Graffiti is a forceful way of inscribing presence or "being" in the world as well as a means of creating affective links to the potency of natural wonders, religious shrines, and ancient ruins as well as the contemporary cityscape. The photographic elevations presented in this volume represent a graffiti-punctuated pilgrim's progress built around the aesthetics of defacement. Graffiti- and mural-covered walls, buildings, automobiles, and railcars are the artful wonders, the vibrant shrines, and the dynamic ruins that structured Larry Yust's pilgrimage to some of the most famed metropolitan centers of the world. He has brought back panoramic souvenirs; vistas that let us be there in a way that is perhaps better than being there. This book celebrates the artistry and audacity of the taggers and uncommissioned muralists who decorate and deface contemporary cities.

Believing that one thing was real only insofar as it corresponded with others, twentieth-century artist Ray Johnson highlighted the connections between himself and other artists including Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Anni Albers, and especially Marcel Duchamp. This study of Johnson through the lens of Duchamp and the other artists who inspired him entails the investigation of hieroglyphs, codes, action figures, queer theory, and cultural history. By examining Johnson's collage and Correspondence art in relation to his main inspirations, this critical work brings new light to the study of Johnson and to the dynamic networks of artistic inheritance and correspondence of the twentieth century.