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the 2nd great wall of china

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Alackrity

Its been done.
Try to be original.

Mar 29, 07 9:54 pm  · 
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n_

I love you brer M.

Mar 29, 07 10:15 pm  · 
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Alackrity

you must say that alot,

because I believe you.

Mar 30, 07 1:00 am  · 
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liberty bell

Some littledick tagged my husband's car in the grocery store parking lot last night. It's just sharpie, and he works in a freakin' body shop so he'll have it fixed with minimal effort.

But for god's sake:

This:

is graffiti in the sense that it is an art form. When I see this stuff on publicly-owned infrastructure I think it's a positive addition to the cultural landscape.


This:

is akin to the talent a dog displays when lifting its leg to pee on a hydrant.

If you can't see the difference you have no right to consider yourself in the design field.

If you think this post is hostile, go ahead and tell me why I'm wrong.

Mar 30, 07 9:27 am  · 
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vado retro

in the words of me. not every belch is a poem people!

Mar 30, 07 9:29 am  · 
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vado retro

actually we had some carpet rep in who was talking about designs inspired by graffiti.

Mar 30, 07 9:34 am  · 
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n_

LB - No, you post isn't hostile at all. It is well-written and you state your case clearly with thoughtful reasoning and without threatening.

While I think graffiti is typically overlooked and misunderstood, it is difficult for me to love it without many reservations. On the same note, it has the power to move me like Arcade Fire on a Sunday morning. Good graffiti has the power to make people think outside their box, become more aware of their built environment, add postively to a cultural identity, etc. Unfortunately, this comes with a price and it typically involves someone else's private property.

I am not 100% pro graffiti. I am pro DAMN GOOD graffiti which I feel is a more socially responsible. Yes, this is all subjective but I am for a graffiti that is art, beautiful in moving all in the public realm, enhances cultural identity (Barcelona is a perfect example), and does no personal harm to other's private property. (yes, many private property owners have actually thanked their graffiti artist.)





Mar 30, 07 9:52 am  · 
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n_

I just reread my last paragraph and realized you can exchange the word 'graffiti' with 'architecture.'

Mar 30, 07 9:55 am  · 
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cln1

I am not for, nor against most graffiti, however, i am STRONGLY against graffiti, or taging private property - that crosses the line and people who support it make me sick.... you want to perform your art, fine - do it on your own property!

Mar 30, 07 10:13 am  · 
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Philarct

ok so how do you guys feel when i tagger (that doesnt just tag something ignorant or vulgar) tag a subway or the side walk?
i myself thinks it cool as long as it doesnt offend people,
theres this tag in my school bathroom of a mans pleasure stick
behind a womans butt, i think its stupid and it speaks
little of the perosn who did it, but then when i go to the sink
and i see a well drawn "wash your hands stinky!" in some
graffiti style i think its cool.
examples


bad one would be

Mar 30, 07 10:51 am  · 
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b3tadine[sutures]

i like graffiti that is thought provoking, not the stylistic crap that seems more pop than substance. a kid with a paint can, painting dragons or kids with paint cans is not art, to me at least. i like subversive, undermining elements, with bits of wit and anger thrown in.

if it's gangsta i am not there.

Mar 30, 07 10:59 am  · 
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liberty bell

I like stencils, especially on the sidewalk, and think a lot of them are thought-provoking: anti-commercialism messages on a boarded-up storefront, for example (not public property, I admit). I used to see lots of great ones in Philly. SPace 1026 had a cool stencil show a few years ago.

But regarding a tag that is a name only: it may be about making one's presence known, claiming space, whatever, but the fact is I spent some time many years ago coming up with what I thought was a cool, somewhat architectural way to sign my name. Does that mean every time I write a check I'm creating art? A tag is basically lazy, in my opinion, despite supposed references to calligraphy.

Here's a story that I know I've told on Archinect before, forgive me. When the Philly orchestra hall was being built, Jenny Holzer was commissioned to install one of her rolling LED pieces on the most prominent corner of the building while it was under construction. It hung on the steel frame at the corner of Broad and Spruce for a few weeks. Then they took it down to spray fireproof the steel structure. One of the spray-fireproof installers, in what I like to think was a considered act, used the spray stuff to write "Bob was here" on the beam right where the Holzer piece had hung. Was his act of equal value to hers?

