Graffiti for God

Feb 8, 2008 14:33 GMT  ·  By

That?s the name of the website that shows you the best places you could "spray" your contribution to urban art. Based on an offline art project exhibited in Berlin, in 2007, the switching to the Internet can?t do the movement anything but good, as long as it unites every artist?s vision in a global work of art.

Discarded by many, including invariably the local authorities, Graffiti is, according to Wikipedia, the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner or property. Among most of the objections being raised against it, Graffiti is most often scorned at for being an act of unwanted vandalism that the owners of the surfaces being painted have to deal with.

The GraffitiforGod.org website explains how the name came to be and the history of the project: "The idea of mapping roof graffiti was inspired by 'Wax+' and 'Nemo', whose piece can already be seen on Google Maps in Berlins Center. In the style of medieval maps where Jerusalem often stood at the centre of the geographical drawings and God as the heavenly observer from above, this piece marks the centre of 'Graffiti for God'."

Among other things noted on the Google Maps mashup, there are police stations, hospitals, religious institutions and closely monitored areas, so if you see the legend and any of those in the area you were going to tag, or start a more complex piece of work, you?d better scamper ?cause it ain?t going to be easy to explain to the officers what you were doing with a half-empty spray can in front of a half-painted wall. Chances are, you?re not going to come up with something good enough.

Graffiti aficionados, gear up and head to Google Maps to choose the best site for your message, where even God will see it.