teeth and that weirdly long nipple.

But I still love you Natalie. Your imperfections just add to my admiration of you.

#31 Tribute to Mamma Mia Girl.

2011-03-07T11:55:00.000-05:00

This is a Tribute to one of most defaced faces in the NYC subway system. It's the Mamma Mia girl, always smiling no matter what kind of fellacio, disfigurement, sharpie or blade will come on to her. She stands strong as Lady Liberty does to the strongest winter storm.

You see. she's actually part of the banner that's on top of every subway map, and nobody, I mean, nobody is taking her place. Unless of course Mamma Mia ends up where 'Cats The Musical' did.

#30: Tits!

2010-09-08T11:11:00.000-04:00

What else can be said about tits that hasn't been said yet? Jennifer Love Hewitt called her own "Thelma & Louise" after the obsession the press had with them when she became famous. Scientists in the 70's concluded that tits became relevant to humanity once we became fully bipedal (quadruped females use other 'techniques' to entice males to come on over and preserve the species).

Here's a odd visual take on these seductive appendages.

#29: I see dead people.

2010-07-06T22:23:00.000-04:00

Swiss-Italian painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti is one of my favorite artists. I read somewhere about his comments after spending some time studying the human face. His conclusion was that the only things in a human face that were really alive, were the eyes.

This guy was really intense. I love it!

#28: Art As Therapy

2010-06-17T00:54:00.000-04:00

They say art can be a therapeutic outlet for the artist. A way to drain their internal issues.

The reference to a "foreign" boy here... seems so.... autobiographical. Glad he/she got it out of their system. "yeaih!" for the healing power of the Sharpie.

#27: Smell-o-Vision

2010-06-08T00:30:00.000-04:00

Somewhere in the 60's the movie industry came out with this new gimmick called Smell-o-Vision. The technique involved adding smells and odors to the experience of movie watching with the intention of making it more life-like. Maybe that's why NYC feels so "real".

I wonder if the MTA (the New York City transportation authority) still uses this technique.

#26: Facial Reconstruction

2010-06-01T10:27:00.001-04:00

Isabelle Dinoire was the first person to survive a partial face transplant in 2005. And only last month, doctors in Spain managed to perform the first successful full face transplant. Apparently it took a 30 member medical team 24 hours to perform the operation.

That is really very impressive, but I have to say that here in the tunnels of the NYC subway system, it only takes a team of 1, a couple of seconds to perform a similar operation. We're just that good here in New York.

#25: Le Mustache II

2010-05-24T10:20:00.002-04:00

Will the real defacer please stand up, please stand up.

Last week, a friend emailed me about these funny mustaches that she had seen in the 49th St station on the N train. The defacer wrote the word "mustache" with the drawing itself.

A couple of days later, two different friends sent me photos of those mustaches that they found somewhere.

And then this weekend I found them in two different stations by the Lower East Side area.

Is this the work of a single defacer?? Or are some of these the work of copycats repeating his/her design around town?? hmm… If we had security cameras in the subway like they do in London, we could find out. But... if they did have cameras we probably wouldn't have any of this wonderful art!! …like in London!!

This post marks the first time I include photos that are not mine. I've always made the point of posting my photography only. Thank you Emily for the email, thank you Monica and Lou for the photos.

#24: D'oH!!

2010-05-17T14:06:00.004-04:00

Hehe… hehehe….. he….. hehehe …. hihi…… Who ever said NYC is not a happy place!!???

#23: Damage Control

2010-05-11T12:36:00.003-04:00

Wow! This girl has either a very devoted fan or she has relatives living in the neighborhood. A few days ago i took the photo of this New Jersey based reality TV show star, with a nice piece of artwork painted on her mouth. And then a couple of days later I came across the same poster... and the piece was gone!!! Someone actually took the time to carefully remove the offending material without damaging the poster!

I have to say that the clean up work was even more skillfully done than the original drawing. One could say it's a sample of "restorative art" if there is such a thing. (And actually, there is. But if you google that term, you find things related to 'fixing up' dead people for their funeral. Weird.)

