NA NACH NACHMA NACHMAN MEUMAN

It is a mantra, popularised by a Rabbi Odesser, one of the founding figures in the Breslov Hasidim movement, in Israel.

Its origins contain all the necessary poetry, magic, and mysticism.

It is chanted, sung and screamed, by overjoyed Hasidic men in the streets, standing on top of their cars, and vans, blasting upbeat music, and honking their horns. It is written with reverence over the doors of shops and homes, in an effort to invite positivity, into the inhabitants lives.

And, surprisingly enough, it is one of the most impressive graffiti campaigns I have ever seen.

I lived in New York for eight years. Although, I was a supporter of Giuliani's efforts to clean up the graffiti problem, I couldn't help but admire some of the artists and their work. Not because it was beautiful. Lets be honest, for the most part it was all done hastily with spray paint on a dirty wall. If I wanted to see fine art, I would go to the Met. Instead, it's merit came from its phenomenal prevalence.

When a particular image or text, is repeated through out a city, forcing everyone to encounter it, casually, in their daily lives, over and over again, the presence of the art becomes its meaning. Graffiti can be like a visual mantra, constantly reoccurring, as we navigate the cities we live in.

And so the religious Mantra, Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman, becomes the Secular Mantra, in the form of graffiti, in the city of Tel Aviv.

There is another example of this particular juxtaposition, I want to mention. "Am Yisrael Chi" is also endlessly reappearing. This case is noteworthy because I believe it may be done by a single artist, who deserves credit, for shear determination, because he has manged to blanket the walls of Tel Aviv with his graphic message.