Graffiti

[eggman]

Thats awesome!

The washing machine looks so life like. How do they do that with just spray cans

 

[JoeBloggs]

I agree it's a good compromise, but ultimately, as an owner of a building, why should I feel like I'm being blackmailed into doing something I don't want to? And what's to stop people from writing over the commissioned pieces anyway?

Now consider this: If all building owners decide to take this route, all the walls with commissioned pieces will ultimately be treated as just another wall.

I wouldn't call it blackmail... It's not like refusing somebody a job means that later that night theyre gonna come and make a mess just to teach you a lesson. Respect and fear is what stops people painting over commissioned work. In most places, the general majority of writers are known to each other on a personal basis, everybody knows who not to fuck with.

As for the hypothetical scenario you posed, the main target for writers is trains, not walls. if every single building owner everywhere had commissioned work everywhere, writers would simply go elsewhere. it's totally unrealistic though, that's never going to happen. There's always going to be some dudley-do-right amongst authorities who is on an "all out war" against graffiti and determined to win, and doing everything in their power to make it hard for us to do wat we do, legal or otherwise. it's stupid, and a gross waste of time and resources. there will never be a time when graffiti does not exist. banning the sale of spraypaint forces "kids" to steal it instead. changing the laws to make possessing paint at all illegal doesn't scare anybody. the will always be somebody pushing the limit in the face of adversity.

 

[vurtomatic]

But you're suggesting to accept graff as something we can't do anything about. And suggesting owners to do something that will deter their walls or trains or surfaces from being painted over, by commissioning those surfaces to be painted first. So you're depriving the owners of their choice.

And in that hypothetical scenario, as you just said, it only shows that graff folks are out to do something against the norm. If painted surfaces become the norm, they will then seek out alternatives to make themselves known. So taking your suggestion to the extreme, in which commissioned surfaces become the norm, it will then push the graff artists to seek out other surfaces OR, paint over the commissioned surfaces.

Now imagine if you walked down the street in a white tshirt, and some people don't like it. So they decide to help you with your fashion sense with some spray paint or crayons.

 

[DoctorShop]

A large part of graffiti is about respecting people as artists. Couldn't that repect be extended to a shop owner who simply does not want graffiti, commisioned or otherwise, on the front of their property?

 

[eggman]

I would like to see the walls spray paint back

 

[kryalkastleE]

A large part of graffiti is about respecting people as artists. Couldn't that repect be extended to a shop owner who simply does not want graffiti, commisioned or otherwise, on the front of their property?

Here here!!!

 

[JoeBloggs]

...And in that hypothetical scenario, as you just said, it only shows that graff folks are out to do something against the norm. If painted surfaces become the norm, they will then seek out alternatives to make themselves known. So taking your suggestion to the extreme, in which commissioned surfaces become the norm, it will then push the graff artists to seek out other surfaces OR, paint over the commissioned surfaces.

Now imagine if you walked down the street in a white tshirt, and some people don't like it. So they decide to help you with your fashion sense with some spray paint or crayons.

Not every single accessable place would be right for commissioned artwork. Sometimes people paint rooftops that are 100s of metres above ground level, it would be too unsafe to commission artwork in places like these. In the 8 years i have been painting, i have never defaced a mural, nor have i ever had any of my commissioned artworks damaged. I have only ever seen 2 instances where this has actually occured, and both times it was because of personal beef. People were hospitalised as a result. If everybody was able to get paid work for graffiti, everybody would be jumping on the bandwagon, after all, everybody likes money. None of us would be so devoid of logic as to hinder our own ability to make easy money.

If i were ever walking the street and somebody came up and painted my shirt, i would kick their fucking head in. Just like I've had my head kicked in by business owners who've caught me in the act. I don't hold it against them, it's a natural reaction. If it were me I'd do the same. Having said that, it may seem silly that i paint when i understand where "victims" are coming from. Like it was mentioned above, I simply don't care. Life goes on, deal with it. Or pay somebody for some artwork. Your choices may be limited but ultimately the choice is entirely yours.