#22: One of My Favorites!

2010-04-13T21:45:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I found this poster for Toni Collette's TV show "United States of Tara". It made me very happy to find it.

And about 3 days later I passed by the same poster again and….

…. it was just perfect. If I had any negative thoughts about the problems of my life while walking down that train station, when I found this poster, they were all gone in an instant. That's one of the things I love about these works of art.

And it reminded me of an earlier post in this blog "#4: A Genetic Urge". Those faces in those posters are just there, like a canvas begging to be bathed with the ink of our artistic outbursts.

#21: Le Paris Metropolitain!

2010-02-03T11:16:00.001-05:00

Let's make this clear, this blog is about the New York City Subway. But!… I had the chance to ride the Paris Metro this Xmas! The one in France, that is. And of course I just had to explore their poster defacings, because… well… because they were there!!

They don't seem as common as in NYC, but you do find them often. However, even though I spent several days in the city, it was really hard to find something that matched the level of the great work I've found here, some of which is represented in this blog. I didn't find much humor in them either, but then again, the french aren't exactly known for being funny.

So here's a sample of the ones I liked the most.

You know, I did spend a few days in London too, but I have to report that this kind of art is almost nonexistent there. At least I couldn't find any. It's probably related to the fact that London is blanketed with security cameras. I saw cameras everywhere in the Tube stations. Damn you Big Brother!!

#20: I'm Dreaming of a Ripped Poster

2009-12-22T04:19:00.000-05:00

On behalf of all the defaced posters of the New York City Subway System, today's blog host, Mr Elvis Andrea Costello Bocelli would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful, more productive and less desctructive New Decade!

#19: Welcome Back!

2009-11-18T12:45:00.002-05:00

Hello Again!!! :)

There's nothing like a nice smile, green snot, a vacant stare, anal probing and some ninja ass to welcome you back and make you feel right at home.

2009 was a very silent year for this blog, but I didn't stop taking pictures in the subway, so I have a lot of new stuff to choose from. And I want to thank you for all the fan support I've received this year. It means a lot to me to hear you guys are having fun with this project. I hope to make it up to you in 2010.

By the way, the "Ninja Ass" photo is from a subway artist mod of the poster for the film "Ninja Assassin". It made laugh when I saw it and I thought, "shit, I 'have' to post this!". So I want to also thank the artist who did it for pushing me to go back to this blog.

#18: Le Mustache I

2008-12-16T12:15:00.010-05:00

I_knew this girl who would paint curvy mustaches on her and walk around all day with that thing on her face. I have to admit she looked kindda hot.

Frida Kahlo is the ultimate mustache girl, I think.

I had a girlfriend once with a little mustache shadow. I can't remember how I managed to ask her to wax it off without offending her, but I did it. It was one of my great moments in diplomacy.

#17: Random

2008-12-08T12:06:00.007-05:00

Four random pics I just happen to love. And here are a few notes about the techniques used, in case you're curious:

•"Ashlee Simpson and kid drinking water" The kid was on the top poster, Ashlee's face was hidden in the old one underneath. She appeared when a chunk got removed from the front b&w image.

•"Leatherheads" (Clooney and the other dude). Their faces were cut out/taken from another poster and pasted on top of the ones with the women.

•"Gourgeous Smile" I guess the art gallery description of the technique, would be 'mixed media'. I just find it plain ol'funny.

#16: Cate

2008-12-03T11:13:00.008-05:00

This is Cate Blanchett. The ridiculously gorgeous actress, Cate Blanchett. And this is proof of the Indestructibility of her beauty. No matter what you do to this woman, literally, she still looks amazing.

#15: Text

2008-11-30T20:21:00.006-05:00

So your strength isn't painting or etching your way with a knife, but you still have something to say about one of these posters. Go ahead, this is an open art form. Use whatever means you can to express your opinion.

