Bathroom Graffiti - Mark Ferem

Quotes from Bathroom Graffiti by Mark Ferem - a book that came from 'the Latrinalia Project' started in 1994 - Ferem is hoping to, "gain a better understanding of what brings [bathroom graffiti] into being....graffiti says a lot more about us than we realize"

he was inspired by his Grandmothers ritual in which she led the grandkids around the house singing 'ave maria' - his grandmother believed that in honoring the past we remain connected to the present - inspired by Mayan's desire to keep account of time and the mystery within it compelled him to document bathroom graffiti-----

"For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure, and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us. Every angel is terrifying - Rainer Maria Rilke-""

"As a form of communication it's not beyond human comprehension that these moments somehow forment a sense of freedom, the inspiration to express their selves without the baggage identity requries...and that might be the beuaty of it, the thoughts and images expressed are more important than who wrote it."Ferem p. 77

"Bathroom graffiti shines an unfiltered light on an anonymous aspect of our world, a signpost of sorts with scattered scrawlings framed only by the borders of the mind"p.15

"From the street artist to the anti-graffiti squads to the latrinalia and the spctators, they all participate in the battle between free speech and censorship. Bathroom graffiti is the mortar that holds the wall together. It's for the people to decide if it's an issue of unity or one of division, to be torn down or maintained"p.16

"Bathroom Graffiti is about acknowledging the existence of these anonymous moments, the authors and artists who found it in themselves to speak out and heave the slings and arrows of societal conditioning. It could be said that the philosophy of bathroom graffiti may not be in the words or images, but in the rebellion the represent...rituals of human condition give us a different perspective of ourselves and preceived social order. These differences connect us to one another and allow us to appreciate the things we have in common" p.17

"Unadulterated and uncensored, it could just be the writing on the wall but it's proof that at least the neurons are still firing, that hte youth are not just pondering today's most popular fruit flavored condom...There are signs of intelligent life wondering about the wizard behind the curtain, acknoledging that something is not quite right with the world and demanding accountability. Bathroom graffiti is just one of the beacons calling attention to a pandemic spirtual disconnect"p. 24

Women's Rest Rooms -

where it was once believed women did not write much in the bathroom - Ferem finds actually more writing in women's rooms -

a latrinalist from Charleston South Carolina writes, "There's a rip in the fabric of reality"

women's bathroom graffiti - "is blunt and to the point - its been a long hard road from Mary Magdalene to Lecretia Mott, from sexism to racism, today, the Guerilla Girls give young women super power potential, and we need all of the super powers we can get"

Austin - Texas
---support your local anarchist mom, i'm raising a revolution!----

"the women of the future world are gathering their thoughts on bathroom walls, not to incite riots, but incite the spirits of the collectively oppressed" p.53

On one wall ---

I feel so alone :-(

Response
Awww We are united by our existential isolation

Unisex Restrooms

unisex bathrooms tend to have more graffiti - without urnials identity is left at the bathroom door-

"The unisex bathrooma s a medium engages the space between men adn women, between laughter and pain and what it means to be human. With the underlying message beign that we use our muse before our muse goes mute. As humanity struggles to find meaning in its existence, our reality becomes more contrived and distorted; it becomes the object of rebellion, the struggle between truth and illusion"p 78