 

[vurtomatic]

And there you have it. Graff artists can say all they want about what they do, and pontificate on it all day, but the truth deep down that makes them do what they do, and why they feel they're can and should do what they do, is because they don't care.

 

[DoctorShop]

But vurtomatic, have you forgotten mate? We just don't get it. So that makes it ok.

yeesh

 

[kryalkastleE]

Just like I've had my head kicked in by business owners who've caught me in the act. I don't hold it against them, it's a natural reaction. If it were me I'd do the same. Having said that, it may seem silly that i paint when i understand where "victims" are coming from. Like it was mentioned above, I simply don't care. Life goes on, deal with it. Or pay somebody for some artwork. Your choices may be limited but ultimately the choice is entirely yours.

wow i actually thought that maybe you were kind of intelligent from your last few posts, but you just pissed all your sense and any of your last posts down the drain with a comment like that.

you simply dont care?

the choice is pay someone for artwork or have your walls be graffited?
How about the choice of simply having a PLAIN FUCKING WALL!!!

maybe one day someone will graff something you care about - a house, or a car...and then when YOU have to pay for it, you will care, or maybe you wont...because you "SIMPLY DONT CARE".

(sorry mods, but it has to be said.)
(apology accepted - eggman)

 

[JoeBloggs]

hahaha this is just getting silly now.

yes, i simply don't care. in fact, i couldnt care less. bad things happen to everybody without their control. that's life.

i am by no means saying that you shouldnt have the choice to have a blank wall if you want one, but realistically this is going to cost you. not because of me personally, but because graffiti exists. its a fact of life. graffiti removal can be claimed on tax as a business expense anyway so i don't see what your complaining about so much.

 

[JoeBloggs]

Not caring isn't what motivates me. it's fun, it's expression, it's a release and despite anything you have got to say, it's artistic and creative. graffiti once helped get me through a serious drug addiction, had it not been for graffiti my life would be much worse.....

no matter what though, there will never be a situation where everybody is happy. there will always be people painting, there will always be business owners complaining and the powers that be will always be judging everything at face value. this is where compromise comes into play, on the part of both sides of the issue. its naive to think that if you just keep removing it over and over again the problem will just go away, yet this is what the government has believed for decades. they are too busy trying to get their own way to provide us with enough legal avenues, like public walls that anybody can paint, or commissioning murals on government property. this wouldnt totally eliminate the problem either, but the situation would be better for all concerned. just like business owners commissioning murals. its not the perfect solution where they have their blank wall untouched, but at least its not constantly costing them money.

say what you want, but we all know that my stance isn't going to change and neither is any of yours. we all have a right to an opinion and to voice it, and i have enough maturity to look at this issue objectively. i totally respect the opinions of everybody here, regardless of whether or not i agree with them. just because my opinions don't match yours is no justification to resort to childish name calling.

 

[vurtomatic]

They are coveted pieces of modern art which fetch up to £1million in auction and are owned by Hollywood royalty.

But to one council, murals by the reclusive street artist Banksy appear to be little more than worthless graffiti.

For soon after Banksy’s latest work appeared on a North London street, conscientious workers from Islington Council have obliterated it, by whitewashing the offending wall.
banksy wall

The 4ft by 4ft stencil, set on a lime green background, depicted two young girls sitting at a desk with a Kalashnikov rifle, playing with bullets rather than pencils.

The elusive Banksy, with his face hidden, was spotted painting the scene towards the end of last month.

But the mural, which would have been worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, was promptly painted over with masonry paint, after residents complained.

A local trader watched the artwork take shape and chatted to the secretive artist, who jokingly denied he was Banksy and said he was there to create an ‘advertising promotion’.
banksy

The trader described the guerrilla painter, whose real identity has never been revealed, as ‘a very nice and pleasant chap’ in his 30s with a regional accent who was dressed in a green cotton army jacket and black jeans with closely-cropped mousy hair.

The trader, who did not want to be named, said Banksy told him he had painted the background colour on too thickly, and would have to wait until it dried before being able to use his stencils.