Mar 30, 07 11:20 am  · 
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cln1

phil,
i think that artwork on the sidewalk, subway, etc adds to the urban experience and representation of culture and adds to what you observe walking down the street (storefront displays, signage, people, sidewalk performers, etc)

my problem is when people cross the threshold and move onto private property, then act like it is ok.... which is why i sarcastically brought up keying cars - to me, there is no difference. both are unwanted, unecessary and are somewhat cowardly. would those same people graffiti their own front door, or their grandmothers house? probably not

Mar 30, 07 11:23 am  · 
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n_

she used to graffiti around my old apartment in barcelona. miss van rocks. http://www.missvan.com/

awesome brasilian boy. http://www.lost.art.br/osgemeos.htm

Mar 30, 07 12:59 pm  · 
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Philarct

cln1,
yea your right, tagging private property
does overstep the boundry

Mar 30, 07 1:00 pm  · 
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n_

i personally am not a big fan of tagging one's name. i think there is great opportunity to really say something important with public art. i don't think that one's name does the trick.

i think that is why i tend to enjoy stencils more. they are usually clever, whimsical little illustrations that reach out and make people think. i don't think when i see the infamous 'dino', 'mir', or 'pink' name tags around nashville. i also think that name tags are somewht overrated because they then become a territorial competition between artist. hence, it becomes a game and no longer an art.

Mar 30, 07 1:02 pm  · 
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n_

PS i cant wait to go back to grad school so i can start using the laser cutter for stencils. my fingers kill my after a long night of stencil making.

Mar 30, 07 1:06 pm  · 
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Alackrity

"If you can't see the difference you have no right to consider yourself in the design field."

oooh, fightin words.


You're wrong because you place a geographical prerequisite on when the art can be considered "a positive contribution". That in itself displays a lack of respect for the nature of the art and possibly a total misunderstanding of the message.



:)














Mar 30, 07 1:13 pm  · 
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Alackrity

my fingers kill after a long night of model making.

Mar 30, 07 1:18 pm  · 
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Alackrity

does anyone even like Jenny Holzer anymore?



I think its great to use her as an example because her art is another case of the medium being just as important as the message.

was that on purpose?

Mar 30, 07 1:29 pm  · 
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Alackrity

*porpoise?

Mar 30, 07 1:30 pm  · 
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liberty bell

No brer, I don't place the "art" designation based on location.

I think anything anyone puts up on someone's private property without permission is vandalism, regardless of quality or content.

I think anything that shows intent and craftsmanship AND content can be at least considered to have potential for art - but if it's placed illegally, that trumps my enjoyment of it.

The "difference" I was talking about in my post is about craftsmanship and skill - look at the top pic, the flat plane is subverted through shadow, implied volume, overlapping etc., highlighting is utilized consistently, the color interplay and the shapes used emphasize movement...it shows skill.

The sharpie tags below are flat, one-dimensional in every way, both materially and in content.

I do admit I enjoy, usually, the work of culture jammers like the Barbie Liberation Front, etc. Some might call it performance art, which it has an aspect of. But someone still gets duped, in this case the people who buy the dolls and the customer service people who have to deal with them. Still, it makes me laugh and makes me think, which is the point.

Mar 30, 07 2:27 pm  · 
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liberty bell

If it matters, I love poster art too, again, when placed appropriately (boarded up, abandoned buildings are fair game).


Ben Woodward

Mar 30, 07 3:06 pm  · 
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vado retro

i am bored with self expression. particularly my own.

Mar 30, 07 3:15 pm  · 
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Alackrity

I have the same feelings about the pictures you posted. One is great, the other is trash.

They have the same message though.



Its my experience that art only needs intent.

all else is irrelevant unless you are trying to sell it.


Graffitti is vandalism.
No argument there.


But who owns my environment?


Do I own it? or do I allow you to own it?




Mar 30, 07 3:28 pm  · 
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Alackrity

(rhetorical question)

:P

Mar 30, 07 3:32 pm  · 
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Alackrity

This leads to the real question.



Do you think the message is a positive addition to

the cultural landscape?




no picking and choosing.
it is, or it isn't.

Mar 30, 07 3:39 pm  · 
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liberty bell

First of all: what is the "message": if it's only "Bob was here" then it's something I can read in the McDonald's cup the landscaper left behind in the backyard of my project yesterday.

You said tagging is about claiming space and recognition - so? Is that it?

Mar 30, 07 4:09 pm  · 
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n_

Ironic enough...

