Drowning or waving?

The shadowy cobblestoned backstreets of Genoa remind me not a little of the labyrinthine dark alleys of Barcelona. Both Genoa and Barcelona seem to have more than their fair share of resident angry students and paint-the-wall activist types spouting political slogans, creatively jamming the perception-circuits of the sallow-souled, compliant many, brightening up the place with a bit of guerilla visual rowdiness. Ah, angry students.

The cheap thrill of postmodern non-cynical directness hasn't completely taken over. How on earth did being cynical and ironic go out of fashion? Thank the Lord, there is room on Genovese walls for Modernist obscurantism, as this sequence demonstrates nicely.

I am also happy to report that the political opinions of the spraycan wielding classes are varied, as this dialogue (sorry, palimpsest) on the right to life of el Chavez reveals. Note the cute ‘lil snail and the 'Housing is a Right' slogan perched above, hopefully soliciting attention.Via Gramsci is the name of the road that runs alongside the port of Genoa; from a hill up near the castle, the view is superintended by the bearded patriarch of all modern ink-based wall disfiguration.