Who is Cold Killer?

I took this photo a week or so ago when Zac noticed it on the way home from work. Lots of people in Seattle are intruiged by the tagger known as Cold Killer. And now I’m wondering. . . . . . why am I feeling sucked in too?

In some minds he is Seattle’s graffiti darling, a favorite with his own band of followers. In other’s opinion he’s the mentally challenged  menace who is ruining public property and creating the same eye soar all over the city.

Loved by many, hated by most, the pac man ghost artist is alive and well, and you’ve just got to wonder, “what’s his deal?”

The story, according to a phone interview in 2004 between Seattle’s Stranger and the Cold K himself goes like this: Cold K witnessed a murder while out on the streets somehwere in the Central District. He reported it but he says  the cops wouldn’t listen to him. He was so  messed up over  never knowing what became of the murderer that he just started writting “Cold Killer” and drawing morbid pictures on walls and things all over:

(Above: Flikr photos- follow the links for credits)

“I started out doing skulls and crossbones, anything sort of death-related, and then it became a ghost,” The Cold K told the Stranger.

Certain people laud Cold K and other graffitist as artist, cultivating an urban art expression, all their own. There are the masters, and there are the punks who just scribble their initials on any wall they can get their paws on.

Here’s one of  Cold K’s groupie on the subject:

“Sure, there were other taggers painting all over Seattle, but Cold K’s expressionless ghosts were identifiable, noticeable, and varied enough in style that they didn’t become boring. I imagine that if I owned property in the city I wouldn’t be too fond of graffiti artists but, since I don’t, and since I’ve always been a big fan of culture subversion, Cold Killer is my favorite tagger in Seattle.”

But do taggers see themselves as artists, perfecting their “skills” and honing their expressionism?

 ”I try to make my art look as nice as possible, so people will like it” Cold K said (again Stanger interview), ” but I have some motor damage, and my brain is kind of rotted out from huffing and other drug abuse, so the pieces usually come out super shitty. That is what makes me paint a lot. I think if I practice #?% and my tags aren’t so shitty, people won’t hate it so much.”

After 5 years and counting, the Cold K is  still going strong. Or is he? With all his fame, I could only think he had to have some copy cats out there. I  did some more research and learned that if the ghost has teeth, it’s not his tag.

So my above photo is of an imposter. I couldn’t belive it!  I had to go out and find an original, and armed with my wealth of Cold K information I think I’m up to the challenge.