These Hilarious Photos Show The Clever Side Of Vandalism
Vandalism is often referred to as "defacing" property, but that seems a little harsh when you see how hilarious some of these works can be. Whether it's a few words added to a sign that completely change its meaning, or a full-blown work of art that transforms a surface, these acts of graffiti are too clever to be purely destructive. While we wouldn't encourage breaking the law, we can at least have a good laugh at these humorous examples of vandalism.
A Cement Crack Or King Kong's Tower?
You know someone is an artist when they can look at something like cracked cement and see a tower. This creative artist skillfully painted a miniature King Kong clenching on to a crack at the corner of a cement wall.
The crack exposed crisscross weaving that looks like the windows of the tower. A small crease as the top creates a "roof," so it looks strikingly similar to the ad photo for the movie! It's equal parts humorous and impressive.
The Masked Wire Robber
Electrical boxes can be quite the eyesore, but especially when they're pried open like this one. The rusted cover was even left laying sideways on the floor as though someone broke into the thing.
That's what makes this graffiti art so clever: the cartoon looks like the burglar. What's humorous about it is that he's holding a pile of wires, which isn't exactly the first thing you would expect someone to steal. If anything, this act of vandalism improves the building's aesthetic.
Pointing Out The Obvious
We've all seen the warning signs to avoid elevators if there's a fire. It's a disturbing thought to realize how dangerous elevators can be in an emergency, but this vandalizer lightened up the mood with two simple words.
Beneath the sign "In case of fire do not use elevator," they wrote, "use water." Whoever wrote that was undoubtedly the class clown that teachers probably referred to as a smart Alec. We can just imagine the brilliant responses they would have had to math word problems.
Ghostbusters Protect This Property
Ghostbusters is a classic movie that goes hand-in-hand with the "no ghost" sign above. The original sign was a red circle with a red backslash over a black background. Its official name is a "general prohibition sign," but one graffiti artist transformed it into the Ghostbusters logo.
As the name implies, Ghostbusters is a comedy about four men who team up to fight ghosts. The cover of the film features a white ghost that's the same shape and wearing the same facial expression as the one above and is also stuck in a prohibition sign.
Proving Their Point
The sign was already humorous to begin with as it proclaims, "This year thousands of men will die from stubbornness." One clever passerby decided to enhance the humor with a short response that proves the sign's point.
Just below the printed phrase, they wrote with white spraypaint, "No we won't." It reads like a conversation between a health care professional and the stubborn person they're trying to warn. Since the outlandish claim isn't serious, it's all in good fun.
iPaid Too Much For An iPad
The Apple company may be famous, but they are also responsible for causing millions of households to spend tons of money on the latest and greatest piece of technology. That's why this witty jokester added an "i" to the logo so that it reads "iPaid."
To drive the message home, they added "too much" to the bottom so that it reads like "I paid too much." We could actually see Apple coming out with a money transferring app called "iPaid."
Because Rules Can Get Heavy
At first glance, it's hard to tell that this sign is even an act of vandalism. The artist so skillfully added the kind of figure we're used to seeing on street signs that you may have found yourself wondering if you just haven't come across this one before.
But then you realize that the figure appears to be carrying the white bar in a "no entry" sign. Though the symbolic meaning could be interpreted in many ways, we take it as an illustration of how rules can weigh you down.
A New Meaning Of Street Fighting
When you hear the term "street fight," you probably think of people fighting in the streets, the keyword being "in." You don't think of someone fighting the actual street! That's what appears to be happening in this photo thanks to one artist with a sharp eye.
They saw a bent pole lining the street as an opportunity. Thus, they painted a man jump kicking the pole, as though the cartoon were responsible for the noticeable dent.
This Way To Forrest Gump
Even those who have yet to see the timeless movie Forrest Gump have likely heard the film's famous line "Run, Forrest, run!" After all, the phrase does kind of start the entire plot, which consists of a man running across the country and accidentally participating in major events in American history.
That's what makes the tiny alteration to this highway sign so significant. By putting the word "Run" in front of a street named "Forest Run," the sign reads the famous line while pointing to the left, as though it's a directive to the title character!
