Figure 1: Jamesons’ bathroom door.
by J. M.
Thanks to latrinalia, going to the bathroom in public places is no boring activity. It is safe to say that the majority of the U.S. population has seen something written, posted, or drawn on a bathroom wall. Eugene’s bars are highly populated, thus giving us bathroom goers a lot of things to read and look at. I took a look at different women’s bathrooms throughout Eugene to find out what kind of things people were writing in different bars. Bathrooms have a sense of liminal space to them. You are in a stall, where no one else can see you, yet outside of the stall and the bathroom: there are lots of eyes to watch your every move. Behind that stall door, though, is your own time and space. Unlike train graffiti, in which automigration takes place, latrinalia gives the artist a chance to go back to their piece of work, add to it, and sometimes to even see what viewer’s think of their art if they respond. I wanted to see if things written in Sam Bond’s Garage bathrooms were different than those at Rennie’s, for example.
If Bruner and Kelso (1980) were accurate, I would find quite a few conversations and interactive pieces since I am viewing women’s bathrooms. The latrinalia that I chose to focus on for my fieldwork is aimed towards women since it is done in a women’s restroom. However, it is very possible that a piece of art seen by a female patron invoked an emotion in them that caused them to share the piece, or the idea behind the piece, with their group of friends. These friends, male or female, are now part of the audience for that particular piece of latrinalia. Most bars in Eugene tend to have a specific crowd that congregates every night and I wanted to see the differences in what women at each bar had to say.
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Since Rennie’s is one of the bars basically on campus, I was expecting to find a lot of phone numbers, initials and pretty pictures of hearts and flowers, this would seemingly fit the crowd at Rennie’s. Rennie’s bathroom was surprisingly dull and boring. Maybe I showed up after a fresh new coat of paint, but the girls at Rennie’s are slacking on their latrinalia. I was able to spot three piece of work, all of which were etched into the paint. The word “truth” appeared, along with “Cheers to Jesus” and finally a heart with “MM” in the middle. I must say, I was highly disappointed with the lack of latrinalia at Rennie’s.
Figure 2: Rennie’s Bathroom
My disappointment continued at Taylor’s bar. Taylor’s is known to be highly populated by sorority sisters and fraternity brothers so I was expecting neat, bubbly handwriting to discuss hot boys and phone numbers. Unfortunately, I was welcomed into the bathroom with sterile, newly painted, white walls. Jameson’s bathroom was a relief. Jameson’s was described to me as “indie” and “trendy,” and I have been entertained in the bathroom previous to my fieldwork. Though a lot of the art was dull in color (due to the attempt to cover it up), there was plenty to look at. Possibly my favorite piece is seen when you first walk in the door, it is a great example of taking space. A lady chose to write “sorry” on a framed painting. I picture her having the urge to add to the painting, but is unsure of what she wants to do, and is feeling a little guilty for “damaging” the painting, so she wrote “sorry.” I love this because it’s almost as if she is apologizing at the same time as saying, “Screw you, this is my space too.”
Figure 3: Jameson’s Bathroom.
In the stalls at Jameson’s, there are a plethora of faded pieces of art. One blatantly lets us know that it is art as it is a woman with “ART” written in her hair. There are words of inspiration such as “Love Yourself,” depressing quotes such as “Love is a lie I will never tell again,” and public health messages, like “Herpes Happens, Protect Yourself.” With this piece of writing, someone replied and said, “So do babies.” Participatory culture really comes into play with this example. People are able to participate and to be a part of creating the art. The aura in the Jameson’s bathroom was very much tied to the latrinalia. I walked out of there feeling inspired and smiling from some of the quotes.
I had never ventured into John Henry’s previous to my fieldwork, but I know the scene changes nightly since each night has a different theme. When I asked around, people described it as a place where “punk-rock wannabe’s” hang out and sometimes “gangster wannabe’s.” John Henry’s often gives me a sketchy feeling, especially from the outside, but the people who patronize this place are extremely creative. The bathroom walls are brilliantly covered with pictures, words, stencils, advertisements and even spray paint, by far the most latrinalia I have seen at one time. Visitors at John Henry’s love to write their admiration for the bar on the wall, sometimes even what they love about the bar. I almost felt like I was inside a high school yearbook page with all the messages and signatures. One thing that was unique to the John Henry’s bathroom was the advertisements. On the stall doors, people wrote the names of their groups, such as “Emerald City Rollergirls,” a local roller derby squad.
Figure 4: John Henry’s bathroom.
These groups are using latrinalia to create media and advertise themselves. I think this is a great way to get the word out about a group. This may even be a good time to get caught doing latrinalia, someone sees you writing your group name, they ask, you tell and it turns into a recruiting conversation! I got a sense of voyeurism in the John Henry’s bathroom too. On the ceiling that you see while you are in the stall, there is a creepy face saying “Hi Girls.” I can’t help but hear an eerie voice when I see it.
Figure 5: John Henry’s bathroom.
My favorite part of the John Henry’s bathroom is right above the front door. This piece may actually be added by the bar staff themselves, but it is a stenciled horseshoe above the door. For a patron of the restroom to do this, they would have needed a chair to stand on, the spray paint and their stencil. No matter who did it, it is still something unique added to the bathroom wall
I decided to venture out of the “mainstream” bars and visit the more middle-aged hippie, local music scene, Whiteaker area, Sam Bond’s unisex restroom. From the look of the bathroom, you would need to know nothing about the bar to know that music is a huge deal. The bathroom is plastered with show fliers past and future at Sam Bond’s garage. People have taken it upon themselves to make those fliers more their own. A lot of the writings were political and philosophical, which fits the vibe of Sam Bond’s. For example, on a poster of two cowboys, someone made one say “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” and the other is saying, “If guns kill people, do pens misspell werds?” My favorite part of this is how the author misspelled werds. That is an awesome additive to the question.
Figure 6: Sam Bond’s bathroom.
I am surprised at the lack of conversation that I found in my search of women’s restrooms. It seems to me that the more indie and laid back bars such as Jameson’s and Sam Bond’s have more creative and interesting latrinalia. I am very pleased with the inspirational messages that ladies want to share with other ladies. I am relieved to see that a lot of ladies are moving past the boring lovey dovey latrinalia like the ones seen at Rennie’s. I wish latrinalia would have been present at Taylor’s so that I could have had more comparative evidence. Through my fieldwork I have become very curious as to whom these ladies that are keeping their fellow ladies entertained. Do the same ladies write in different bathrooms? Do they spend a lot of time thinking of what they are going to write or draw? Do they ever get caught? I think pieces of latrinalia can really show the atmosphere of a place. Jameson’s latrinalia stayed true to its indie vibe, Sam Bond’s stayed liberal and musical while John Henry’s remained eclectic and busy. A lamb drawn on the Jameson’s stall wall seems to say the perfect way to tie latrinalia together, you may be writing on public property, but you are in a liminal space, so “shmeep, beep and fuck it.”
