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Graffiti

paraone said:
and unfortunately tagging is marketable, just go into any nouveau sneaker store.
Look at how many corporations have used it as backdrops in commercials, it's been turned into a piece of the urban texture that has become so sheik in the last decade or so.
Click to expand...

The marketing of half-starved girls looking like they were strung out on heroin was also another slick marketing ploy.

Once something like tagging or graffiti is used to sell the coolness of a counter-culture attitude, it ceases to be counter-cultural. It becomes nothing more than a gimmick to sell stuff.

And today I came close to losing a pair of jeans when my knees almost made contact with freshly applied tag on the back of a bus seat. Oh so cool and counter-cultural.
 
i was exposed to counter culture once. i had the runs for weeks and had to take antibiotics. there's nothing cool about that. come to think of it, it kinda burned.
 
I'm surprised I haven't heard much talk about anti-graffiti coating, especially on this thread. The manufacturers claim that on a wall with the coating, you can remove graffiti with a sponge. If this is true, removing graffiti would be almost as easy and cost effective as picking up litter. Suddenly, no one can complain that graffiti removal is too expensive.
 
I figure this might interst some in this discussion...

Make Your Mark : Graffiti and Other Suburban Interventions
2:09pm Friday, Feb 8

Oakville Galleries, in partnership with the Oakville Youth Advisory Committee and the Oakville Youth Development Centre, is holding an open call for youth 13+ to submit artwork or writing in response to graffiti. Graffiti is a prominent issue for residents in Oakville with articles in local newspapers and debates among municipal representatives. With that said, there is a community of youth who are interested in graffiti culture. Young artists, skateboarders, musicians, writers, etc. within Oakville have a link to the artistic, political, and cultural foundations of graffiti. Through this program we hope to give youth voice in regards to their views on graffiti.

To encourage youth to submit work, we will be holding a series of workshops throughout the month of March. We are inviting visual artists, graffiti artists, writers, etc. to lead creative workshops that discuss ideas involved with graffiti (urban intervention, activism, political identity, local and cultural history). Graffiti is an interesting springboard to discuss many important issues to youth (freedom of speech, developing political identity, youth involvement in the community). Through the exploration of various forms of visual communication, youth will experiment with voicing their opinions and identities.

For this project Oakville Galleries is seeking:

Graffiti Workshop Leaders (2)

Job Description
  • Lead a three hour workshop based in graffiti technique (personal style or basic techniques) on a Wednesday evening in March or April 2008 at the Oakville Youth Development Centre
  • This workshop will be open to youth of all skill levels between the ages of 13
  • 19
  • Oakville Galleries covers all material and transportation costs
  • $200 honorarium

Requirements
  • A developed graffiti or urban interventionist practice and experience
  • An interest in sharing your experience with youth
  • A background in leading art workshops and/or experience working with youth

Graffiti Artist to give an Artist Talk (1)

Job Description
  • Give a one hour talk on your personal graffiti practice, motivations, influences, etc. to a group of youth between the ages of 13-19 on Friday February 29th, 2008 or Friday March 7th, 2008 after 6pm at the Oakville Youth Development Centre.
  • Present images and examples of your work
  • Oakville Galleries provides any presentation equipment needed
  • Oakville Galleries covers any transportation costs
  • $200 honorarium

Requirements
  • A developed graffiti or urban interventionist practice
  • Comfortable talking about your work
  • Ability to link your work with broader issues tied to graffiti ( the cultural, historical, and political reach of graffiti practice)
  • An interest in sharing your experience with youth

Those interested in these postions or the project can contact:

Shaun Dacey
Youth Programmes Coordinator, Oakville Galleries
(905) 844-4402 ext.23
shaun@oakvillegalleries.com
 
Wonder who they picked! I'm impressed they had an honorarium and did not use the typical "its gives you free exposure" BS usually thrown around in this case.
 
Graffiti seen as art, an eyesore,and a legal nuisance, residents told

Originally filed Feb. 20, 2008 for Toronto Observer(online edition)

By Khalid Magram

In a small room inside a building that began its life as police station, concerned Beaches-East York residents and their local city councillor gathered to get tips on graffiti removal.

The group was there to learn from a Crown’s representative what the courts are doing about graffiti vandals, and what they heard left many there dissatisfied and angry.

