Day #10: The Beginning

Last year me and Evan met a guy named Mick. Mick had an idea. It seemed a little… you know… out there. He told us about a man named Tony, a graffiti writer, who needed our help. He said Tony had a real bad disease. Said he couldn’t move a muscle, that the disease had only spared his eyes. Said maybe WE could help him to write again. And we were arrogant or foolish enough to think maybe, with the help of our friends, that we could.

But in the end, something unexpected happened. It was Easter and there was an actual miracle. Because at the end of the day, it was Tony who helped all of us: he helped us to know hope, showed us what it means to be strong, to be a survivor, to be a graffiti writer, to be alive. It was his father, mother, brother and crew who showed us the meaning of the word family. It was the Ebelings who showed us what it means to have a vision. It was through Tony’s eyes that we finally saw what graffiti was really all about.

So, consider this the beginning, these words an introduction. If you don’t already know him, let me tell you about my hero. His mama named him Tony. The streets crowned him Tempt. The disease said he was finished. But me and my crew, we call him the Eye Writer: a living legend, the first man to bomb with his eyes.

Tempt’s first tag in seven years

Stay tuned to FAT and GRL, in the next few weeks, to see the whole story, to learn more about TemptOne in his own words, to find out about the EyeWriter V1.0 and to become a part of the project to enable other heroes all over the world, surviving ALS, to once again make art.