

Moss Graffiti - ColinWright
http://wonderfulengineering.com/using-a-blender-this-guy-executes-the-coolest-but-most-illegal-diy-project-ever-brilliant/

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maaaats
Don't be fooled! Most of these pictures are moss glued to a wall or sculpted
from existing moss on the wall, NOT painted on with the the recipe shown in
the article. If you check out videos/blogs/etc about this, there are never
follow ups, just people making it. It's because it fails most of the time.

I've tried it myself, it's possible, but don't expect results similar to those
in the article. Getting it to grow on a vertical wall is very hard, it won't
hold the water and unless you have windy rain it won't really get enough water
in the beginning. Because before it's become nice moss, it's more like dry
grass on a wall. I've experimented with adding super absorbent polymers to
hold the water ("water beads for plants" or something like that). With that, I
got better results. But mostly on angled/horizontal surfaces. For some reason,
my country doesn't sell that kind of stuff, so I had to cut a bunch of diapers
open.

~~~
atourgates
Nothing like the results in the results in the article, but one person
([http://ourlittlegreendot.com/diy-moss-graffiti-paint-
results...](http://ourlittlegreendot.com/diy-moss-graffiti-paint-results/))
reported success following a similar recipe and using the mixture to make a
garden statue look like something found abandoned in a jungle.

These people
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBsIljmgm7o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBsIljmgm7o))
seem to show it working with diaper-stuff like you mentioned, though many
people are crying "fake" about their video.

Man vs. Pin tried
([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfwen84Wmo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfwen84Wmo))
and didn't have much success, though in the end a neighbor washed it away, and
it looks like he was putting it on a sunny wall in a warm climate.

It'd be neat to figure out, but doing something like a vertical garden where
you start out flat, grow the moss, then hang it on a wall seems more realistic
to get anything like the Anna Garforth pieces everyone seems to post along
with the recipes.

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cing
Easier said than done. If the amount of humidity at the wall is not ideal, you
have to visit and water the moss regularly. If the conditions aren't right you
often just end up growing mold graffiti
([https://vimeo.com/44045555](https://vimeo.com/44045555)).

Guides like this one often include the work of Anna Garforth
([http://www.annagarforth.co.uk/](http://www.annagarforth.co.uk/)) but she
uses a different method. She grows moss and cuts it into typography, then
adheres it to the wall. I have yet to see a real example of grown moss
graffiti.

~~~
jerf
Ah, thank you. Some of the pictures you can clearly see the depth of the moss
and it was absurd to think that you could paint something on to a wall which
would then grow an inch or two straight out with no spread across the surface
whatsoever. I'd be interested in a more honest picture set showing the results
of the actual instructions being followed; I suspect they're less impressive
than the clearly-molded moss drawings.

~~~
vilhelm_s
Or, alternatively, instructions for how to grow and cut your own moss-mat to
reproduce the photos.

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driverdan
As others have pointed out this is fake. Not only that but this blogspam is
full of stolen images.

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pyrocat
I feel like I saw this on stumbleupon like 10 years ago

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ctdonath
A friend did this on his sidewalk. Now he can't kill/remove it short of
grinding out the concrete.

~~~
sjtrny
You should be able to use a high pressure washer to remove it.

~~~
danielweber
Got an uncle who knows his way around a pressure washer. There are still some
stains on my driveway he can't remove.

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raquo
We have so much humidity and moss growing everywhere in Vancouver, and we love
murals over here. Just saying...

I wonder whether a business would be required to clean up moss graffiti like
they're required to remove painted graffiti. After all, moss does grow
everywhere naturally in this city. I even have some on my balcony on 20th
floor.

~~~
DanBC
See this "reverse graffiti" \- someone washes some dirt off a car tunnel wall
to create images.

It gets hosed off shortly after.

[http://youtu.be/JwsBBIIXT0E](http://youtu.be/JwsBBIIXT0E)

~~~
mikefivedeuce
Thanks for sharing that - never seen it before. I like that it gets something
accomplished if it needs to be removed. Reminds me of the pothole artist in
Chicago.

[http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2014/11/03/chicagos-
potho...](http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2014/11/03/chicagos-pothole-
artist-returns-with-new-flower-mosaics.php)

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3rd3
This looks like a hoax. Moss is very sensitive.

~~~
danielweber
So how do I get it out of my backyard?

~~~
3rd3
With polluted, dry air and sun light.

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phren0logy
Much prefer the title "Moss Graffiti" to the link-bait original title "Using A
Blender, This Guy Executes The Coolest But Most Illegal DIY Project Ever."

Cool project, awful title. "Most Illegal DIY Project Ever?" Seriously, I
thought it was going to be a home-made suitcase nuke.

~~~
mrkickling
I love how it is the most illegal DIY project ever. What is that based on?

~~~
endgame
I hate the modern internet sometimes. I think the radioactive boy scout would
be much less legal than moss graffiti, for starters:
[http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html](http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html)

~~~
aaren
That was an amazing read! Thank you :)

