Bien Urbain – The graffiti of Besançon

Splashed onto walls and etched into foundation, Bien Urbain is a modern artistic movement in Besançon. Some pieces are dark while others are a bright surrealism. Below, you’ll find some art and reactions to my favorite pieces. Enjoy!

P1000544

Dream like bodies are drained upwards swimming towards some unseen destination. The nakedness and the black and white color might represent desire – always wanting to move in some direction “upwards”.

 

 

P1000547

 

 

P1000549

 

“I would like no more than to never work”

 

Phrases like this are hidden all around the city. Another one of my preferred pieces, this etching and the intention behind all the other sentences expresses an honesty within our selves that one needs to be willing to discover.

The truth is hard to look at – and even harder to find.

 

 

P1000551

Originally this ditch was meant to be something – maybe a building or a park. But for reasons I couldn’t understand the construction was cancelled.

“Pardon” was written jokingly to mean “Excuse me for this.”

 

P1000555

A façade on the side of this building.

 

P1000559

 

The artist who created this is called 108 (Cent Huit)

 

P1000560

Created as a homage to old advertisements, it translates as “Painting the old”

 

P1000563

I love this one a lot. The houses are Asian inspired. My thoughts? I don’t really know yet…

 

 

P1000565

“In fact, I’m truly superficial”

 

P1000566

 

“OH” – 108

I find this to be really fascinating and cool. To make this sound in French it’s necessary to have a consonant after the vowel. If it was just O it would be succinct. Though, with the H to cap it, it draws out the sound to be more like “Ohh”.
I see the colors as the connection in sound, starting with a hard vowel and ending in a voiceless consonant that pulls the sound a little further.

 

Thanks for reading!

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