Graffiti Assassins in Barcelona

The assassins boarded the trains at various Metro stations across Barcelona last Sunday.

Jardins de les 3 Xemeneies, Barcelona – You could see the tools they use to eliminate their rivals poking out of backpacks and foldable shopping carts.

They had picked up Green and Purple Line connections at Sants Estacio, España or Cataluña and climbed out into the daylight at the Parallel station. They made no effort to hide what they were about to do.

The Jardins de les 3 Xemeneies (garden of 3 idle smoke stacks) is down near the wharves where the old power plant provided electricity during of the Fascist era, close to the majestic ‘Aduana’ customs building where you can see the colossal Columbus pointing to the New World and smell the Mediterranean.

This garden is where self-appointed street artists can use a gallon of fast-dry latex to snuff out the work of any another artist, painting a new creation over an a old one. Life expectancy is short here. The Jardins de les 3 Xemeneies is the Serengeti of graffiti art.

There are no rules — each artist decides which piece of art to paint into oblivion. You can put an inferior work out of its misery or you assassinate an artistic genius who makes your own work look average. A piece might survive a week or a day or just an afternoon.

An artist at work that Sunday morning said he invests no more than a few hours creating his masterpieces. I reached for the Spanish word ‘espantáneo’ to describe my admiration of his agility but the syllables came out wrong. He thanked my in English.

It’s impossible to get off the metro and walk a few blocks anywhere in Barcelona without finding something you didn’t expect and you didn’t know existed.