Early on the morning of the 1st of September, I was woke by the phone ringing: My Piece Was Getting Buffed! I immediately went down to the river, found a crevice to hide in, so that I could watch the whole production of the piece being painted out.

Watching something that I had done 12 LONG years ago, being painted over, I didn’t expect my reaction to be what it was. I thought I’d feel horrible, it was something I had done when I was in my twenties, when I still felt invincible and had an unwavering sense of mission. But hiding there watching the workman paint, what I actually felt was a calming sense of accomplishment. What I sacrificed to create this piece, gave back to me ten fold. I never expected it to reach all corners of the world. And even though it was only a blurb in history, I feel it helped put LA graffiti on the map.

Ultimately I’m not happy with them painting over history, BUT, I won’t mind, if it means they will follow through and adopt an intelligent policy along the lines of the Friends Of The LA River’s mission:” to protect and restore the natural and historic heritage of the Los Angeles River and its riparian habitat through inclusive planning, education and wise stewardship”. Fuck it! I would rather trade shopping carts, rotting canine corpses, and florescent purple water with a shit brown tint, for clean water and a flourishing, vital habitat, wouldn’t you?.

After I got back home from the river I was inspired to make some adjustments to a small number of the river posters I have, one hundred of them in total. They were signed, dated, numbered, and hand touched, all on the day it was buffed.

Here’s what I came up with, what do you think?

For Sale In My Shop NOW

Friends of the LA River

KCET, the PBS station in Los Angeles County, is doing a series in audio/video stories with interactive panoramic images called “Departures”. It’s a online series about places in Los Angeles as seen and researched by the youth of the city. This is the most recently released episode and is about the Los Angeles River, and it’s panoramic section follows the entire river from above. The kids and thier director asked me to show them around my part of the river and to say a few words on what the river means to me.

This feature brings awareness to the river. It shows it’s importance, effecting everyone in the city, from the construction workers who keep the bridges from crumbling, to those who work to protect the wildlife.

Check it out….

KCET-DEPARTURES: LOS ANGELES RIVER