I found this picture on the internet (isn’t mine) and it really made me think. In many ways, it can definitely be argued that toilet-wall scrawlings are the purest form of art since no one has any idea who created it. There is no signature or hallmark claiming it the work of a certain artist, it is just there, for people to see and often to make them think – similar to graffiti, really.
Of course a lot of toilet wall writing is just pretty vulgar and crude, as all those who have peered into their school toilets will know. But sometimes, it can be pretty insightful. I love seeing the interesting remarks that people have written whenever I pop into the school loo. Someone once wrote ‘we have money for wars but we can’t feed the poor’ which made me think a lot. Another time someone wrote in big letters ‘Ministry of Magic’ with a huge arrow pointing down the toilet which was just plain funny 😀
I also love that you can have ‘conversations’ with a random stranger – or even many different people – and ‘reply’ to things people have written. I remember someone writing a remark about how they weren’t beautiful and there were a lot of replies around it about society’s ideas of beauty. I also remember writing one of my favourite Fault in Our Stars quotes (the one about thoughts and constellations) on the wall and someone replied with ‘Okay’ which made me squeal with delight.
Me and my friend have been thinking about writing a story about two people having a relationship and meeting just through toilet wall writing, but never actually knowing who they are. I don’t really know how we’d go about it though, it would be interesting to see the finished result x)
So, what are your thoughts on the writing on toilet walls?
~ Hanifah
doodlerainbow.wordpress.com 
It would be hard to make heros from people who converse via toilet walls- I await the story with interest! In Cambridge my husband tells me the graffiti on the gents is usually in Latin! And have you read of the graffiti found in the ruins of Pompeii- not so much Art as social history. Interesting and thought provoking post!
My library’s copy of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” was like this. People would write in the margins and illustrations.
My favorite notes were those about the catepillar. One person drew an arrow pointing to it’s smoking paraphenila and wrote the word “bong.” Another reader responded, “Actually, that’s called a hookah you uncultured swine.”
And if you wrote that story, I would totally read it.