UNIVERSAL PEACE LOVE JOY

Order your own 'APPROVE' or 'DISAPPROVE' Red Stickers from MOCA
stickers@moca-latte.org   www.MOCA-latte.org

 © Joy Krauthammer

See Red Sticker story at end.


UNIVERSAL  PEACE  LOVE  JOY

- Joy Krauthammer

Feb. 25, 2010 . 11 Adar 5770

.

 © Joy Krauthammer

UNIVERSAL  PEACE  LOVE  JOY with happy face, peace sign, yin yang and hearts.

These are the words and symbols now in broken cement, that the DWP men destroyed with jack hammers and removed from the sidewalk in the front of my house.

Joy's original calligraphic art work, now destroyed.
 Joy Krauthammer  © 

With a thin wooden chopstick, I had carefully engraved those words and pictures in cement about three decades ago when there was wet cement. What else does an artist do with wet cement? (And with their favorite eating utensils?) They have been the only words engraved on either side of the street where I live.

I even got my own name written in there, JOY, and no one would know the culprit of City property graffiti. Guess I am a graffiti artist. JOY. It is now the Hebrew month of Adar when here comes more revealed JOY.

Oy, I had meant to take a photo of the original art, in its wholeness, and I never had. Too late now.

The cement surrounding the LADWP underground ‘vault’ (meter and water turn off) had recessed to an inch below the surrounding sidewalk, leaving a possibly dangerous challenge to people walking, running or riding on the sidewalk. A few months ago, I had called the City to report this problem and another broken curb issue. I had hesitated calling, knowing that the engraved words would be taken away, and that would sadden me. The thoughts were sixties style and sentimental. What if I wasn’t here when the City repaired the few square feet, if indeed they did?

I know the City is not fixing broken or raised cement sidewalks due to the financial budget crisis. A property owner is stuck with this financial burden. I claimed that the 1994 earthquake had broken up the street and curb, so they did come and did the curb ‘repair’.

Although the light grey colored, curb cement breakage in front of my house had been partially ‘repaired’ by the City with ugly, stark black, drippy, pebbly rough asphalt not even covering the whole missing chunk-- bigger than a large grapefruit, the DWP sidewalk ‘vault’ section had been ignored until I called again only 40 hours ago. Amazing.

Two days ago on jury duty, I was faced with a case of “trip and fall on the sidewalk”, now a law suit by an individual against the City. I returned home from court and again called the City.

“It could be a lawsuit if someone is hurt”, I warned.

This morning at 7:45 AM, yup, that early, a man rang my door, “Ms. K”, he asked. “Yes”, I responded, and he said, “I’m here to replace the DWP cement.”

The man who introduced himself to me looked like a supervisor, not too happy doing the hands-on job with another older man at his side and running the large cement truck. He claimed no one would be hurt by this cement depression. It’s my house and I don’t want that possibility, nor responsibility. I, also, don’t want to trip and get hurt.

When I went outside to the site, at first the man allowed me to dig with my bare fingers through the already removed dirt and large chunks of jagged broken cement left in the street. YAY, I found my treasure. "PEACE". The whole word was there, with a bit of “P” missing. I found "JOY", too, and the "OVE", and peace sign.

The man, Mr. B, appearing about my age, looked at me as I held PEACE in my hand, and questioned, “Did you do that?”

“Is it legal?”, I asked with a concerned look.

“Wait til I’m gone until you do it again.”

 © Jean

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 © Joy Krauthammer

I watched as Mr. B smoothly finished the new cement. I took enough of the men’s time and patience, and with permission, proudly went away carrying my heavy chunk of PEACE and put the broken, ragged cement chunk in my garden. PEACE LOVE JOY.

I’m filled with UNIVERSAL  PEACE  LOVE and  JOY.

Photos by (c) Joy Krauthammer
Photo of Joy by (c) Jean Lee (witness to the crime)


PS
http://visions-of-joy.blogspot.com/2011/08/art-in-streets.html
At MOCA's ART IN THE STREETS exhibit, in the last minutes of the last hour of closing day, August 8, 2011, there were posters extolling the attributes of Graffiti.
Enjoy, Joy

photos and collage of MOCA Graffiti posters
by Joy Krauthammer  © 

MOCA's ART IN THE STREETS
Photos taken in the last 45 minutes of exhibit.
photos and collage by Joy Krauthammer ©

About three decades ago, I created graffiti in the street. It was ART IN THE STREETS. 
 See photos at top.

Thus I felt involved with the current Summer 2011 MOCA exhibit by this name. this week, on the last hour, of the last day of the graffiti exhibit, I became at one with the MOCA show. As I drummed in the museum, I was exhilarated, realizing I was taking part in the greater happening. 
http://visions-of-joy.blogspot.com/2011/08/art-in-streets.html
 I had already submitted photos of my “APPROVED” graffiti as well as others’ to MOCA-latte site for posting of photos. Now I was involved in another medium, totally spontaneous and unchoreographed, just as was my first sidewalk cement graffiti, as documented in the story above, “UNIVERSAL PEACE LOVE JOY”.

I will have to add a story about the street art that I both APPROVED and DISAPPROVED.

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