Imagine creating anonymous pieces of art on vast cityscapesunder the cloaked darkness of night only to have them painted overwithin weeks.
Adam "Codak" Smith, a 29-year-old senior graphic arts student atThe University of Memphis, has been creating this type of graffitiart and sharing it with the world for 16 years.
"Graffiti has always been viewed as a social statement ofsociety getting out of control," Smith said. "But it's reallyfreedom to express yourself."
Until recently, most of Smith's graffiti expressions prevailedon river retaining walls and derelict warehouses, where they wereunveiled to perplexed onlookers with the rising sun, but that hasall changed.
In mid January, Smith and a dozen other graphic design studentswere granted funding by the local student chapter of the AmericanInstitute of Graphic Arts to begin transforming the conventionallyblank walls of the graphic design department in Jones Hall into anextraordinary graffiti mural.
"You could just tell that everyone was tired of these blandwalls. So we did something about it," said Leigh Thomson, a graphicarts master student.
Within four days, the team of artists, led by Smith, hadcompleted the first two sections of a grandiose piece ofcontemporary art with beautifully twisted organic letters and ...fish.
"I was trying to think of what to do (on the walls), and then itbecame obvious," said Smith. "We're all a school of fish."
Smith and Thomson say they hope people who survey their creationwill understand the interesting dichotomy reflected by the pieceand possibly question the social stigma attached to graffiti.
"This is illegal graffiti art put into a permissiveenvironment," said Smith. "I hope this will help people respect thetime, ability and thought process behind this art."
Aside from legally appearing on the exterior walls of the HiToneand Whatever here in Memphis, Smith's art has graced urban featuresin Slovakia and London, as well as several galleries.
He said one of the traits that have made his incredibly animatedwork unique is his lack of interest in conveying legibleletters.
"I'm not concerned with readability. I enjoy making (letters)organic and constantly evolving, much like language itself," hesaid.
Smith, who assumed the graffiti pseudonym "Codak" about sevenyears ago, chuckles at the length of time it took him to come upwith his current trademark.
"The kind of art I was doing was just so transient that I had todocument it with photographs," he said. "And one day, there it wason the film, right in front of me. I changed the K to a C, which isactually better (aesthetically), and came up with Codak."
While the remaining walls of the design department are slated tobe finished by this summer, Smith said he is excited about otherartistic endeavors outside graffiti.
In fact, with exception to his current project, this Krylon kinghas traded in his spray paint cans and late night undertakings forthe creative and monetary opportunities offered to graphicartists.
"I had to quit (illegal) graffiti and find a more sociallyacceptable and viable way to make a living and design allows me todo that," he said.
This viable solution began as a few leisurely drawing classes,Smith said.
"Initially, I just wanted to take a couple drawing classes toget better, and soon I realized how closely aligned graphic designis to graffiti art," Smith said. "Now I love doing this kind ofwork."
Visit www.graffiti.org/tm/ to find moregraffiti art by Smith.