#14: Abstract Art

2008-11-17T01:29:00.008-05:00

Maybe there's not much humor here, but I love these. And I'm pretty sure most of them weren't done by a single 'artist'. I say this, mainly because I saw these evolve over a period of days. Someone started them by cutting out a small piece of the poster. Then other people would walk by and rip another little piece off, exposing the older posters hidden underneath. This is the result after several days of that.

It would be nice to document the progress, if only I knew beforehand which posters are going to end up this way.

#13: Defacer Profiling

2008-11-12T00:01:00.006-05:00

Ok, so check this out. This is a poster for the World Wrestling Federation or something like that. They are promoting their upcoming TV season. Its a big campaign, you can find these posters literally EVERYWHERE in the subway system. Now, my problem is that I have not been able to find ONE SINGLE defacing of these posters. Not one!!!

In a previous post I wrote about how some celebrities with 'street cred' were safe from getting defaced. But come on... these guys get immunity!!!????? Is this some kind of indication of who our anonymous artists really are? So our defacers are "WW Smack Down" fans!!??? I have to say I'm a little disappointed. No, ...not really. Actually, I just find it hard to believe that UMAGA, has "street cred".

UMAGA is the silly looking guy in the middle, with the painted face, in case you can't read his name in the photo.

If someone finds one these posters defaced, please send me a picture.

#12: Cutouts

2008-11-09T23:54:00.005-05:00

This idea is one of my personal favorites. They cut out a chunk from a poster and then stick that piece onto another poster beside it. Not only it's really funny, but I think it's very creative and beautiful.

I have another example of this technique, in a picture that was sent to me by a friend and fan of this blog. I'm planning on saving contributions from friends and posting them together. So if you live in NYC and find one of these cool works of ephemeral art, go ahead and pull out a camera, even a cell phone camera, take a picture and email it to me. I'll give you the proper credit.

#11: New York Marathon

2008-11-02T19:34:00.004-05:00

I wanted to dedicated this post to defending New York Marathon champion Paula Radcliffe, who won her third title today. I also want to thank her for lending her image to beautify the NYC subway system and inspire our beloved anonymous artists, who in turn beautify this blog.

#10: Devilish

2008-10-30T12:53:00.005-04:00

Devilish. I've always loved this cheesy word, ever since Michael Jackson used it to publicly insult music industry heavyweight Tommy Mottola, a few years ago.

I figured this was an appropriate subject, since I'm posting this a day before Halloween. The devilish part, not Michael Jackson.

My apologies for the lack of postings this past few weeks. My work sometimes pulls me away from everything else in my life.

#9: hilarious!

2008-09-29T11:09:00.003-04:00

man... this is one is just hilarious!!! it's so funny how... oh.. wait... oh, sorry... this kid really IS missing a tooth. ...oops... sorry... nevermind, false alarm.

#8: Unibrows Are Sexy

2008-09-27T17:20:00.009-04:00

Just check out these hot babes.

By the way, notice that one of those was actually done inside a train, not at the station like most of the others. These are rare. Posters inside the train are hardly ever messed with. Artists can be so shy sometimes....

#7: See no evil. Speak no evil... Smell no evil???

2008-09-03T10:33:00.007-04:00

...well, it is New York City.

By the way, can you see where her nose ended up? It's on the other girl, next to her. That is actually an evolution of that 'cutting' technique I showed before. They cut out elements from one place and stick it back somewhere else. In a later posting I'll show you some great examples of this method.

#6: What would Freud say?

2008-08-26T17:43:00.005-04:00

It's such a childish thing to giggle at drawings of penises but, "what the hell" I say, "go ahead and giggle, dammit!!" There's a lot of shit to worry about in life, so if a stupid doodle of male genitalia makes me laugh, so be it! I'll take a good reason to smile anytime.

#5: 100% Pure

2008-08-12T14:33:00.011-04:00

deface |diˈfās| verb [ trans. ]

ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French desfacier, from des- (expressing removal) + face ‘face.’

Tools: blade, exacto knife, box cutter, house keys.

I began to notice this technique about a year ago. I can't say it's "new", but it has certainly become trendy these days. At first I only saw simple ideas, like the cutouts shown here. But the concept has evolved.

