Mailboxes, etc.
Yesterday I happened to be cooling my heels (actually I was sweating my balls off, but you know what I mean) on the corner of 16th and 5th and I noticed something odd. There was a white residential mailbox of the sort one usually does not see in Manhattan planted in a little plot of grass on the corner. I’m not really sure why. There were notes affixed to the outside about opening it, taking out a card and doing something with it but this being NYC, the cards were all gone. So I have no idea what point was being made, if any. I’ll just chalk it up as a mystery and assume it was either a jackassy street art installation or a lame marketing ploy by someone or other.
Also of note, or perhaps not, was that the two actual United States Postal Service mailboxes that were next to the “installation” were labeled “Jim” and “Joe”. I hadn’t any idea why they were so named, but it was at least interesting enough for me to snap a quick photo. It turns out that Jim Joe is an actual person:
WHO THE HELL IS JIM JOE?
Jim Joe is a graffiti artist, currently hyperactive in New York City. He has made quite a name for himself with his simple, sometimes humorous writings, especially in the Lower East Side and East Village, where his tag is ubiquitous. He first caught the attention of Subway Art Blog in February for hitting up the Essex Street station on the J train.
The Subway Art Blog has a somewhat comprehensive catalog of Jim Joe’s work around town. This one is pretty good:
This has been your THEG street art update for the day.
Fat Al is nothing if not an art connoisseur.
I sense a note of sarcasm.
Jim Joe is not an artist.
People with two first names make me nervous. See: Joel, Billy.
I can only imagine how you feel about Jan Michael Vincent.
Nice one!
ABSOLUTELY! It’s very unsettling.
John Wayne
Larry David
Ray Charles
Yikes!