99% Invisible - 99% Invisible-20- Nikko Concrete Commando

Episode Date: March 25, 2011

In 2001, Delfin Vigil was walking the streets of San Francisco and ran across the name “Nikko” carved into the concrete sidewalk. After seeing Nikko once, Delfin began to see the name everywhere. One block after another, there he was … Continue reading →

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Heat the tip red hot in a blue gas flame. Drop it in ice water. Now it will resist abrasion as it cuts through the sand, cement, and rock particles in concrete not yet hardened. From the abstract to the concrete, signed, a friend. I first found Nico by staring at the sidewalks. Delphine Visual is a journalist from San Francisco. One of my favorite things was always to kind of get lost in San Francisco and stare at things that I normally might have looked past. And then I saw his name written in the sidewalk.

Nico. And I thought it was interesting. And then a block then I saw his name written in the sidewalk. RUCO. And I thought it was interesting. And then a block later, I found his name again. RUCO. I turned a corner through Chinatown into North Beach, and I found another one. I would find them not just in North Beach, but Chinatown, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill.

They would be references to the street name. Niko and Barbara, Niko and Night. Or Niko downtown. And then the personality, I mean, it was really coy. It was like, Niko was here, Niko gets it all. Niko concrete compulsive. And I remember once of me was really coy. It was like, Nico was here, Nico gets it all. Nico concrete compulsive. And I remember once, I was just saying to myself,

damn, Nico is everywhere. And then I looked down and it said, Nico is everywhere. I felt like a duty. And I remember thinking that, this is my duty to write this story. And then coincidentally, I'd run across a clue that said, Nico on duty. So Delphine decided to track Nico down.

You know, I wanted to know, was this guy alive? Why did he do it? It was the first time I'd ever felt like I was the one paying attention in class. The tag started in 1967. Because I saw the date 1967, I figured, well, he must have been about, I don't know, 12 years old. In some ways, I got to watch him grow up

because I felt like his personality kind of got a little more bolder through the years. Earlier stuff made me just say Nico. And later on, he would call himself Nico concrete artist. I figured he went to school in the neighborhood, so I went to the high school Galileo and I went to Francisco Middle School.

And so I would start photocopying your book pictures from the 60s and 70s. And I would base this on guys who look like they just had that kind of artful dodger look in their eye. What changed family that was? And this investigation went on through years of dead ends, knocking on stranger stores and getting nowhere. And if right now you're thinking, I love this Nico kid, he's my hero too.

Wait for it. Here it comes. I was by the North Beach playground. I believe it was rainy day and rainy days were always the best days to read the concrete because it washed away a lot of the dirt and you could read things that on other days you probably couldn't see. And I saw this etching that was the longest that I'd ever seen. It took up an entire sidewalk block. It was like a paragraph. And at first I thought, now it can't be him. I think it said... America is a great country built by the white man, home by the Jews, ruined by the...

And then the first word began with an end, but I can't actually say for sure, I mean, I can presume what it said, and you probably can too. But those letters were actually washed away from foot traffic. And then I'd found quite a few others, and it was, you know, I'm talking 10, 15, 20. Oh, man. As far as I could tell from the handwriting, it was Nico. I didn't want to believe it,

because it didn't go with, you know, what I identified with. I mean, to some extent, I wanted to identify as the kind of loner kid in the city too. And this happened right before I finally found him. One of the leads finally panned out. And after a long email courtship, Delphine Vigil grabbed his notebook and microcoset recorder and met Nico.

How did you never get caught? Did I like to tie your shoes? Did I like you tying your shoes? It was a trick of a worker, but did I like you drop something? Met Nico. Nico described all the places he tagged in detail, and Delphine believes that the vast majority of them are from this one guy. My thoughts were that if I do this really deep and do it right, this stuff will last way into the future and it'll be like the concrete will be all washed away with the pebbles poking up my nails so later. It's kind of like any story you get into when you have a hunch about it.

A lot of it was very close to what I had imagined and a lot of it was completely different. He did have a very artful dodger lifestyle. His father was out of the picture, and he had a very bohemian upbringing with kind of like a real carefree parenting style. He was just this kid who was sort of in some ways forgotten. And after a few meetings, Delphine finally found the opportunity to ask the hard questions.

I would see a ban all non-white immigration over by the Stockton Tunnel and then I'd see it over on Russian Hill. There's how about white race consciousness keeping America white? About 12 or 13 of them in the same block of cement. I'd also saw the name Nico. And you let's jump ahead. You probably want to know, did I write that stuff? Well, I'll be straight up honest with you.

I think you did. I can pick out about 15 to 20 that seemed to me would be the same guy who did Nico who would be you. But if I'm wrong, he's the deal. When I was a kid growing up in the city, I'm talking a little kid. The Sunday we would go to March in Oakland for some rights for a peace march. On Monday I'd go to school and I'd get the **** kicked out of me by the very people that we were all Beautifully trying to help. I mean this sounds absurd now But it was all in my mind. It was all put together. Well, if you get right down to it How is the boring suburban kid rebellion to their parents? They go to the opposite extreme. Yeah Believe in right, but I repent

Totally understand. I'm a hardcore green activist now, man Have some more cheap things And that explanation would sit better if the past wasn't written in concrete. I've not written my name, but I've written his name in wet concrete. In fact, that was the first line I wrote for the story it was in the sidewalk.

Gwaka Montgomery Street, toward the Union Street steps, and make a right at Green Street, and right there, unless someone's double parked on top of it, it should still say, I found Nico. I found Nico. 99% Invisible was produced this week by Stephanie Fu and me Roman Mars.

A different version of the story was originally broadcast on the public radio program Snap Judgment, which I know you already subscribed to, but if you don't, do yourself a favor, go find it in the iTunes and subscribe, you will love it. This program is made possible with support from Lunar, making a difference with creativity. It's a project of KALW, the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco, and the Center for Architecture and Design to find out more, including how you can get your hands on delphined vigils, self-published chatbook, all about the Nico story with beautiful illustrations and way

more detail than I can go and do here, go to our website. It's 99%invisible.org. you you