He said: ‘I saw Banksy literally watching paint dry! I told him it could be ruined soon, but he said as long as a few people saw it and enjoyed it, that was OK with him.

‘The final mural was beautiful. The council are idiots. Why don’t they concentrate on the real graffiti and leave street art for people to enjoy?’
banksy graffiti

Last year, Islington Council compiled a list of works by Banksy in their area to prevent them being painted over by clean-up teams.

But one council spokesman now says: ‘It’s graffiti and we treat it that way, whether it’s Banksy or not. Residents in the houses opposite complained and we covered it up.’

Banksy’s work has been bought by stars such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. At an auction in New York earlier this year, a piece sold for £950,000.

In an interview in The Mail on Sunday’s Live magazine today, Banksy talks about his recent artistic assault on an entire street near Waterloo Station in London. He said:

‘Graffiti doesn’t always spoil buildings. In fact, it’s the only way to improve a lot of them. In the space of a few hours with a couple of hundred cans of paint, I’m hoping we can transform a dark, forgotten filth pit into an oasis of beautiful art – in a dark, forgotten filth pit.’

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/...Banksys-graffiti-murals--worth-millions.html#

 

[doofqueen]

Yeah my Dad who is a small business owner loves paying people and creating an industry to get fucking crap graffiti off his shop window.
or he has to do it himself and spend hours after work doing it because he cant afford to pay someone $200 to clean it.


(i see what you're saying, but i think doing graffiti so someone can clean it off and saying ultimately it is good for the economy is a cop out.)

I think it's disgusting that your dads shop (and other buisnesses) get tagged. As i've said many times though a TRUE graff artist will not do it on places like that. It's the kids that don't understand the value and meaning and what it's all about that do it that just want to be "hardcore" people that tag over buisness fronts when caught should be made to clean it up and clean the city up because that's not art and it's just pure destruction.

The thing is though you all go on abouit liking the big colourful pieces and not the scribbles (as i call tags) but you don't understand that ALL of it is actually considered to be Graffiti.... it's all one and the same and wrapped up in the same cultire.

There should be more legal walls for the young kids starting out to give them a place to express themselves without getting them into trouble and valuing the actual art form itself but the thing is - the rebellion and the illegal side of the whole scene is what makes it what it is.

 

[doofqueen]

And there you have it. Graff artists can say all they want about what they do, and pontificate on it all day, but the truth deep down that makes them do what they do, and why they feel they're can and should do what they do, is because they don't care.

I'm sure there are alot of sub cultures that don't do things that the rest of society sees fit or understands. I'm sure they don't "care" what others think either (as i'm sure alot of people here do things that if others disaproved of they wouldn care too)

It's just paint hey... it's not like they are going around killing people or anything. People here take drugs and that's illegal and disrespectful to a lot of people. "The war on drugs" spends alot of money trying to get rid of drugs in society (probably more than they spend on cleaning up graff) I'd rather my tax money be spent on other things then the government trying to stop people smoking weed or taking E but i'm not going to go rant about it cos nothings going to change...

 

[TechKnow]

You cant compare people taking drugs to people spray painting someone else's property. I don't pop an E or smoke a bong and then tag up a train etc.

It's an entirely different thing all together and a pretty poor argument to be honest.

 

[doofqueen]

I think you didn't read me right (or i didnt explain myself) I actually rather like graff but people are bitching that there tax dollars have to pay to get it all cleaned off when most people on this place are drug users and are using the illegal argument against graff while tax money is also being spent to get rid of drugs in this country so people are being hypocrites.

 

[TechKnow]

Not really. As a consenting adult i think we all have the right to ingest any substance at our own discretion. It is our body and our lives. The drug war is harming society, not helping.

Graffiti is different. It shouldn't be legal at all. Maybe on designated areas, sure, but i think the money used cleaning it up is money well spent.

Government money spent trying to tell someone not to smoke a plant (ie: Marijuana) is wasted money and is pointless.

 

[stephaniesomewhere]

I so wanna write on it!

 

[JoeBloggs]

I don't pop an E or smoke a bong and then tag up a train etc.

speak for yourself champ.