EDDIE COLLA: "The problem with vandalism is that it eventually attracts unwanted museum exhibits."
PHOTOGRAPHER'S JOURNAL: Of course, graffiti has been commoditized, and spray can virtuosi are now art celebrities, but here it is still a renegade gallery and nothing lasts too long. I wish I knew the tempo of the place. Everything notable seems to be first commented on, then defaced and paintballed, and finally it is overwritten. When I returned this June, two years had passed since my previous visit, and I found nothing remaining from the prior trip. A few efforts were still mostly clean. Were they too new or too sacred to touch? The participants in this visual orgy seem to range from gangs to nerds to lovers. It's not clear to me if any group prevails. Especially here in this central section, every inch is coveted and re-coveted. Perhaps because space is so precious here, nothing is as well developed as graffiti I've found in abandoned Waterbury factories where there is no audience. Here it is the utter riot of the place. One common thread remains: I've never seen anyone with paint.
