From 1996 to 2016, working under the name ABOVE, Tavar Zawacki expanded his practice beyond the arrow into a new visual language built from text, humor, and linguistic play. In 2007, while traveling for six months through South and Central America, Tavar began developing a series of “WORD PLAY” text-based works that grew directly from his early graffiti foundation and his working knowledge of four languages. What began as humor quickly sharpened into strong social and political commentary. Pieces like “Blood Diamonds” in Johannesburg, “Occupy Wall St.” in Miami, and “#socialmedia” in Copenhagen pushed the work into direct engagement with global issues, amplifying ABOVE’s presence in the international press. These Wordplays became markers—moments where language, politics, and public space collided.

This archive brings together that evolution: the humor, the multilingual agility, the cultural responsiveness, and the willingness to speak directly to the moment. Zawacki’s Wordplays demonstrate another facet of his global approach to street art—a practice rooted in movement, observation, and the instinct to engage with the world not just visually, but verbally.

MIAMI, FLORIDA, U.S.A. 2011

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist movement opposing economic inequality, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics.

Created in response to the Occupy Wall Street movement, this 120-foot mural was completed with a suspended banker effigy, spelling out the message:

"GIVE A WALL ST. BANKER ENOUGH ROPE AND HE WILL HANG HIMSELF.”

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA. 2012

Painted on the exterior of Jewel City, the largest diamond hub in the Southern Hemisphere, this site-specific wordplay confronts Africa’s history of blood-diamond conflicts. Zawacki secured the wall by promising to paint the harmless line “Diamonds are a woman’s best friend.” Once he began, the true message appeared:

“Diamonds are a woman’s best friend and a man’s worst enemy.”

A blunt critique of an industry long tied to violence, the piece quickly gained international attention, including coverage from ABC News.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK. 2012

At the time, Zawacki had zero social media presence—by choice. Yet everywhere he traveled, he saw how quickly people were disappearing into their screens. This time-lapse mural was his response: a tongue-in-cheek warning painted in real space about a world being swallowed by the digital one. The repeated act of repainting the wall became the message itself.

Ironically, the video of the mural was reposted, reblogged, and retweeted over a hundred thousand times—going viral on the very platforms it critiqued.

WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A 2016

Tavar had no idea this mural would become a magnet for proposals. But soon after it was painted, messages started arriving—stories, photos, and confessions from couples who chose the wall as the moment to ask “Will you marry me?” Over the years, the mural has quietly woven itself into dozens of love stories, proving that art can become a witness to life in ways the artist never expects.

6-Month Tour · 13 Countries · South & Central America

In 2007, Zawacki set out on the South Central Tour, a six-month journey from Rio de Janeiro to Mexico City. Traveling through 13 countries, he was welcomed by influential local artists who invited him into their homes to paint, collaborate, and experience their cities from the inside out. Seeing each place through an artist’s eyes — not a tourist’s — shaped the wordplay murals he created along the way. Raw, unpredictable, and creatively charged, the tour became one of the most formative chapters of his early practice.

STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA. 2012

The mural began with a surreal sight: a small plane lodged nose-first through the roof of the building. Zawacki turned that accidental spectacle into a site-specific wordplay, wrapping the warehouse in the phrase “WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN.” The crashed plane became the punchline—an absurd, perfectly timed collaboration between artist and circumstance.

SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN 2013

This mural invites the viewer to do exactly what it says: USE YOUR IMAGINATION.

Instead of spelling the phrase clearly, Zawacki fractured and hid the letters, leaving only hints of their forms visible. The viewer becomes part of the artwork, mentally reconstructing what’s missing. The piece turns reading into participation—an optical puzzle that only works when imagination completes the line.