Nobody Loves Me

Posted: 2010-07-27 20:58:05

Lately I've noticed a common stencil out on the streets of Chicago. The word 'nobody' followed by a period. Simple, concise, and (possibly) really deep.

The artist has frequented Logan Square over the past month, and I've see more than a few pop up on my trips to and from work. The first one I ever saw was actually his/her addition to an already existing piece. Someone had scrawled a freehand red heart on the sidewalk. Nothing special, but a nice heart. Very flowing, and certainly not unwelcome in the neighborhood.

A few days later, there was a new piece to the work: nobody. The hues of red were a bit inconsistent, hence my assumption that the work was done by two different people. And a few feet down the block, the nobody appeared again on a wall surrounding the nicest house in the neighborhood. Within a day it was covered.

My favorite part about his piece is the dichotomy of it. On the one hand, you have the original painter of the heart, expressing love and caring. With the simple addition of a single word, 'nobody' transforms it into a sad and depressed creation. Maybe the nobody painter has a bleak outlook on life. Maybe they are just realistic. Or maybe, they just only have one stencil and don't know what to do with it.