RIP Alfa

CBC NEWS

Last Updated Feb 2 2005 07:10 AM EST

TORONTO – An 18-year-old man died Monday night when he was struck by a train in the city's west end.

Rest In Peace

one of the most dangerous spots in the city to paint freights..

rip.

RIP

Rest In Peace, friend.

This kid, out of all the writers in this city I socialized with, had the most heart - hands down.

I painted with him a few times last year, and he was DEFINITELY going to be one of the best to ever grace this city. Up everywhere in his young graffiti career.

The one fella I talked to who was there is not doing too well. They were childhood friends. He was a good friend to me, even, and I've known him for not that long. RIP!!!!!!!!!

*shit, he was the reason i started bombing again. Young people with heart will do that to an old fuck up like me.

rumour has it was alfa.

RIP

Rest in peace.

My best goes out to his freinds and family.

Getting struck by a freight is not a good way to go.

I feel for that man deeply- May he rest in peace....

rip///

fuck thats fucked! i was feeling better after i found out it wasn't some of my painting buddies but still..crazy! rest in peace kid!

this cat started to get up around the city pretty hard,,,rip,,,

when good people die,it pisses me off

RIP to friends and fam

I've been around trains for all of my graffiti carrer and I've had some close calls on that line.It's easy to get run up on there,it's a shame such a young life was taken away.My respect goes out to his family and crew.

RIP ALFA

Team TARD

Originally posted by ghostvandal@Feb 2 2005, 10:05 PM

 

fuck thats fucked! i was feeling better after i found out it wasn't some of my painting buddies but still..crazy! rest in peace kid!

Quoted post

DAMN !!! Only 18 years old and with them skills...Much respect homie....RIP ALFA....

I met the kid last summer when I came down to Tdot, he truly put his heart in whatever he did whether if it was bombing, drinking or even robbing writers. My sympathy goes out to Focus, Chops and the SB fam. Keep your heads up. Rest in Peace Alfa.

I just got back from Alfa's funeral. It didn't surprise me, the number of people there who were so obviously touched by his passing.

His dad gave a great speech, and I think Alfa was lucky to have a dad like him. As much as he disapproved of his only son's writing, you can tell that he highly respected his son for going all out in whatever he had chosen to do.

On the procession to the cemetary, we passed by a bunch of his throwups, and I had spotted him for most of them. I remember the first time I went bombing with him, he fixed up an old throwup of mine, and I didn't even have to ask. That's pretty much how he was.

People think he had very little respect for other writers, but such was not the case. His dad even said how way back when Alfa was 12, he would be mesmerized by the stuff on the Keele wall, and it was like he was re-born when he got into graffiti. It's just that his goal was not to be respected by others, but to just do his thing. In fact, a banner in the Mosque said "It's important to have respect for yourself, not what others think of you" next to his picture. Or something like that, anyway.

Anyway, all those stupid gossiping and beefs that start because who knows why is all trivial in the end. Sometimes writing graffiti can be dangerous, and I don't see the sense in filling some sort of void in one's life, lack of drama like on the O.C. or whatever, because of this shit.

Dude is probably in Paradise right now, laughing at all the people who were crying at his funeral. Telling peeps to man up and just put his name up...RIP Bardya - you were one of a kind, and it was always a refreshing change to hang with you and talk graff. Peace!

Sorry for your loss, X.....

RIP

Rest in peace.

dope name and meaning as read in the article.

rip man.

Originally posted by T=E=A=S=E@Feb 5 2005, 05:35 AM

dope name and meaning as read in the article.

 

rip man.

Quoted post

good since you're here.......

Rest in Peace

respect from DRNones... east and the west.

^^ wrong tease, b.

Damn.

Bless.

as soon as I heard about where it happened I said to myslef:

Oh shit... that's the high speed danger zone. I've only hit there

once, on a wall next to the cars, when I was his age. It's a damn shame.

I only hope that people see that your life isn't worth it.

It's not the BX and it's not '82, so DONT put yourself in that spot.

I think that's sorta like saying that crossing the street isn't worth it, because you just might get hit by a car.

Accidents happen, and my man just happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

I hear that it's a dangerous spot, but hey...

Graffiti in general is dangerous. I've had my share of spills and thrills, and it's just a part of it.

If someone died from a football injury, one wouldn't say "it's not worth it". It'd be a tragedy, just like this. Sure, he was in a dangerous spot that isn't supposed to be trespassed on, but that comes with the territory.

Everyone should be careful, no doubt. There most definitely is a lesson to be learned from this.

RIP Alfa. Led an inspiring life.

And my condolences to the survivors.

R.I.P, man this is tragic

^fully agree with weaponx,,just gotta play it safe,,,and never get too cocky,,im gettin tired of hearing after every graf incident,," see is it really worth it" if it wasnt i wouldnt be livin this shit!

as i type this my mind is flowing with a thousand different emotions..i don't know what to say or how to put it. first time i ever heard of a writer getting killed by freights. only each individual writer himself can decifer if it's really worth it or not. we shed a tear fo the man ALFA..a fallen brother wheter we knew him or not. may God rest his soul.

