Excerpts from the Book of Street Verse #1

In Athens, more than in any other city I know, graffiti has turned into a form of public diary. Here a city contemplates itself through writings on its public walls. All shades of emotion find their place on these walls: from political rage and calls for solidarity to reflections on love, life and friendship. Short and sharp the scribbles often have dada-like qualities. Whether political slogan, meditative reflection or personal confession, each writing contributes to an ongoing, collective journal.

Excerpts from the Book of Street Verse #1 was a first attempt to work with this ephemeral treasure. On a summer night of August 2010 ELi and I walked through Athens’ Exarcheia reading out loud those writings and spontaneously trying to interpret them in English. What emerged is an audio deríve, that transports our mood as much as it records the existing graffiti, while weaving our play into a nocturnal web of urban sound.