This photo was taken in an alley off of Van Ness Avenue near Russian Hill. What was the artist trying to get across by writing this on the wall? Was it gang related or just an attempt to say something about society? Is it art?
One interpretation of this is that separation equals death. Is it that simple? Maybe it refers to three degrees of separation leading to death. Maybe the three words represent a severed relationship with an individual's family, friendship, and relationship which can lead to a spiritual, if not physical, death.
The focus is definitely death because of the placement of the word and how it is the only one capitalized, but what is the purpose of the three "separations?" Is it significant that the first one is misspelled and different than the other two? What about the other words (ago, it) that are spelled out in the grid?
Anything that raises this many questions must be a work of art. Anything that makes an individual stare at it for any amount of time and ponder what it means must be art. Therefore, this is an example, and maybe even a clever example, of San Francisco street art.
Cheers!
Mike
