by Lisa Hix

The beauty and frustration of the art of tagging is how completely democratic it is. In the world of graffiti, art is temporary, and whoever can put down a few bucks for spray paint can (and will) smother your masterpiece with their own markings. It doesn't matter who had more talent. Just who was there last.

For years, the Albany "Bulb" Landfill, jutting into the Bay like fist, has been a treasure trove of outsider public art, including the creepy Wicker Man-esque sculpture by writer, artist, and civil-rights lawyer Osha Neumann and the one-room concrete castle by "Mad" Mark. Some of the most intriguing pieces on the Bulb were the series of driftwood paintings by the SNIFF collective, featuring Hieronymus Bosch-like scenes of debauchery and mayhem. The paintings had weathered through 10-plus years since SNIFF and other artists started transforming the landfill into a living museum in 1998.