During the Community Centre 55’s recent Graffiti Removal & Information Program (GRIP) workshop, residents learned that the act of defacing or tagging homes and businesses, using spray paint, bingo dabbers, black permanent markers or shoe polish dabbers is seen as no more than a nuisance in the eyes of the law.

“I know it is hard to hear this but it is true, a person can’t be sent to jail for graffiti.†assistant Crown attorney Kevin Stewart said.

According to Stewart, Police can only give warnings to first time offenders. For the repeat offenders “extrajudicial sanctions†come into play.

Extrajudicial measures means measures other than judicial proceedings under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Penalties may include apology to victim, restitution, and community service. Stewart also said young persons in some cases think graffiti is art.

However for residents affected, graffiti is not just a nuisance and definitely not art; for them it is a serious matter. It meanspaying money out of pocket and higher taxes for removal of graffiti, lower property value, and according to many residents in the community increased fear of crime.

Moreover, they see measures taken by the courts for the offenders of tagging to be an insignificant punishment.

The City of Toronto graffiti bylaw requires the owner or occupant maintain property free of graffiti. Municipal Licensing and Standards staff usually enforce the bylaw in a notice to the owner to remove graffiti within three days.

Failure to comply can result in a fine for the property owner or tenants. Community members and their leaders want the criminal justice system to hear them on this issue.

“Community members are waiting to present their case and appear before the courts,†on this issue Beaches-East York Councillor Sandra Bussin said. On the other hand, “we now find out it is just a nuisance for the judges. Where do we go from here?†Coun. Bussin asked.

One way is “writing to your MPP and Attorney General’s office,†Stewart said. He remembers when there was a similar view in regards to prostitution. Communities campaigned and changed people’s perceptions on the issue he said.

There has also been some progress made in limiting access to the tools of the graffiti trade. The Canadian Tire store located at Leslie Street and Lakeshore Boulevard has recently adopted a ‘no sell’ to minors policy in regard to spray paint.

Residents are hoping more stores that sell paint and other potential graffiti materials will follow in their footsteps.

“We are trying our best to help the community to get rid of this problem,†Community Centre 55’s graffiti removal program coordinator Evonne Hossack said.

Community Centre 55 gives tips and employs youths to remove graffiti in East Toronto area. For further information visit
 
It is sad when the victims of graffiti face stiffer penalties than the perpetrators.
 
Alot of people dont like the tags but like the artistic work of graffiti murals, pieces ect, here is a solution that takes away bad graffiti and replaces it with colourful skillful work that people enjoy,

check out the link, click on the bell box project video 1 , and 2


http://styleinprogress.ca/bellbox.php
 
Perhaps this has already been articulated earlier in the thread, but to me the difference between graffiti "art" and "vandalism" is simple:

1. If the owner of the wall or surface solicits the graffiti and wants it there, it is art.

2. If the owner of the wall or surface does not want graffiti on it, it is vandalism.
 
PukeGreen said:
Perhaps this has already been articulated earlier in the thread, but to me the difference between graffiti "art" and "vandalism" is simple:

1. If the owner of the wall or surface solicits the graffiti and wants it there, it is art.

2. If the owner of the wall or surface does not want graffiti on it, it is vandalism.
Click to expand...

exactly...some one who writes his/hers fricking initials is not "art" on a wall.If its not approved by the owner of the property its called vandalism.Where is the damn backbone in City Hall these days?..punish those who tags and not the owner of the property.Make those useless morons remove all the graffiti within 50 meters of his "work"..that will stop those who tags walls .
 
True, but at least it's legal. And who knows, if someone has a couple of hours or more to devote to the task, they might produce something better than a tag, which has to be slapped on in a minute or so, so that the perpetrator can make his escape quickly.
 
Legal, shmegal - its hit-and-run nature is what gives graffiti credibility and differentiates it from the sort of dreary, government-subsidized, craft-based McVandalism shown in the videos that Roots_Energize has posted.

General Idea were more than happy to have their AIDS sculpture tagged. It was displayed outside the ROM a couple of years ago, and acquired several new messages. Indeed, GI objected when earlier tagging was removed by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art after it had been displayed there in 1993.
 
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