Tagging v. Art
Tagging or art? Young graffiti kids at it… Maybe this illustrates the distinction that Chas was talking about… this is some recent footage a friend posted. Graffiti “artists” or graffiti kids just engaging in trashing other artist’s work? I think the answer may be subjective.
2 Responses to “Tagging v. Art”
Monica says: “Graffiti is like AIDS?”…si’l vou plait…ce ne pas de l’art…je pense que c’est garbage….
Chas says: I think that I actually wouldn’t just call these kids vandals. Throughout the video it’s clear they are aware of the differences between pieces in the warehouse. They leave several pieces alone, or comment how nice pieces had been ruined by someone else tagging over them. They obviously feel respect for some work and none for others. And the guy/crew they target, MG, they see as a kind of poseur. So on one hand defacing his work is a kind of warfare, and on another it is essentially a form of criticism. I think the only tricky part then becomes how justified is such criticism, or rather how does the system (what’s up Franz!) of street artists defend against what are essentially street-art trolls, who deface superior work simply to be assholes.
Some part of those kids relates to that world creatively, attempting to understand or choose how they fit into a larger artistic ecology.
What I love though, is how a warehouse like that becomes a kind of living canvas. It’s a museum really, crowd-curated by the artists themselves, but without the permission of anyone. And so when people all agree to leave something alone, like the crocodile piece because of it’s age, it is a fascinating example of universal crowd-sourced yet crowd-isolated decisions regarding the validity or credibility of another’s work.
I’d love to read an ethnography of a street art community.
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“Graffiti is like AIDS?”…si’l vou plait…ce ne pas de l’art…je pense que c’est garbage….
I think that I actually wouldn’t just call these kids vandals. Throughout the video it’s clear they are aware of the differences between pieces in the warehouse. They leave several pieces alone, or comment how nice pieces had been ruined by someone else tagging over them. They obviously feel respect for some work and none for others. And the guy/crew they target, MG, they see as a kind of poseur. So on one hand defacing his work is a kind of warfare, and on another it is essentially a form of criticism. I think the only tricky part then becomes how justified is such criticism, or rather how does the system (what’s up Franz!) of street artists defend against what are essentially street-art trolls, who deface superior work simply to be assholes.
Some part of those kids relates to that world creatively, attempting to understand or choose how they fit into a larger artistic ecology.
What I love though, is how a warehouse like that becomes a kind of living canvas. It’s a museum really, crowd-curated by the artists themselves, but without the permission of anyone. And so when people all agree to leave something alone, like the crocodile piece because of it’s age, it is a fascinating example of universal crowd-sourced yet crowd-isolated decisions regarding the validity or credibility of another’s work.
I’d love to read an ethnography of a street art community.