Vandals: A Counter-Archive

Vandals is a three-channel audio-scape documentary tracing the evolution of London graffiti culture from the 1980s to the present—from train yards to walls—told entirely through the unseen, anonymous voices of its writers.

Graffiti is all around us—we just fail to see it, conditioned by the systems around us not to look. It moves in codes through the concrete of the city, hiding in plain sight. From there, it becomes an argument about who owns the space: not just property, but presence, access, and the right to leave a mark. Surfaces turn into contested ground, layered and buffed, forming a living palimpsest shaped by surveillance and time.

Different voices, same message, echoing a simple ethos:
“You don’t need permission, you just do it” (Anonymous, 2025)

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Directed by Sophie Klampferer

Gratitude + Thanks
Penny Woolcock, Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Cherry Bee and all the writers that shared their memories and stories with me, I am eternally grateful.