Reverse graffiti, also known as clean tagging, dust tagging, grime writing, green graffiti or clean advertising, is a method of creating temporary or semi permanent images on walls or other surfaces by removing dirt from a surface. It is often done by removing dirt/dust with the fingertip from windows or other dirty surfaces, such as writing 'wash me' on a dirty vehicle. Others, such as artist Moose, use a cloth or a high power washer to remove dirt on a larger scale. English artist Paul Curtis aka Moose is one of the first street artists to make an art piece using the reverse graffiti technique. He discovered the technique at his dishwashing job, as he explains in his documentary.
The first large scale reverse graffiti art piece was made by Alexandre Orion in 2006, the intervention Ossario with over 1000 foot is washed by the municipality of Sao Paulo in the end of the video.
Street artists such as Banksy or Alexandre Orion have made works with reverse graffiti as well.