A few years back, I got interested in the similarities between the official markings made on sidewalks and roadways by utility companies and graffiti – same materials, similar methods, often the same public spaces, both employing symbols and visual expressions that hold greater or more specific meaning for that community. And yet one is completely legal and done during daylight, work-day hours as part of a sanctioned job. The other is illegal and often done under cover of night, anonymously (except to those in the community) and is regarded, or can be, as artful personal expression. Which? And why?