My daily 'This American Life' archive of the day involves graffiti.

If you are interested, listen to the January 19, 2007 archive. Show is called Cat and Mouse. It's act three (read: near the end).

http://thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Archive.aspx

Mar 30, 07 6:13 pm  · 
 · 

This thread (and some other stuff) got me thinking about this, so I wrote something up here.

Interested to hear what you guys think ...

Mar 30, 07 6:30 pm  · 
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Bob was here! No seriously he was...I'm just warming his seat.

Beautiful message like many pop songs nowadays and very little content. I am so often moved by the art of graffiti not to mention the shear heights climbed to "claim such space" however...getting all the way up there and and placing a duo syllable word leaves me wanting a little more

Mar 31, 07 12:44 am  · 
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b3tadine[sutures]

i like this



Mar 31, 07 10:00 am  · 
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n_

that is the infamous bansky. the man who has eluded police officers for years. his work is very politically charged. he made beautiful art on the palestinian, israel securtity border wall. you should check it out: http://www.banksy.co.uk/

he also pulled off that huge stunt on the paris hilton cd release in the uk. somehow, no one knows how, he his hands on about 1,000 cds before the they hit the stands and added some of his personal touch to them. please note the song title names on her cover:


Mar 31, 07 10:47 am  · 
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liberty bell

That Bansky is awesome, Stourley, as is most of his stuff that I've seen. And the Paris Hilton thing is very much akin to the Barbie Liberation Front item I posted. I do enjoy that kind of culture jamming, as I said above, though it is not without victims.

765, I enjoyed your article. I'm still too sick (sinus infection, I want to die) to go into it deeper, but this sentence pretty well sums up my attitude to art, including grafitti:

if there's enough complexity there then we can read many things into it, and our perceptions are thereby expanded, if there isn't enough there to reward our attention, then we ignore it and forget it

A sharpie tag of a name is definitely the latter. RE: it being a signifier of a non-entity, I'm too deliriously sick to comment further. But thank you for posting that link, it's a good read.

Apr 1, 07 11:34 am  · 
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Starland Vocal Band

a t-shirt seen on Threadless.com:


Apr 1, 07 4:05 pm  · 
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snooker

I was just dancing with a thought.

When in Rio deJanerio last time I was taking photos of the g-artist work along an important intersection, more like a rotary to those of England an New England. The work was damn inspirational to me, but to my wife it was markings...

So two days later we go to the the beach in Rio and there are these street vendors....selling everything under the sun. There are artist selling unstretched canvases with paintings....I'm looking at the thing and saying....well this guy was most likey tagging the wall where we drove by just hours before. This is one of the most exciting things about a country filled with art as it is everywhere.....dancing before your eyes.

Apr 1, 07 6:52 pm  · 
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quixotica

I just remembered these this weekend. They are all over Philadelphia.

toynbee tiles

Apr 2, 07 9:28 am  · 
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drums please, Fab?

i always liked the skull and cell phone vandalism:

Apr 2, 07 10:01 am  · 
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n_

free ramos - what city?

Apr 2, 07 10:20 am  · 
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JMBarquero/squirrelly

elvischyld:
I wondered why it took you soo long to mention Bansky - I've loved his work for some time now (even just recently picked up his book at a design show this past friday).

I suppose what is most striking about his work is the political nature of things. Not to say I am that cerebral, but when things are charged, in some way, they make you ponder the reasons for being. Hence what LB said way back there....totally makes sense. Art is art, and just simple sprays with a "tag" is pure rubbish!!

There has to be an idea of composition, I always say! A line is a line, but unless it has distinct meaning for being....then it's just another line and no thought behind it.

My $.02 cents

Apr 2, 07 10:42 am  · 
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drums please, Fab?

elvischyld - that's in nyc (not my picture) but i first noticed them in long beach/l.a.

Apr 2, 07 10:48 am  · 
 · 

thanks lb, hope that cold gets better!

Sometimes I think that the lack of contect is exactly the point, though. Think about an advertisement, which is, in some sense, all content, always pointing you to something else. Most Graffiti, especially tage, has no content at all, just a f*cked up unreadable nickname, that, taken to ubiquity, is subversive in itself.

Then think about somebody like Revs, and imagine risking arrest (and your life) over a series of decades to paint a meaningless syllable everywhere possible. But if you've ever been to New York, or even seen New York on TV, you know that word. Brands would kill for that kind of recognition and authenticity, yet this guy is selling nothing at all. That's the politics of meaninglessness, and there's something beautiful about that.

