Today, I went down to the UBC Point Grey Campus to search for the bathroom stall that sparked my interest in this type of graffiti. When I went to the woman's washroom in the SUB Basement, I realized something was different in the washroom...What could it be? I looked around and realized everything was cleaner. At first I thought that this is probably due to the fact that there is less traffic in the SUB, since it is the summer. However, this is not what struck me as different. I looked around a bit more -then it hit me. The washroom stall doors. They're different. My heart skipped a beat. I was scared to look behind these unfamiliar doors. What if what I dread was true? At last, I pushed back the door. I looked around. The stall was clean.The doors were new. It was simply clean. I never thought that I would be disappointed to see a clean washroom. But I was, because worst of all, the stall was graffiti free.
What am I going to do now? Why did they get new doors, especially now of all times? I was freaking out trying to think of what to do next. Should I think of a new creative concern? Is it too late? But I really like my idea! I took a deep breath, something I normally don't do in a washroom environment. I tried to think logically. I decided to explore the campus for other washrooms, especially since I already paid my $6 for parking. I have to admit that I was scared that the other washroom stalls at UBC would have new doors too, but I knew it was worth a try to take a look. Besides, I would rather walk around the UBC campus' washrooms than to go to downtown or a mall. I figured, UBC is really the ideal place to look for washroom graffiti. Why? Well, due to all the buildings on campus, the washrooms are somewhat centralized within walking distance from each other. Also, it was really quiet and there wasn't a lot of people on campus, which meant that not a lot of people would be using the washrooms. I finally stepped out of the SUB building and took my "last" breath of fresh air before I began my journey in exploring all the washrooms on campus.
I entered back into the SUB first and went into all the woman's washrooms. There was at least one on each floor and unfortunately for me, none of them had graffiti. I proceeded to go to Buchanan area. First, I went to check out Buchanan A, since I haven't seen the new renovation job yet. It looked quiet nice, everything seems very new! I also checked out the washrooms too, even though I had a feeling that there would be no graffiti on the stalls. Turns out I was right. Interestingly, I noticed that the washrooms stalls in Buchanan A were painted black... I wonder why.
I proceeded to go to Buchanan B. However, after going to all the woman's washrooms in that building all I could find were random scribbles and tags. This was not the type of graffiti I was looking for. i needed something that told a narrative, not a word! I began to get nervous and decided to do something gutsy. I knew I was only approaching the woman's washroom this whole time and that the graffiti (if I could even collect any at all) would only represent one gender. I knew what I had to do. So, I walked to the other side of Buchanan B, where the man's washroom was located. I leaned my ear against the door, hoping that I wouldn't hear anything. When I thought the coast was clear...I walked in. What a different environment! I didn't want to waste anytime in there (especially since a guy can walk in any moment!) so I quickly began my search. There wasn't a lot of graffiti in the men's washroom as well. Just a couple of scratched and doodles. No narratives either. It was at this point that I thought to myself that maybe washroom graffiti is more common in the women's washroom because women ahve only one place to go to when they need to go the washroom, and that's the washroom stall. Whereas men have a choice of choosing the urinal or the stall, depending on their need. Hmm, how interesting.
I finally went into Buchanan D and it was not until I reached the 2nd floor of the women's washroom that I finally found what I was looking for! Hooray! Hallelujah! Rejoice! I found my first washroom graffiti! This one was about the
Olympics. I quickly took snapshots of all the graffiti work. It was interesting seeing what was written on the wall and how people collaborated on the stall. I noticed that people scratched out others' comments or tried to put emphasis on theirs by using different pen types and colours. Not everything was written as words either. The pictures drawn also told a narrative. I was so happy! I think I spent a good 30-40minutes in there just trying to take the best picture that would show the graffiti artwork. It was a little difficult due to the poor lighting. Also, using a point-and-shoot camera also has its limitations as it does not work well without flash (I know I could of used flash, but this would have created a reflection of light, which would really create a distraction on the photo).
Feeling a bit better, I exited Buchanan area and headed to what I thought an "old" building would be. Also not to mention I was really trying to think of what buildings would be open on a Saturday afternoon. Then, I thoguht of Woodward Library. Boy was that good choice! I got really lucky and found exactly what I wanted! This washroom graffiti was about
education and women (or at least most of it was). I spent a long time in this washroom, especially since there was hardly any light in the room. I also had difficulties trying to capture the graffiti since it was written faintly in pen. I spent nearly 20 minutes just trying to get a good picture, but I knew it wasn't working. I needed a sharpie. I knew I shouldn't do it, but I had to. For the sake of the project! I quickly ran to Shopper's Drug Mart and purchased some sharpies... Back in Woodward, I spent some time tracing the words that were written on the stall. Only those that were hard to read. Some of them were already written in sharpie, so please don't think I traced all of them! Anyway, I probably spent at least an hour in there just tracing and taking pictures of the graffiti. I don't think I have ever spent such a long time in the washroom (except for when I got really sick on vacation this one year....). I was glad that there was hardly anyone on campus that day too! Can you imagine what someone would think if they saw me in the washroom for an hour long?
Feeling pretty good, I tried to test my luck at the Biology building. Unfortunately the building was closed! So I headed to Scarfe and got lucky again! This time the washroom graffiti was about
love. It had a diversity of pictures and words written on this bathroom stall. Just as I took the last snapshots of this washroom, my digital camera finally ran out of batteries! Something else that I dreaded. But by this time, I realized I was on campus for nearly 5 hours! I knew it was a sign that I should return home, now that I have found what I was looking for! So off to home I go!
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anita
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