These days, there’s an R&D lab for everything – even graffiti. Backed by new media venture Eyebeam, the Graffiti Research Lab upgrades street art with a jolt of electricity. Drawing on their backgrounds in tech, artists Evan Roth and James Powderly experiment with magnets, LEDs, and conductive and magnetic paints. "Street artists are naturally hackers and inventors. They mod markers, make their own ink, and defeat sophisticated security systems," Powderly says. "The GRL is just an extension of that tradition." After it develops a technique, the group posts how-to instructions on its site (graffitiresearchlab.com). The open source projects have sparked a handful of mods, including wiki creator Ward Cunningham’s tweak that makes the lab’s LED Throwie blink in Morse code. Check out how GRL’s research hits the streets.
– Sonia Zjawinski
credit Ryan Nuckel
LED Throwies
GRL’s mobile facility.
An Electro-Graf of Dick Cheney.
A tag framed by copper tape and LEDs.
An artist on a rooftop with the Night Writer.
credit Ryan Nuckel
An LED on conductive paint.
Jesus 2.0, a tape sculpture by Mark Jenkins.
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Graffiti Goes LED
