Best Of The Web – Bathroom Graffiti

“When in doubt, take a bath.” -Mae West

Everyone fancies himself a bathroom philosopher. Whether it’s formulating bathroom etiquette (e.g. “If it’s brown flush it down; if it’s yellow let it mellow”) or concocting a novel while sitting on the toilet, most people stick to the notion that their best thinking gets done in the most private of rooms. Sir Winston Churchill (savior of the British Isles during WWII) dictated many of his speeches while lying back in his tub; an inspiring thought for us bath lovers, though it was probably less wonderful for his typist.

Our best window into bathroom philosophy is the anonymous world of bathroom graffiti which, because it is so easily photographed with a Smartphone or whatever miniature camera you happen to carry around, has become a popular topic on Internet message boards over the past few years. Bathroom graffiti has sprouted such sites as thewritingsonthestall.com and graffitiproject.com. Although photographs and records of this phenomenon are abundant, they are often disorganized, which makes it somewhat tedious to sift through them. Drawing on my travels in cyberspace, I have put together a best-of-the-web list of bathroom graffiti.

George Bush’s election and subsequent failures may have been the best thing to happen to bathroom graffiti since the Sharpie. In this piece, our artist channels Abbie Hoffman.

From: http://www.buzzfeed.com/toilettalk/the-eleven-best-hipster-bathroom-graffiti-moments-ghj

Obama inspired?

From: http://blog.designpublic.com/2007/03/22/bathroom-graffiti-meets-modern-technology/

Nerdy

If this is the case, do hobbits have special toilets?

From: http://graffitiproject.blogspot.com/2007/07/frodo-lives.htm

I’m shocked I have never seen an MIT student wearing this on a t-shirt in Boston.

From: http://www.graffitiproject.com/photo/loading-1?context=latest

Poetic

I wonder if anyone was at the next urinal while this guy was counting the syllables of his haiku on his fingers?

From: http://www.graffitiproject.com

Drugs

A rather straightforward message.

From: http://www.graffitiproject.com/photo/enjoy-cocaine?context=latest

Literary

From the hand of Beckett.

From: http://katra.vox.com/library/photo/6a00c2251ded1f8e1d00c2251d039b8fdb.html

A play on a classic. Turns out this is the number to a bookstore in Wellesley MA.

From:www.publishersweekly.com

Oedipal

From Freud’s archives.

From: http://www.bestviral.com/image/1g/go_home_mom_youre_drunk

Religious

True! He fixed my Corolla yesterday.

From: http://www.graffitiproject.com/photo/i-heart-ny/next?context=latest

Bathrooms

This is something I have always wondered myself when in a public bathroom.

Pop Culture

Spotted in NYC a reference to maybe the best youtube video of all time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM.

From: http://blog.rifftrax.com/2008/11/17/nyc-bathroom-graffiti/

Sexual Fantasy:

“I want to make out with Willy Wonka”

The only question is: Johnny Depp or Gene Wilder?

From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chickygirl/31802840/

Music

This one really excited me. You have to love the reference to the Boyz.

Rebellion

This guy is a real rabble- rouser.

From://verdinobytes.com/i-just-wrote-on-the-wall

And of course the infamous bacon dispenser category……….

From: http://redhanded.hobix.com/cult/foxBaconInGlasgow.html

From: http://www.core77.com/blog/archive/200811.asp

Add your favorite graffiti in the comments section and let us know what category you would put it in.

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