T.R.O.Y.(They Reminisce Over You) - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth

- GISTO *AUB *GTC *MAK

Queens, NYC

damn.. Last time I was in toronto he had a ton of new spots running.. Good solid fillins. wow, that fucking sucks.. sympathy to his crew and family..

rest in peace.

never knew him but saw what he did in the past year, went hard and went big im sure hes still doin it wherever he is. its a shame ta loose anyone. the city will definately be less colorful this year for sure.

RIP

from this weeks Now Magazine

Thriving on the thrill

Bardia Bryan Zargham climbed lofty heights for his art, but in the end his fearlessness was no match for a freight train

BY Conor Clarke

The bomb dropped for me Wednesday night: Bardia Bryan Zargham, a well-known Toronto graffiti artist, was dead. It was unbelievable.

Bryan, 18, had just finished a bright blue and white piece on a freight car when he was struck and killed by an oncoming train near Dupont and Christie at approximately 9:45 pm. No one's sure how it happened.

The police think he may have been trying to retrieve a bag with some paint in it. A friend who was there thinks he may have tried to hide but slipped on a paint can.

"I heard the train coming and yelled to Bryan, 'Train up,'" says the artist, who wishes to remain anonymous. "When it got closer we hid, expecting him to hide, too. When the train passed, my friend pointed to the ground far away from where we'd been painting. When I got closer I saw it was Bryan."

I had always seen Bryan as tough as nails. I'd seen him do things that others wouldn't dare, and heard endlessly retold stories about him, so I thought he was invincible, that not even a train could stop him. Bryan was driven by his ambition to make a name for himself. He chose "Alpha" as his name and fanatically made certain it was plastered across rooftops, trucks, bus stops and, of course, trains.

There's too much Alpha out there for people not to take notice. But it's Bryan's heart and loyalty, a side of him that existed before Alpha, that have had the most profound effect on all those who knew him. These qualities deserve a part equal to his beautiful art in his legacy.

I remember exactly what he was wearing the first time I met him – grey hoodie and layer upon layer of dark clothes – because, like his graff, the style was unmistakable.

Every time he got off a bus, streetcar or subway, he did his best to leave something behind. It didn't matter what time it was or whether he was on his way to school or a party, Bryan always managed to use a pen, aerosol can or even a skate sharpener to mark his passing.

Many people might think what he was doing was senseless, even criminal. Why risk getting arrested, hurt or killed to scribble on a boxcar?

Anyone acquainted with Byan knew he was completely devoted to what he did, fearlessly pursuing that passion since he'd begun painting five years ago. As a young boy, he'd seen graffiti in the Keele station while riding the subway with his father and announced, "This is what I'm going to do!"

He was one of the breed of graffiti artists who thrive on the thrill of getting caught, the risk involved in painting a train, the respect garnered in aerosol culture, not from artistic genius but from the fearless pursuit of the art itself.

For bombers like Bryan, graffiti is about taking their art to the streets, working in the middle of the night, writing where others won't.

"There was a month last summer when he was sleeping all day and painting all night," says a graffiti artist and friend who goes by the tag Jony.

To bombers, painting a commissioned wall is boring and staid. They want the satisfaction of surprising morning commuters with an Alpha looking down from every rooftop on Spadina where yesterday there was only decaying brick.

Order, another Toronto graffiti artist and friend of Bryan's, recounts one particularly dangerous spot they painted, the top of abandoned silos downtown.

"There was no easy way up to the top of them," he says. "We eventually had to make a jump for a drain pipe and shinny up 15 feet so we could get to a ladder. We climbed the ladder for, like, 10 stories. When we got to the top we painted our names in huge letters, took in the view of the city and climbed back down."

But bombing quickly separates those who are serious, like Bryan, from those who are doing it for a lark. For many, the first time they're caught spells the end of their graffiti careers. An arrest means a record, a fine, community service. If you're caught a couple of times, the penalty could include jail. If they catch you red-handed, they may even try to fine you for previous work. To gain respect, you've got to go where others won't. Public places, police station walls, rooftops – and trains. Paint enough trains and the whole country knows your name.

Bombers must scour the city for the perfect cap (the nozzle that comes with a spray can) to ensure the fattest letters and the cleanest lines. These are exceedingly difficult to come by, because the only people who use them are on the wrong side of the law.

Graffiti is a perplexing art form. It's marginal, impermanent. Some say it lacks merit. Bryan saw it as something that made him come alive, gave him purpose.

Everyone who knew Bryan liked him. He was misunderstood by those who weren't close to him. It's sad that so many only knew him as Alpha, the graff artist, the dark-skinned hooded guy who walked around with a swagger, the same guy I was first scared of.

But to those close to him, he was so much more than an artist. He was a young man who loved his family and friends above all, and who wasn't afraid to be different. His parents need never have doubted that those cuts and bruises he'd sometimes come home with were the result of Bryan's heart and his loyalty to those in trouble.

Bryan is going to be missed by everyone who knew him – the graffiti community, his family and his friends – not just for his art but for the passionate and fearless person he was.