the Pi'd Pi'per of Amsterdam

One day, on one of my regular walks to Hema, I noticed some graffiti written on boards that were attached to scaffolding and bearing the following messages: "Purchasing Milosevic," "Pining for a World that Will Not Explode," and "Shirley Likes it Mundane." Above each of these messages, written in script, was "Laser 3.14."


I thought this was pretty random until I noticed a message, in the same form (on a board) at the Albert Heijn supermarket at Museumplein that said, "She Never Showed the Need to Clip my Wings." I started to wonder if there was some riddle for people to solve.




Last week, we went shopping by the American Book Center in downtown Amsterdam. A postcard of a hooded person writing a message on a board caught my attention. I asked the clerk about it and it ends up that Laser, a graffiti artist, was having an exposition at the American Book Center's Treehouse, which is a sort of annex. to the shop. According to the clerk, Laser always puts the number of pi after his name on his "work." The clerk also alluded that Laser's messages tend to have a political bent.


Then Tuesday, as I took the tram to my Dutch class, I caught sight of another Laser oeuvre. This one said, "Severence my dear Coca Cola." Here's a link to pictures on the web of Laser's messages.


Here's the link to the map that covers where I went. You'll need to cut and paste it into a different window. I was having problems setting a link directly from the page. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=113083164752241475047.00044ba4499595d1e406b&ll=52.359353,4.888144&spn=0.023011,0.079994&z=14