If you're like me, your stumbles through the city have unwittingly exposed you to a variety of fascinating street art. Or maybe you're one of those cool hipsters who hangs out in the Mission, purposefully searching out every spraypainted wall your houndstooth-wearing soul can find. Either way, you may be in luck, as the 1AM mobile app allows the street art lover or creator to snap pics, and share their favorite local urban Picassos.
Launched by Daniel Pan, owner of First Amendment Gallery (1 AM) — local gallery on Mission and Sixth Street, which features local street art — the 1AM app allows artists and enthusiasts from around the world to post and share their city-dwelling treasures in order to document this growing movement. Users simply take a photo of their newest graffiti-find and hashtag it, accomodating others to locate it through a common link within the app.
In addition to the friendly hashtag, this virtual art gallery timestamps each photo, creating an archive of murals in a world where walls are continuously painted over, taken down, and/or difficult to find. Giving the hopeful time-traveler in all of us a sense of nostalgia, this Marty McFly-approved feature gives viewers not only a way to see what and where the painting was, but when it was located.
Traveling by plane, train or automoblie, sans the Delorean? Navigate through the "Top Rated" section of the app and find the best street art within the city you are currently located. With cities ranging from Berlin to LA, there is no stopping your spraypainted desire to ogle at sides of buildings.
Available at the App Store.