3. Beetlejuice (piece)

Following the historical evolution of graffiti from tags, to thowies, to pieces, my third and fourth entries are focused on pieces. I will discuss two pieces that I found here in San Diego in order to juxtapose the analysis. 

The first piece in question is one that I found under a trolley bridge just south of Friars Rd. The piece is large "E-to-E" (End to End) on a bridge pillar created by Bink & Sinz. It features a classic style cartoon character of Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice by Bink and Sinz, under trolley bridge just south of Friars Rd. San Diego CA



Photo 1 of location.

This piece as whole has a very classic feel. You could put a picture of it in a 80's graffiti book and it would fit right in. The style includes elements that are rendered in a very classic style, in particular the font type, blend, shine, and characters. Its as if the writers are older, maybe from a previous generation. The odd thing is that the location seems like a fairly ephemeral place where pieces are gone-over frequently. I highly doubt that the piece has been there long which leaves me wondering if the piece is either created by an old-school writer or possibly by a "toy". Ouch, I really don't feel comfortable saying that since I don't even tag. Another possible scenario is that its super fancy throw-up but I doubt that because of the location doesn't get much exposure. 



Photo 2 of location  w/ Bink Throw-up.

Speaking of location, it is definitely way out of public site. This spot is under a trolley bridge just south of Friars Rd. Click here to view it on my map. The pillars of this trolley bridge are perfect walls for graffiti. Consequently, there is a massive amount of graffiti there. Also worth noting, there very little evidence of graffiti being covered up by the city. Its all just layers upon layers of graffiti. Clearly San Diego doesn't care about graffiti that's not visible to the general public. Although this spot ranks low in terms of public exposure, it is great place for writers to practice. Also, there seems to be a lot of tagging, some gang stuff, and lots of go-overs. Speaking of which, there probably isn't much respect given to masterpieces at this spot. It seems more conducive to toys going to gain some practice.

Regarding the actual piece itself, when I say a classic style cartoon character, I am referring to way the cartoon character is rendered, not the character himself. According to Waclawek, the first characters that appeared at the dawn of Writing were either well known cartoons such as Donald duck, Popeye, etc, or they were custom character representations of the writers themselves. Either way, the style of the characters was cartoonish like traditional Disney cartoons look. Back then there weren't realistic or abstracted characters. The Beetlejuice is a trickster ghost character from Tim Burton's 1988 film Beetlejuice. Before I factor the character into the analysis, I want to discuss the style of the piece. We have two writers to consider. First looking at Bink's letters and style, we can see that the letters aren't "Wild Style" or "Softie" or "Block" styles either. To me these letters look like a derivative of the Broadway style in that TopCat126 was credited with originating. They are tall and slender. Sinz letters are closer to a Softie style with all the curves and bubbling but they are also cursive which is bit different from traditional Softie style. By today's standard of pieces, this piece doesn't just doesn't match up in terms of style and complexity. However, again we have to consider that not all writers are trying to "innovate" their own style or trying to make that their primary thing. Many writers are still interested in bombing a city, getting up, getting their name out there.. I think that we need to consider that with this example. Also it could be that Bink and Sinz purposely trying to make it look retro. View close up pictures below.

The last thing to discuss about this piece is content. Why the trickster Beetlejuice? Well frankly I don't think there any particular deep meaning to it other than the writers think its cool. The odd thing is that it works with my analysis in that this style of graffiti is like a ghost from that past. Also the surrounding area has evidence of drug and alcohol use. Seeing such an image in such a place is unfortunately not a surprise.

Lastly, I did find quite a few examples of Binks & Sinz work online. Both of them are a part of the 4U2C crew. Here's links to the works by them that I found on the web:

1. Bink on Flickr: View
2. Bink & Sinz on PureGraffiti.com: View
3. Lots of examples on Flickrmindhive.net: View
4. Bink on Streetpins.com: View

Bink of 4U2C, San Diego photographed July 2013

Sinz of 4U2C, San Diego photographed July 2013