Graffiti - Art - Vandalism

[SR32]

Lately there has been a lot of negative publicity about graffiti. Some people say it's to assist with raising the public support for harsher graffiti penalties. I know a dude who recently got fined $35000 for painting a perth train (it would only cost approx $500 to clean).

There are a lot of graffiti artists out there who do great work, illegally and legaly. Most of it is illegal because of the lack of legal walls to paint. Legal murals on walls will almost stop any illegal tagging on that wall...hence saving the government the ongoing cost of cleaning.

Just want to know what you guys think about graffiti?

Here's a 'piece' of graffiti art. It's on a legal wall (thats now knocked down). Took about 2 days and cost me around $200.

[Kaido_RR]

hmm,

i think there is a huge differences between "tagging" and "graffiti" i hate f**king tagers, i think its pointless and those people should be fine (and not something pussy like a few hundern dollars something big so those tryhard little f**kheads are in debt for the rest of there life)

i think graffiti is ok

[miss_petepie]

wow that is very cool..

also have seen what you have done in borneo's maddo shed

the useless tags and crap well fair enough if you get caught.. but as for artwork done like yours on the wall and stuff then yeh.. seek the owners permission and then there wouldnt be any problem

[twoquik]

im a writer also and yes there has been alot of publicity alot of it not true, ive been painting for around 10 years and know the scene pretty well, there definately isnt enough legals around, the council and government complain about it but ask them how many legal spots do they have for us i know it doesnt even come into double figures and thats a fact.

her32 i dont mind your work, you really must have taken your time to take 2 days and $200 seems a bit much. paint must be expensive ni wa. that piece would have only cost around 70bucks in bris.

[SR32]

Choirs petepie That garage was fkn hard to paint! And the metallic paint made it even harder.

I can understand that no one likes tagging, but unfortunately thats where most people first get into graffiti. Even the taggers have ethics and general rules...eg. no tagging private residences (although there are a few f**kwits that have no idea), no tagging on pieces. Graffiti Ethics are thanks to the old days of older writers giving beat downs to the uneducated.

This may shock some of you...there are up to 40 year olds still doing graffiti!

Twoquick- about 15 molotow cans @ $12.95 each. Yeah I def took my time, i wanted to work on my skills. I'd prefer that than a rushed piece of shit Post up some flix, join in on the fun.

[twoquik]

a few examples from brisbane.

[Medium Dave]

A nice, well positioned stencil always makes me smile, a little care an attention to grafitti goes a long way

Allthough I am too chicken to do it myself - Aaaaah :lol:

Nice work her32

Edited January 20, 2006 by Medium Dave

[SR32]

twoquick: id say the tues is my fav, funky charlie & choc factory production though!

anyone else going to own up?

[boodsGtr]

Taggers need to be put in jail and f**ked up...what they do is absolute sh1t. They have nothing better to do than write their stupid words that mean absolutely bugger all to anyone...even themselves. Goddam idiots.

[N I B]

If its not on private property of aggreed to its Vandalism.

[Big Rizza]

I know a dude who recently got fined $35000 for painting a perth train (it would only cost approx $500 to clean).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What would your reaction have been if it was your personal property and you had to spend time and money cleaning it? Surely you would want the person responsible to be punished further than just having to pay for your car to be cleaned. In addition, the government has to recouperate the losses due to the cost of cleaning all the other graffiti and tagging going on by other people. It's uncommon to catch them, so when they get caught they pay for everyone else as well. Whilst $35,000 is pretty harsh (arguably a punishment unbefitting of the crime), I can understand where the government is coming from when they punish graffiti artists with large fines and imprisonment.

My opinion is:

Taggers should be shot. It is lame, no one reads it, it's ugly and you are stupid to do it.

Graffiti on property without the permission of the owner (or government) is still vandalism whether it looks good or not. Perhaps the government should introduce more support for people who want to legally express themselves through graffiti art? I have no problem with publicly displayed legal graffiti if it is tasteful, skilled and non-offensive.

Edited January 20, 2006 by Big Rizza

[boodsGtr]

WERD...Big Rizza!!!

[shmiddy]

i agree it does look awsome when its done buy genuine graf artist's,

but there is nothing worse when ya drive into a new estate and all the walls have been grafed ect ect, its someone el's property and its just disrespectfull,

its just like stabbing someone in the head and sayin, well the stiches only cost $100.

dont get me wrong i respect artist for what they do and alot do it legaly, but if ya get cought then fair enough,

[BSK]

definately art, whether it be pieces or tags... it gives the streets character imo. love walking down random inner city allyways (especially in other cities) n checkin out all the paint.... theres history right there on the walls...

a bombed city is a colourful one.

the only thing that really grinds my gears is tags on private trucks/vans. that shits low.

my 2c

[simplelogik]

Hmm not sure which "ghetto" you're from ?? But I'm a bit confused by your logic !!

