17 Comments on Is Graffiti Art or Crime?
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FIRST !
Graffiti is not a crime when it is about cleaning walls (sorry video in french but the graffiti is a cleaned wall)
this is called REVERSE GRAFFITI cool isn\’t it !
more pictures here
Maybe the guy spoke of these points but I don\’t understand ze french (C-C will translate for me)
Clean walls you say, hmm…just what did the artist use to clean that wall (which, btw, look pretty clean to begin with) if it was acid or bleach, that sucks, if it was chalk, well he ain\’t cleaning it, he\’s just another graffiti\’ist.
Now here\’s real reverse graffiti (which I think we\’ve all seen) but what the heck, today\’s about graffiti, well sort of. I\’m sorry the guy has to spend a few days in jail & not knowing the particulars that let to his arrest, he may or may not deserve it, I wish him the best.
We could get into a whole debate whether \”graffiti guys\” or \”taggers\” are indeed artists, or just downright vandals with a spray can but I gotta to go.
The \”artist\” the French guy is talking about must be a student of yours, Kam, because the work being shown was done with a pressure washer! Between 54 and 64 seconds into the video the guy refers to a \’Kärcher\’ (compressor/washer brand)and says it is quite obvious also that he uses a stencil, thus cleaning off the dirt around his piece. No chemicals!
libere-ta-colere.com = release your anger. The website is multilingual including English.
Maybe he\’s a buddy of your tunnel guy!
I agree that jail time for Graffiti is harsh and I love graffiti art too. Yet he knew that while doing his graffiti that if he got caught he could face jail time. So like the old saying goes.
If you can’t do the time don’t do the crime.
I find these artists to be very articulate and logical.
The main takeaway here for me is that the cost of the crime is way too high. In light of tax dollars being sucked up through war, etc., its a shame that so much of OUR money is being spent on removing this artist from society.
Like others I agree that there should be a penalty but its bad city management to pay so much to get deal with the issue.
How about other creative solutions like charging the offender with public service contributions?
Great footage with the mom at the end.. nice work.
\”public service contributions\” = like cleaning off the \’art\’ he created.
I agree the penalty is a bit steep but that\’s not the point. It is illegal. msquared above stated the old adage. The problem of graffiti is bad enough as it is. Not enough of them get caught. If the penalty were just a slap on the wrist there would not be anymore bare public surfaces in NYC. A real (conventional) artist must go through the effort of exhibiting in a gallery or other formal gathering to get noticed. Why should these guys be any different? If I want to see your \’art\’ I\’ll go to look at it at an event, don\’t plaster it outside in public places where most of us don\’t care for it and see it as an eyesore.
Now the new tech stuff is different; it doesn\’t deface anything and is gone with the flick of a button. Advancements in tech (and some spare cash) allow for this. Pack it up and take it home when you\’re done - nice.
Thats a pretty good point. Realistically, how ever much money is spent on incarcerating the artist is probably way less than the damage done overall throughout the city.
If graffiti is so wonderful for you commenters, how about you invite some graffiti artists to come adorn your own house with a bunch of their best work? Then see how that impacts the resale value of your home. Still think graffiti deserves a “creative solution”?
Hey Jimbo, thanks for chiming in! I almost always believe in creative solutions ;)
EXACTLY!
GRAFFITTI ARTISTS SHOULD ADORN THEIR OWN TOILET SEATS WITH THEIR ART AND LEAVE THE OUTSIDE WORLD ALONE. IT\’S A FUCKING EYE SORE!
The graffiti is ugly like tattoos. You graffiti artists are punks, useless punks! Ya always stealin paint down at the 5-and-dime. Stealers and property ruiners, you are. Ya throwin the empty cans in the street after ya paint my house and my school and my brick wall and my mailbox and my city bus and my phonebooth. Everything you braindrunks spray turns to crap! Hang the graffiti punks. Hang them HIGH!
I see some artistic value in some graffiti, but I also see the “artist” usurping other people’s property as a canvas. To me that crosses the line of respect.
Please also remember that all graffiti is not art. Gangs have used graffiti to mark their turf for many, many years. Did a story once about a store owner whose place got tagged by the local posse. He lightened up the paint but didn’t take it off. He realized that the local gang considered his store “theirs,” and he appreciated the pride they were showing. He also kept a handgun under his apron and a shotgun behind the counter, just in case someone took offense that he messed with their trademark. There were half a dozen murders on his street that year, all of them involving the local gang, none of them the least bit sensible. Thankfully the store owner was not among them.
Suggested punishment for Baca et al.: Make them videotape themselves removing their art with a wire brush and scouring powder. Make them post it online. Make them pay for the cleaning supplies and the bandwidth.
If I had my stonewall cleaned after every jerk tagged it, I would have had the cleaners there three times a week. It cost at least $300 each time. I don\’t see any of these \”artists\” offering to reimburse me for the expensive. Instead I put up a closed circuit video system. After a month I printed out pictures of all of the criminals and put them up on a big sign with a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. When the parents came to me and asked me not to press charges, I made them go to the police and ask for all of the complaints made on the same tags. They then had to go to all of the property owners and make restitution before I would agree to not press charges. Some of the famlies had to pay over $20,000. I also told them that if my walls ever got tagged by anyone ever again I was filing complaints on all of them. My CC system is still up and my walls are clean.
The Graffitti style can be art, but get permission or use your own wall.
There is a component of anarchy in the graffiti culture, that cannot be overlooked. Graffiti is not graffiti unless it\’s done without permission. If they kept going to your wall to tag it over and over, it seems more like bullying. (Unless - no offence - you\’re a rich jerk)
In my opinion, whether graffiti should be kept or cleaned depends on two things.
1) The way it\’s done.
I acknowledge a difference between \”graffiti\” and \”just tags\”. Graffiti to me is a piece of art which is done with great skill and patience. On the other hand, people who just leave tags, aren\’t doing it for the art, they\’re rather doing it to leave a sort of piss mark.
2) Where it is painted.
Place plays an important role in my perception of graffiti. I think it blends in more in some areas, mainly concrete areas, areas that are already a bit rough in the edges, under bridges, in alleys, etc. Perhaps your stone wall wasn\’t a good place, i can\’t know without seeing it.
For example, some parts of the metro lines (Ground level) in my town are popular targets for graffiti. Gray concrete walls, really boring, rarely seen by anyone but the train passengers. As soon as someone paints graffiti there, it\’s covered with gray paint. When they\’re done, you can still spot the colors below the gray paint. To me, that\’s just senseless. I\’d rather see a skillfully painted graffiti than a grey concrete wall when going to town in the morning.