Sep 11, 2012
1 note
From BLDGBLOG: Formed in 2005 following the rapid increase of West Nile Virus in California, this band of pest controllers cycles around San Francisco dispatching sachets of Vectolex into the drains to kill the little biters before they breed. After each drain is treated, the courier sprays a little dot of paint to mark it as completed—this season’s color is blue. [Nick Foster’s ”Hidden  Signals” project]” Like full-spectrum hieroglyphs, these spray-painted dots are “infrastructural forensic evidence,” in Foster’s words, marking the ritualistic elimination of insects from urban space. Someone in the comments notes that NYC has similar markings to indicate conductive elements in streets that have been checked for electrical current.  What if every element of spray paint found in an urban environment was a sign that something had been checked and found safe or neutralized? What danger would be big enough to warrant wrapping whole train cars or sides of buildings in layers of spray paint to note, “This one’s been taken care of, move along to the next one”? 

From BLDGBLOG:

Formed in 2005 following the rapid increase of West Nile Virus in California, this band of pest controllers cycles around San Francisco dispatching sachets of Vectolex into the drains to kill the little biters before they breed. After each drain is treated, the courier sprays a little dot of paint to mark it as completed—this season’s color is blue. [Nick Foster’s ”Hidden  Signals” project]”

Like full-spectrum hieroglyphs, these spray-painted dots are “infrastructural forensic evidence,” in Foster’s words, marking the ritualistic elimination of insects from urban space.

Someone in the comments notes that NYC has similar markings to indicate conductive elements in streets that have been checked for electrical current. 

What if every element of spray paint found in an urban environment was a sign that something had been checked and found safe or neutralized?

What danger would be big enough to warrant wrapping whole train cars or sides of buildings in layers of spray paint to note, “This one’s been taken care of, move along to the next one”? 

  1. riskylengths posted this
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