Taggers over Pacific Heights

TAGGERS THIS MONTH gained access to the roof of the historic Art Deco apartment building at 1940 Vallejo Street and graffitied the east-facing wall, according to a police report filed on August 6. Nearly two weeks later, the graffiti remains on the building.

“The graffiti went up in the middle of the night,” said one resident. “Nobody is entirely sure how they gained access to the roof and pulled it off.”

The culprits were Taiwan-based graffiti artists connected to a group called EO4 who travel the world tagging buildings. They rappelled from the roof and inscribed the words “Joshua” and “Neme” in black and white paint. “We own your city now,” the top of the tag at 1940 Vallejo declares. The distinctive, straight, angular lettering was signed “EO4” and “Taipei to the Bay.”

“Our tag is identical to, but better looking than, a tag made in the Tenderloin on an unpainted brick building,” according to information distributed among the residents of the building. “Although we still have many unanswered questions, it seems that this is more ‘art work’ by international artists than local gang behavior.”

“Personally, I kind of like the graffiti,” said a resident, “but, as you might guess, many others in our building were outraged and are taking steps to get it painted over. So enjoy it while you can — it probably only has a couple of weeks left in it.”

The SFPD has declared the tag to be graffiti and ordered it removed within 30 days to avoid fines.

The Bombing Science website provides background on one tagger in the group, Josh, noting he started “writing” around 2012 or 2013. “I took some breaks from writing here and there ’cause I felt like I just wasn’t good enough,” he told the website. “I was told my letters weren’t legible, so I began doing straight letters instead of throws.”

Instagram postings from the group challenge other graffiti artists to one-up them. Keep your eyes on the sky to find out if someone pulls off a more daring tag.