Apr 2, 07 10:54 am  · 
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Alackrity

Am I the only one who thinks banksy is a twit? London art scenester gone AWOL and merely uses the medium for his own brand of graphic art. His work is sold in galleries and from my point of view his street art and grandstanding, while appealing to intellectuals, is just a way to push his "brand" much like Sheppard Fairy.

The interesting thing about being anonymous, as Sheppard capitalized on, is that you dont have to do the work or even own it. It can be one person or a collaborative. Perhaps even just a graphic design firm having fun testing media reaction to certain ideas.



The message? I'm tempted to say that if you dont know you'll never get it. And to be honest its a pretty lame thing to try and put a written "definition" to what is essentially an action. The statement is the action and the message is the medium.

Is that vague enough for you? :)


The medium is action within the environment.

I see this as encompassing many forms, but in the case of graffitti art the medium has the added depth of an intense subculture. Much of the works meaning and success and nuances are lost on all but those in the know. There are taggers who have achieved legendary status but you most likely will never have heard of. Trends and movements within the subculture go unseen by those outside of the circle so its no surprise that if you apply your value set and interpretation to TAGS then you will only see what they are to you. Trash right?



One possible statement could be that if my envrinment defines me then I'm going to take control of who I am.


the links posted were really cool.
I like the blog alot sevensixfive.









Apr 2, 07 11:58 am  · 
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liberty bell

brer, did you know automobile pinstripers get together and have "pinstripe duels" in which they each start with a 12x12 piece of stainless, have 60 seconds to make a pinstripe design, and then pass the square to the person next to them and have 60 seconds to modify the one that gets passed to them, and so on until all 6 or 8 or 10 pieces of stainless have been worked on by everyone at the table? This is an "underground " culture too, in fact, I'll borrow your words:

but in the case of pinstripe art the medium has the added depth of an intense subculture. Much of the works meaning and success and nuances are lost on all but those in the know. There are pinstripers who have achieved legendary status but you most likely will never have heard of. Trends and movements within the subculture go unseen by those outside of the circle



We could argue all day, and I respect your point of view to a point: when your art invades my personal property, it's a problem. The magnitude of the problem is at question, but the 20th time I spent 20 minutes cleaning a tag off the brick wall of my house in Philly was about the time my attitude changed. If anything, I feel pity for people who have so little possibility or sense of their ability to make an actual change in the world that they settle for taking up someone else's time in removing their pee. As much as it makes me angry, it also makes me sad. Tagging isn't a valid argument.

And finally: the explanation "if you don't get it you'll never get it" is lame. Will I ever get French if I don't study it under someone who knows it? It's a copout.

Apr 2, 07 5:22 pm  · 
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liberty bell
n_

oh my heavens, you just put a whole new spin on this conversation.

golf clap, liberty bell!

Apr 2, 07 10:07 pm  · 
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Philarct

hey guys
ive been thinkin about my next tag, and ive been wondering
what i should do. And ive never done a political tag or stencil
so i decided to do one on everybodies favorite president
its gonna say

"Hey i got an idea, lets put Bush on the Battlefield"
with a cartoonized stencil of bush

what do u guys think?
ill probly put it on a train, or sidewalk
and by the way this is the longest
thread ive ever started, now i can call
myself an archidork

Apr 2, 07 10:44 pm  · 
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quixotica

Hey Phil, in going with this whole conversation of graffiti as art, don't you think that tag would be a little played out? I mean, I despise the man as much as anyone, but taking pot shots at him anymore is like shooting fish in a barrel, wheres the sport in it?

What if you did something more based on your thoughts and theories as a student of architecture? Maybe something that speaks to the nature of gentrification and relates to the areas where graffiti is usually found, i.e. poor urban areas. Design a tag that speaks to the different topics talked about on this thread, maybe you can persuade some of the dissenters over to our side. Spraying a tag that basically says "I hate bush" is akin to signing your name these days.

Just a thought though. Post your finished product. (as long as it's not on any of our houses)

Apr 2, 07 11:31 pm  · 
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Philarct

quixotica, you know i think your right
good thinking quixotica

Apr 3, 07 9:04 am  · 
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Alackrity

pinstriping!

oh, my heart is melting.

:)




someone please pinstripe my car.

Apr 3, 07 11:54 am  · 
 · 

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