Hua Hin - a city that is watching you!
When you're wandering around Hua Hin for a while, at some point you catch yourself thinking, "Wait, I've seen this before." Eyes. Faces. Simple, slightly strange drawings, mostly about love and loneliness, on walls, fences, transformer boxes. And then some more. And some more 👀
That's how I first noticed the local street art and the artist known here as Joe. His works are scattered all over the city—no signs, no explanations, just part of the street and the life of this city. At some point, the familiar GTA mechanic of painting over another gang's graffiti pops up: you walk along and automatically scan the walls, like, "Oh, another graffiti, plus one for the collection." Only here, you click on your phone instead of painting over it.
His style is very simple—eyes, figures, almost childish lines. There's no obvious meaning, but because they're repeated, they catch your eye. You start noticing them everywhere, and the city seems to turn into a map with hidden spots.
It's interesting that attitudes toward this vary in Hua Hin. For some, it's art and the city's character; for others, it's just illegal graffiti. At one point, an artist was even asked to paint over his work on public buildings. Yet, at the same time, he was invited to participate in official art events and exhibitions. Such a contrast, very Thai.
I personally liked this sense of play. You're not specifically looking for anything, you just live in the city, and it throws these visual Easter eggs at you. If you're in Hua Hin, I advise you to be more attentive and watch who's watching you!
#streetart
#huahin