Lomography

5 Pointz (United States)
written by mblair23 on September 16th, 2008 , 2 comments (3 votes)

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5 Pointz in Queens is a former warehouse turned graffiti mecca. The building is nearly completely covered with tags and more elaborate pieces of “aerosol art.” It takes up an entire city block and is one of the few places in the U.S. where graffiti is legal. The walls are constantly changing as new pieces are added and old ones are painted over.

Housed inside are artist studios and galleries. The dark, smelly staircases are also totally filled with graffiti. If you make it to the roof (some access points are locked and signs around the building threaten legal action if caught) there are amazing views of the city and even more graffiti. It’s pretty amazing to walk around the block and see artists as they work on their walls.

Also in the building is a donuts plant, a hot dog cart garage, and several garment production factories. The dumpsters outside are often filled with a rainbow of cast-off textiles, great for dumpster diving or photographing. Across the street is MoMA’s PS1, which provides an interesting contrast to the building.

5ptz.com