It's wonderful because many times it exposes pieces of the old poster that was hidden underneath. To me, the holes seem like a sort of time portal (active imagination required), or a kind of guessing game: "Can you recognize the old poster from this little cutout?".

I do feel them to be a bit more aggressive than a mustache or a blackened tooth. You're stripping away that person's face. It makes for a stronger statement, I think.

#4: A Genetic Urge

2008-07-31T13:38:00.005-04:00

George Mallory was a mountaineer who died in 1924, while trying to reach the top of Mount Everest. He's famous for an answer he gave to a reporter after being asked "Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest?". He said, "Because it's there".

So think about it. If you had a Sharpie or any ol' pen in your pocket and you came across one of these smiles, could you resist not interacting with it? Even if it is some cool, famous ball player that you might admire and respect, ...I mean, the guy is just giving you that big smile... how can you resist the temptation!!??

And then the next important question: Why is it funny? What exactly is this reaction us humans have, laughter, what the hell is that?? What is the origin of such a primal, uncontrollable reaction our body has to a simple silly thing like this? To me, that question is right up there with the meaning of love and life.

#3: Why Me!!???

2008-07-27T23:21:00.004-04:00

I knew I had another chewing gum shot I wanted to add to that previous post. Here it is. This poor girl got ripped in her posters. She's an anchor of a morning news show. Which brings up the topic of who gets defaced and who doesn't.

Once you start paying attention to one thing in your surroundings, you quickly begin to see patterns.

I learned that some celebrities NEVER get their posters messed with. I studied the phenomenon and came to realize that the cooler the celeb is, the more "street cred" the person has, the lesser the chances of getting their face altered in a NYC subway poster. People like sport athletes, especially NBA and NFL players, can have a poster for a month, promoting shoes or TV shows, and not a single scratch on them. Instead, a morning news anchor with a cheesy poster saying "I'm jolly and fun, so please watch my show", will definitely ALWAYS get plastered with this kind of art. And there are other patterns or reasons for who gets it and who doesn't.

So there is some social comment here. It's not just simple goofiness.

#2: Tools of the Trade

2008-07-24T13:18:00.008-04:00

It's not just mustaches and black teeth. A Sharpie is not the only tool they wield. These used chewing gum. I love the color on the yellow one!

These pieces are particularly short lived because the maintenance crews that clean the stations take them down as soon as they see them, so you have to be lucky to find one. The one with the kiss, for example, was taken down the same night it appeared, but the 'artist' redid it the next day.

Actually, I haven't seen any with gum in about a year. Oh yes, there are fashions and trends that appear in this joy of defacing as you will see...

#1: Birth

2008-07-21T22:53:00.005-04:00

My First Blog!

One of the great things about riding the New York subway is coming across these ad posters that have been altered by who knows who to make them funny. Of course, this is a "criminal" act, defacing public property... but it's FUNNY!!! I've always been fascinated by these things in human culture that naturally make people laugh. Like a fart. A fart always makes people laugh. The proverbial banana peel slip, that's always funny. Painting a mustache and a black tooth on a picture of someones face, that's funny!

After my first year in New York, I realized I had become a fan of these creatively defaced images. I looked forward to passing by this or that train station to see that one face in that poster with a black tooth I had seen the other day. And I was always saddened to find that a favorite one had been taken down, replaced by the next poster promoting the next boring product. I soon became aware that somebody had to keep some kind of record of this ephemeral street art. Since I always carry my digital point-and-shoot with me wherever I go, one day I said "fuck it, that someone's gonna be me".

A few weeks ago, I told a friend about my odd collection of photos and I mentioned that I wanted to do something with them at some point, but I wasn't sure what. She said, "make a blog". And light came out of my body like Amelie when she had an epiphany.

So here it is. Again, it's my first blog, so forgive the initial mistakes while I figure things out. I probably won't be writing that much. This is more about the pictures themselves.

The posters might date the moment they were captured, specially when the one getting the curly mustache is a celebrity in a movie poster. I began collecting these in the spring of 2006.