PosiNegs
February 2004
Reno, NV
Location-Based Book + Video
In 2004 I created a visually guided tour taking advantage of various buff marks. Buff marks are the drab remnants from haphazard applications of paint when painting over graffiti. Matt McCormick in Portland was working on 'The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal', Barry Mcgee was making paintings emulating the look of buffed out graffiti, and I was utilizing the form of buff marks to make new content.
The tour I created temporarily altared pre-existings buff marks through an alignment process. Each participant was given a book and a starting point. The book had a map, which if followed correctly delivered the participant to a destination that was marked on site and had a corresponding page. All of the pages were printed on transparency paper so that the participant could hold up the corresponding page to the designated wall and the buff mark would take on a new life based on the pages drawing. There were roughly 20 locations and 20 pages creating a circular tour weaving around Virginia St. in Reno, Nevada. I documented the projects with video and created a short film that was included in the Nevada Triennial Exhibition at the Nevada Museum of Art.
I also went on to create various buff marks on site during the day. My partner, Derek Yost and I would work in uniform, often times bringing scaffolding, to altar buffmarks into images. We dubbed ourselves BMR (Buff Mark Restoration) and would paint loose images that people would assume were commissioned and/or legit. Some still remain to this day as a testament of the BMR.
The last side of the buffmark domain of work was the buffing out of certain graffiti pieces in a way to make the appearance of abstract explosions. The form of these buffs took on a comic book feel and were usually painted over in a matter of days.
