As part of Stenograffia an annual Russian street art festival, a group of Russian street artists found a creative way of addressing ‘garbage’ in their country.
Moskvitch cars—colloquially called Muscovite cars, since they were produced in Moscow—are a now-defunct range of cars that were extremely popular in Russia during the 1960s.
Now, they “clog space, blocking the aisles and taking the already small parking place,” according to Stenograffia “becoming not the best decoration for any urban landscape.”
In a playful response to this situation, the artists brought Photoshop to the real world and ‘deleted’ an old, graffiti-covered Muscovite car, leaving behind a grey and white checkered void that any Photoshop user would know represents an empty space.
This was achieved by projecting a grid pattern onto the car and painting over it, allowing the illusion to be realised. They named their project ‘Ctrl-X’.
The work may also be an indirect comment at how street art is perceived. By erasing the old, graffiti-covered car—which the artists plan to recycle when the event is over—the artists also make the audience think about the definition of street art: trash or treasure?
Head over to the official site for a full list of all the artists who worked on ‘Ctrl-X’, and check out their Facebook Page for more pictures.
