ABOVE: The SMS Guerilla Projector (left) used by the Troika group to cast messages (right) on public—and occasionally private—spaces.

As regular readers will know, we lean pretty strongly toward the “graffiti can be art” perspective, instead of the “graffiti is always and forever vandalism and destruction, and only slightly less punishable than post-office massacres” view. Here’s evidence to the former, for all you not-yet-converts out there. The current issue of Wired includes a feature on graffiti artists working with materials other than aerosolized acrylic and the back walls of 7-11s.

New York artist fi5e uses a projector to instantly throw a tag onto an otherwise unpaintable object, including the archway at Washington Square Park and the side of St. Vincent’s hospital (he was a little miffed because Wired fumbled the terminology in its writeup). The Troika group in London use a self-constructed “guerilla projector” connected to a Nokia cell phone to project text messages up to 80 feet away. And the PIPS:lab art collective in Amsterdam uses a long-exposure photograph and lights of different strengths to allow volunteers to draw in thin air. All of it’s completely engaging, reasonably innovative, and leaves your local 7-11 unscathed.

LINK: Wired > Graffiti Hackers