There’s cool graffiti and then there’s everything else.
This is everything else and then some.
The vibrant beach mural south of Main Beach was tagged sometime around New Year’s.
Local artist John Loyd Rushing painted the originals in 2012. The two murals were tagged once before, and he restored them. No word yet on whether he’s up to refreshing them again.
It’s the lack of respect that’s probably the most infuriating with this type of tagging. Even within the graffiti community, this type of tagging breaks the code.
Muralists are always the most respected within the larger community of street art. But murals are not immune to being painted on. Usually, it’s when the mural is done by an outside artist, or if they have done a lot of corporate work – aka a sellout.
Rushing is far from a sellout. In 2018, he posted a selfie in front of the mural, called “First World Awareness Wall,” proud of what it represented.
“We are One Family first,” he wrote. “There is enough food and land for everyone to live in peace. We must wake up and live in balance and peace, ending all inequality and cruelty, all the while uplifting our brothers and sisters in need. Heaven is here if we live it and embrace it. Be strong, be wise and most of all be kind.”
Perhaps because art is considered sacred in Laguna, to see it vandalized hits particularly hard.
Resident Miranda Mendeleev was the first to post the graffiti on social media, lamenting the damage.
“Just spotted this disheartening scene,” she said on Facebook. “A piece of my heart breaks whenever I encounter defaced art, especially within our art community in Laguna.”
There have been many studies on the motives of graffiti, and most likely, this low-level type points to a young male, probably a disaffected student who is defying authority or wants some kind of notoriety, according to experts.
Regardless, it’s a lame attempt at fame.