It's OK to tag buildings as it's gives the streets "character" where as tagging private trucks/vans grinds your teeth ?? Does that mean that if someone tags your house, it would add character? If you ever own a house one day, I would love to see you add “character” to it before trying to sell it.

As for the argument of graffiti being "art" is purely subjective. But what I have problem with graffiti is that it forced upon me. Where as for example abstract or minimalist art, which is not appealing to the vast population, is NOT force upon them. If someone who like abstract or minimalist arts, they would go to an exhibition to view it. Otherwise, it’s out of sight. You do not have the same choice as graffiti.

For me, graffiti creates an impression of disorder and of lawlessness. A city that is tainted by vandalism invites more vandalism and more serious crime because it sends the message that the city doesn't care and isn't paying attention. This is an example of what happened in New York in the 70-80s, until Giuliani came into office and introduced new measures to combat crimes which eventually trickled down to graffiti.

Having said that I do think it does take talent to be a graffiti artist, but this doesn’t change my view of it being vandalism as soon as you create your work on someone’s private property without their consent, regardless on how appealing your work might be.

As for the punishment, they’re not design to be proportionate to the crime otherwise it won’t be effective. I think the more disproportionate the punitive actions are the more likely it is to succeed. Have a look at Dubai or Singapore as an example, two of the most sophisticated and modern cities in the world without graffiti problems !! They’re also not very tolerant of graffiti “artists”. BTW I’m not saying I agree with their punitive actions, but it seems to worked!!

Perhaps the saving grace here is that most graffiti “artist”, like gangster is that by the time they have family or reach their mid-20s, their priorities usually shifts and is no longer motivated to tag. This is why you don’t see too many 30yr gangsters or graffiti artists

definately art, whether it be pieces or tags... it gives the streets character imo.  love walking down random inner city allyways (especially in other cities)  n checkin out all the paint.... theres history right there on the walls...

a bombed city is a colourful one.

the only thing that really grinds my gears is tags on private trucks/vans. that shits low.

my 2c

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[satanic]

I think it's all quite subjective... I never really liked it until I met a friend who's one of Sydney's famous "old-school" writers... [writing name JIESK if it rings a bell]

After seeing some of the work they do and listening to how they do it; it's a shame that some of it isn't preserved for public viewing.

I must admit though, walking through the city and seeing stupid squiggles as "tags" is just stupid. It ruins the scenery if you can even call it that

[BSK]

Hmm not sure which "ghetto" you're from ?? But I'm a bit confused by your logic !!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

nollamarra mayte!! "ghetto" ---> tongue in cheek

let me explain.... i like the look of a bombed city. now i dont mean graf in every which way u look, but down laneways, on old buildings, under bridges on billboard areas etc... gives the city character (imo). with graf there also comes "ethics". yes even vandals have guidelines (as discussed above). private property and buisness property walls that back onto main roads/freeways are fair game (again imo) so im not gonna preach "no vandalism on private property". but what your talking about is pretty ghey i agree. i dont wanna get all technical with do's n dont's. i was just giving you my opinion on what i feel is the ultimate dont.... vehicles.

on the scale of 1 - 10 on the dont's i give it 10.

this world is not all black n white if you know what i mean.

hope that clears the mud that is vandalism a bit for ya.

[simplelogik]

LOL .. this explain why the land value in Nollamarra is so high .

Sure, if it's fair game, just ask yourself this question .. How would you feel if that was your house that's backing onto a main road and I come along to scribble my grafitti all over your back yard ? Even better, what if I scribbled something that you don't find appealing ?? Would you come out and give me a beer or chase me down with a baseball bat ?? LOL .. do I really need to ask that question ??

nollamarra mayte!!   "ghetto" ---> tongue in cheek    

let me explain....  i like the look of a bombed city. now i dont mean graf in every which way u look, but down laneways, on old buildings, under bridges on billboard areas etc... gives the city character (imo). with graf there also comes "ethics". yes even vandals have guidelines (as discussed above). private property and buisness property walls that back onto main roads/freeways are fair game (again imo) so im not gonna preach "no vandalism on private property". but what your talking about is pretty ghey i agree. i dont wanna get all technical with do's n dont's. i was just giving you my opinion on what i feel is the ultimate dont.... vehicles.

on the scale of 1 - 10 on the dont's i give it 10.

this world is not all black n white if you know what i mean.

hope that clears the mud that is vandalism a bit for ya. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Edited February 5, 2006 by simplelogik

[caminperth]

Next time you drive down west coast highway, have a look at the mess people have made of the vacant block just South of the Marmion Angling Club..

What give them the right to use some one's building as a canvas? Why don't they just do it on a canvas instead? At least you could show it that way without upsetting people..

Simple - one of the reasons I moved out of Nollamara..