The cat-and-mouse game in the city streets is as old as the cities themselves: graffiti writers versus the clean-up crews. Vandals versus cops. But if you think graffiti is all about the senseless destruction of property, this duo is about to change your mind for good.

Self-proclaimed “graffiti geeks” Evan Roth and James Powderly are the mad scientists behind New York City-based Graffiti Research Lab (GRL), dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers and artists with innovative new ways to get their word out (think LEDs, projectors, and conductive paint). In a brick-fringed studio in the back of Eyebeam Atelier, the not-for-profit arts and technology center headquartered in New York, Roth and Powderly churn out inventions that can be replicated easily and cheaply. Then they post the DIY instructions on the web. “Open source is at the core of what we do,” says Roth.

Subversive as it is, though, their work generally doesn’t cause damage. Their most popular graffitiwriter, the LED “throwie,” is just an LED taped to a tiny battery and magnet-ready for tossing up to an overpass or building where it’ll grow bright for a couple weeks (the more the merrier, of course). They took the idea further with “Night Writer,” a long stick attached to a matrix of holes where you can arrange throwies into letters—raise it up and they’ll attach themselves to metal so you can broadcast your message up high. They’ve even used digital projectors to blow up art and text to the size of an entire building. (After a few run-ins with the police, they learned it’s actually quite legal.) Now they’re working on a similar system with lasers and a Wonka-like contraption that uses helium balloons to attach billboards to skyscrapers.

“We’re not true graffiti artists,” Roth admits. “Those guys are out there all the time. We spend most of our time at R&D meetings and answering email.” Powderly worked in robotics and helped develop the Mars Rover. Roth was valedictorian of his MFA class at Parsons, where he used C++ and motion tracking technology to devise a complex graffiti analysis system. GRL was born when the two won fellowships to develop their open source art at Eyebeam, located in the heart of Chelsea’s vibrant gallery scene.

Which puts them smack in the middle of a turf war with advertisers for street visibility and digital cred. “[Advertisers] are in the exact same game as we are,” says Roth, who’s turned down offers from everyone from Nike to Absolut vodka to use GRL’s techniques, “but they see their brand whereas we see revolution.” And that’s the one thing they do have in common with the typical graffiti writer: a mission to spread the message of the individual—whatever the message may be. “When we do throwies we don’t see it as the end of the project,” says Roth. “We’re happiest when people download throwie info and we get pictures back of people doing our stuff in London and Amsterdam.” —Ian Daly

www.graffitiresearchlab.com

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