Words You Can Use: The BAVC BLOG

by Alicia Schmidt, BAVC Marketing Strategist

I’m a white girl who grew up in capital “S” suburban Maryland where a hot, high-school Friday night included sipping wine coolers in the parking lot of the Friendly’s Ice Cream store and tipping cows at the Naval Academy dairy (no lie). When I left high school, I went straight to Washington, DC, and straight into an indie punk scene that pretty much saved my life. I even hooked up with a few anarchist punks who crossed over into hip-hop and graffiti writing. They let me “tag” along when they bombed walls in Eastern Market (near the Capital building) and it pretty much started my obsession with graffiti and street art.

Needless to say I was psyched last December when an old friend from DC invited me over to a holiday “throwie” party at their house in the Western Addition. When I walked in to a table full of little multi-colored LED lights, lithium batteries, and super strong magnets, however, I have to admit that I was a little worried that maybe he was going a little Weather Underground.

Thankfully, he only had plans to make throwies . . . a new tagging technology created by taping an LCD light to a battery and a magnet. Created by The Graffiti Research Lab in 2006, throwies became famous this time last year when they nearly caused the city of Boston to shut down. Apparently, the Cartoon Network had hired two guys to put up some throwies advertising a show called Aqua Teen Hunger Force and citizens and city officials alike mistook the little lights stuck on underpasses and bridges as dangerous objects (new media graffiti . . . still causing trouble).

Anyway, the little suckers are pretty easy to make. Check out how in this YouTube video. Or check out the original inspiration at The Graffiti Research Lab (GRL).

The GRL is a project of a nonprofit organization in New York called Eyebeam. Specifically, it was created in their R&D Open Lab, a self-described “home for artists, engineers and hackers pioneering open source creativity . . . focused on experimental technologies and media that directly enrich the public domain.” Their work mashes the energy and rebelliousness of urban youth culture, with public art and communication, emerging technology, and innovation.

You are sure to be hearing more about The Graffiti Research Lab in coming months . . . About a year ago, they launched their L.A.S.E.R. Tag project (tagging on buildings using a laser and projection system) and they are bringing it to Park City, Utah in the next couple of days for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontier on Main . . . so keep an eye out for them causing trouble and pulling off some stealth projection bombing at various screenings, parties, and celebrity events.

Anyway, that night in December, a group of us took our little taped magnet/battery/led throwies and tagged a few metal poles, mailboxes, and a couple of unsuspecting cars right before xmas. We thought it would bring a little holiday thinking to the neighborhood. Of course, it also sparked a lengthy discussion about the environmental impact of using lithium batteries that will likely just get thrown away (it was VERY San Francisco - and in fact, lots of folks have started adapting the original throwie to make it more environmentally friendly. Still others have developed other adaptations including the talkie throwie - a throwie that flashes messages in morse code).

Some of you might be saying, “So what?” Much like graffiti, throwies can be used to take back public spaces, bring together communities, serve as public protests, create momentum around activist messages, and so much more. Imagine throwies that interact with their environment? Or throwies that encourage community building and collective intelligence? The application is, after all, what you make of it.