Graffiti
This morning on 'Sunday Morning' on CBS they had a segment on a graffiti artist named Banksy, who is a graffiti artist in England. http://www.banksy.co.uk/menu.html
Rythter recognized the name right away from a book I gave him last Christmas about graffiti around the world called Graffiti World, Street Art From Five Continents http://www.amazon.com/Graffiti-World-Street-Five-Continents/dp/0810949792/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200263728&sr=8-3
The book we have doesn't really show Banksy's art very well, but the segement on Sunday Morning was really interesting. This is a sample from his website.
It's pretty easy to see from the work Banksy does that a lot of it is social commentary. And it seems most of what is shown as far as 'canvases' are blank and dull walls that actually benefit from his public art.
On the show this morning, a policeman was being interviewed about Banksy's gorilla art. His view was that there should be a zero tolerance policy on all graffiti, no matter what it was or where it was. So this brings me to the point of graffiti as art or vandalism, or both.
I personally like to see good graffiti, with some restrictions. I hate the kind of 'tagging' that involves a scrawl of paint that somehow represents a name being sprayed on every thing that doesn't move. To me, that is not art, not expression, it's just dogs pissing on hydrants. But good graffiti, even when it's just a name, can be phenomenal. I love watching for art when I (rarely now) ride the T into Boston. I think the backs of warehouses and industrial buildings are great canvases for graffiti. And again, some of the art just blows me away. Sometimes because of its intense color and style, and sometimes for it artistic ability. Rythter and I will both say 'why cant they put that on a canvas and sell it!' because some are so obviously talented.
However I don't approve or even like graffiti art that defaces good buildings, or defaces other peoples art. I notice one image on the Banksy web site that showed a statue that was part of a building that had been painted over. I think that is wrong. I also think it's wrong to paint signs and things like that. Again, there are so many blank urban walls that can benefit from urban art, I don't think it's necessary to deface storefronts or things like that. It's a fine line sometimes. Freight and transit trains are often targets of 'tagging', and again, I find some of it delightful and intriguing, and some of it is just crap. (kind of like real art).
I wonder if some of the problems with tolerating graffiti is that it also enables gangs to mark 'their' territory, and by doing so, it might encourage violence or competition between gang members.