Thanks Tom Hanks
Many know that Tom Hanks played the title role in Forrest Gump, so it's only fitting that we place this act of vandalism behind the "Run Forest Run" street sign. The brilliant mind behind this joke put a dot between the "T" and the "H" on a trashcan cover that reads "THANKS."
Since the letters are in all caps, it looks like an abbreviation of the actor's name. To ensure that everyone gets it, they also stuck on a picture of the celebrity.
A Life-Size Game Boy (Girl Edition)
Apparently, electrical boxes are a popular spot for vandalism. This artist turned the unattractive item into a life-size Game Boy. In an attempt to comment on the gender specification of the classic device, they wrote "Game Girl" on it so everyone can feel included.
Fun fact, "life-size" and "life-sized" mean the same thing, so you can use them interchangeably. We didn't just look that up as we were writing this or anything; we just thought you might want to know.
Pac-Man Street Crossing
Speaking of games, who doesn't love a good round of Pac-Man? No arcade is complete without the timeless classic, and now even streets can feature the game's famous protagonist.
This clever artist saw the white lines on a street crossing as something Pac-Man would surely eat. We can't tell if they "erased" part of the line with black paint or if the street was in the process of being repainted and that's what inspired the artist. Either way, we love the innovation.
"U Can't Touch This"
For diehard MC Hammer fans, the word "Stop" has to be followed by "Hammer time." The line is from the rapper's famous song "U Can't Touch This." Whoever performed this act of vandalism must adore that lyric, because they took the time to print "Hammer time" onto a piece of tape.
They then returned to wherever it was that they saw this "STOP" button and stuck the phrase just below so that anyone who reads it will immediately get the song stuck in their head.
Proof That Art Is Everywhere
Do you remember how easy it was to turn ordinary objects into art with your imagination when you were a kid? Popcorn ceilings could morph into ornate designs, and clouds were always bunnies or happy faces or horses and more?
This vandalizer illustrated that imagination doesn't have to end in childhood when they turned a wall hanger into the face of a hammerhead shark! We can only hope that the cleaning staff felt at least a little guilty scrubbing away something that creative.
Can Someone Hit The Daylight?
When this creative came upon cement blocks in a public outdoor space, they didn't just see pointless and unsightly architectural features. They saw oversized light switches. All they needed was a little black and white paint and voila!
Now one of the odd fixtures is even stranger, but at least it looks like it has a purpose now. The giant "light-switch" looks like it operates the daylight, as though the sun is really a big lightbulb controlled by one oversized switch.
Applaud The Jellyfish
Have you ever looked at instructional symbols with a critical eye and wondered what other meanings they could laughably pass for? The person who wrote this sticky note has. When they look at this dryer's instructional illustration, they don't just see hands under a blowing device.
They see hands clapping together directly bellow a jellyfish. To share this revelation with others, the clever vandalizer stuck a sticky note to the drier that reads "Applaud the jellyfish." We applaud you, wise jokester.
E.T. Returns
E.T. is such a classic film that even kids born long after the '80s typically know the reference. One of the most quintessential aspects of the film is the famous image of Eliot driving the alien over the moon on his bike.
This round wall light looks so similar to the moon that someone had the clever idea of putting an E.T. sticker on it so that it looks like the silhouette of the famous scene. Movie buffs, take note.
A Home Depot Minion
Is it just us, or does this yellow pole look a lot like an angry minion from the movie Despicable Me? This act of vandalism goes to show that you don't need to be a fancy artist to transform something completely.
All they did was add two dots for eyes and two diagonal lines as angry eyebrows. They then strapped an eyemask to the pole right over the eyes, and all of a sudden, it looks like a movie character.
Three Scoops For Me, Please!
If you were a kid who loved to play with fake food, this work of vandalism may have transported you back to the days of eating pretend ice cream.
The artist transformed a subtle design in this cement wall into three scoops of ice cream by painting each hump a different color and drawing a cone underneath. We're sure that just about any kid under the age of six would call this paint job a vast improvement.
Not A Ford Fan
For anyone who loves Ford trucks, let us reassure you that this is only a joke. This vandalizer didn't deface public property; they went straight to someone's personal car to transform their Ford logo into the line "Ugly but affordable."
If you're still feeling offended, just think of it this way, now you can say that the car company puts the "Ford" in "affordable!" Don't worry, we didn't trademark that brilliant tagline. At least, not yet.
