Figure/ground and graffitti

via Neatorama comes the story of a British graffitti artist who works with soap and water. That's right - his graffitti is created by washing away the dirt on buildings. This raises an interesting legal issue (is it a crime to clean a building artistically?) but for me what is striking is the reversal of traditional graffitti.

In my mind most good artists are able to see negative space well. This can be in a visual form (i.e. a vase with a human profile) or sonic (the silences). This isn't exactly a figure/ground relationship, but I liked it nonetheless!!!!