Samantha Hollingshead

“Brick by Brick”

Introduction: The inner cities are not a place most people would call the utmost inspiring. For those living there the sight of destruction, poverty and crime can be a relentless reminder of their daily struggles and grim future. Many places vandalized and broken leave messages of hate, anger and despair. However what if these graffiti filled walls and streets radiated messages of hope and peace? What if these slander and vulgar words written to attack others, were instead compassionate and motivating? What if it made even the lowest of income, the angriest criminal, or the depressed filled children feel as though they can become more? Let’s revolutionize the anger filled streets to ones that put a smile on the faces of those walking by. Lets start rebuilding a future “brick by brick.”

Takomabibelot, “Gloucester Green Downspouts”, Flickr, September 30th, 2009, September 12th, 2014 CC SA 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/4001175420/in/photolist)

Hobvias sudoneighm, “Brick Wall”, Flickr, March 17, 2006, September 12, 2014, CC BY SA 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/114002912/in/photolist)

Logan Ingalls, “Hydrant”, Flickr, August 13, 2006, September 12, 2014, CC BY SA 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/plutor/214255451/in/photolist)

Phil Parker, “Brick Wall” Flickr, April 24, 2009, September 10, 2014 CC BY SA 2.0 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/45131642@N00/3470580594/)

Kristin Nador, “Brick wall with

windows.” Flickr, January 1, 2002, September 10, 2014, CC BY SA 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/kristinnador/7744294902/in/photolist)

takomabibelot, “Downspout & Square”, Flickr, October 12, 2009, September 10th, 2014 CC BY SA 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/4042802382/in/photolist)

Andrea Kennard, “Brick Wall 5” Flickr, March 28, 2008, September 20, 2014. CC BY SA 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/dreadwear/3396413933/in/photolist)

net_efekt, “Brick Wall”, Flickr, August 8, 2008, September 15, 2014, CC BY SA 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/wheatfields/2926761173/in/photolist)

Good Eye Might, “What’s a 5 year olds favorite word?” Flickr, September 2, 2007, September 15, 2014, CC BY SA 2.0. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/brittanyg/1305797552/in/photolist)

Jason Hickey, “No Loitering” Flickr, August 9, 2009, September 15, 2014 CC BY SA 2.0. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/exquisitur/4342353217/in/photolist)

Artist Statement: “Brick by Brick” was created for the purpose to bring a message of hope and meaning to places where so little of it is found. A lot of graffiti is found on the side of brick buildings. While most graffiti is used as a message of hate, violence or crime, “Brick by Brick” takes a common sight and uses graffiti and artwork to create a new message. Simply changing the words or adding greater meaning to something that is a crime or seen as deviant, can change the outlook of an entire city or population. “Brick by Brick” is a fictional idea of what could change the tone of inner city lives.

My chosen audience is to those who see graffiti as wrong, or destructive. While in today’s world that is mostly what it is used for, it can be so much more than that; it just takes the right mindset to change the outlook. All it takes is one man or woman who choses to be an artist instead of a criminal, just one child to take a positive message instead of a hateful one and use it to do good.

The choice to use all brick backgrounds and walls was made because of the high volume of them in most cities. Graffiti type writing and pictures were chosen, as a comparison of what it is normally used/seen in the cities. However I choose to change the message to show an alter-reality to what could be. By using pictures of real walls and building from real cities around the world, it adds a layer of possibility and reality. It adds a sense of wonder as to what could be a very real image to be seen one day.

All of my photos of the buildings where pulled from Flicker through Common Search. All photos had public rights with some rights reserved. While the photos of the buildings were directly pulled offline, everything else done to them was a product of my own work. As a pro in Photoshop and not so much in Gimp, I will be honest I relied on Photoshop more for major details. Although for some of the minor details I found that Gimp offered many quick solutions and ideas in areas where Photoshop did not. I choose to use pictures that showed different angles or had windows, doors, poles, wires or other miscellaneous items in them. I wanted to uses these angle and items to make not only a more diverse group of pictures but to be able to use them to make a point more clear. For example the broken windows with the ban aid, the fire hydrant and fake water, the building with the word “Why?” already written on it, light lamps or the piping used to make a tree.

I choose to use a combination of text writing, paint tool, cropping, filters, shapes, and other effects to add as much of what I thought could represent graffiti and artwork on the side of a building. Most of the images did not need to be cropped but I found in some cases it helped to center in on a certain part of the building. I also chose to add light in some of the lamps and fictional Band-Aids on broken windows to give a more realistic element to the photos.

The message, really is this, words can do a lot. They can teach, they can inspire, they can create, they can change outlook or outcome, they can be the starting point to something new and great or they can be destruction. Words are everywhere and everything. Although not my own pictures these pictures could easily have been taken from any city. Their walls, while not yet cover in graffiti, could one day be. The real question is what will the say?