Hoodline Highlights: Artist Turns SoMa Feces, Syringes Into 'Mouthwatering' Art

Hoodline Highlights: Artist Turns SoMa Feces, Syringes Into 'Mouthwatering' ArtPhotos: Soma Chef/Medium
Hoodline
Published on January 01, 2017

To close out 2016, we've asked our local neighborhood writers to choose their favorite stories from the past year, and to explain why they loved them so.

Today, we hear from editor Brittany Hopkins:

Like most San Francisco residents, I find myself talking about poop far too often. Chats with friends, chats with family and even chats with perfect strangers quickly devolve into discussions of feces—how often we see it, how to best dodge it and whose fault it is anyway.

But writing about a consistent community problem such as this is a challenge. What makes just another pile of feces or improperly disposed needles news worthy?

Covering District 6 for nearly two years, this questioned plagued me every time I stepped over a fresh pile or we received another complaint from a reader. So, when SOMA Poop Chef’s photos hit my inbox, I didn’t think twice about publishing his endeavor.

While some questioned whether SOMA Poop Chef’s handiwork actually qualifies as art, many residents engaged in a fresh conversation on the problem at hand.

Nearly six months later, visibly, little has changed. And the city’s own annual study shows that reports of feces and hypodermic needles on city streets—in the Tenderloin and Mid-Market region—are only increasing.

So, here we go again.

Below is an excerpt from the original story, published on August 8th, 2016.


For residents South of Market, piles of feces, used syringes and broken glass are common sights.

But rather than stepping over them and continuing on his way, one local artist recently decided to get down on his hands and knees and turn the refuse into art—which he debuted on Medium today.

The artist—who prefers to go by Soma Chef—says that as an 11-year resident of the neighborhood, it's "never the case that I don't see broken glass on the way home from work" ...

Click to continue reading Steven's favorite story of 2016, "Local Artist Turns SoMa Feces, Syringes Into 'Mouthwatering' Art."