136 replies to this topic

[Barrett r Blackwood]

It does not matter weather or not it is a " tag " or " graffitti " in 99.99% of the time it is done on someone elses property and therefore can only be refered to as vandalism.

[Nparker]

Agreed Barrett. If it is done on someone's property without their permission then regardless of the aesthetic it's vandalism. I am not sure why there would be any grey area in this matter.

[Baro]

From an artistic view there's a huge difference between a tag and graffiti. As someone just walking around, I often find graffiti enhances blank walls or gives me a smile. But from a legal point of view it's all vandalism and I do feel for property owners who don't want anything painted on their building.

I wish the artists were a little more respectful and stuck to ugly blank walls and didn't deface nice buildings or mailboxes and such, that just looks bad. But I also challenge building owners to not leave huge ugly blank walls if they don't want someone coming in and finishing it for them.

Graffiti is also often used as a form of protest and is the only way some people can make their voice ad feeling felt. If we had better more engaged politics and social justice people wouldn't be as driven to scrawl their message on a wall or symbol of injustice.

[ZGsta]

Rawan, you need to differentiate between "graffiti" and "tags." Graffiti as an art shouldn't be lumped in with scribbles made by bored teenagers.

Totally agree.

[rawan-k]

It does not matter weather or not it is a " tag " or " graffitti " in 99.99% of the time it is done on someone elses property and therefore can only be refered to as vandalism.

I strongly agree with you.. regardless of whether it's an art or not, no body wants his property used without his permission.

I'm not sure if it's available in Victoria, but do you think if there were places for those artists to practice their art instead of vandalizing, it could reduce the problem?

[Holden West]

Click this link and scroll down to the sixth photo:

http://www.theatlant...e-1970s/100190/

Of course, writing on walls has been around for thousands of years but I had never seen that distinctive graffiti "font" used so early (1973). The "snake" tag looks like it could have been done yesterday. There's more at picture #35.

[Sparky]

That was an interesting set of photos Holden, thank you for that. The set is about pollution, and graffiti as it was called then was considered by some as more than visual pollution, but social pollution.

For those of you that did not grow up in the 50's and 60's, some would say that our parents left our generation quite a huge mess to clean up. Interesting to note that the Environmental Protection Agency was formed in the States in the winter of 1970, the same year as the Kent State shootings. That was the year (in my mind) that the "baby boomers" started taking responsibility for cleaning up the planet.

[Holden West]

I took this picture in the late 1980s in the alley that is today part of the Johnson St. U-shaped arcade opposite Market Square. Note the style is no more sophisticated that was done in NYC 15 years earlier.

[Rob Randall]

Big three-part photo essay on south Los Angeles graffiti. Much more worrisome than what goes on here.

[G-Man]

I noticed that there is a big tag on the Customs House foundation. That should be a hangable offense tagging a national historic treasure.

[Rob Randall]

^That really burns me up, along with tagging old painted advertisements in Chinatown and other old walls. And don't get me started on the glass scratchers.

[VicHockeyFan]

And don't get me started on the glass scratchers.

Have you seen the new bus shelter adjacent the Pandora McDonalds? It has a "Pandora Green" text design/pattern that incorporates lots of etched glass, I think it's meant to be less susceptible to vandalism. Probably 80% of the glass is etched, so you'd be hard-pressed to see any added glass scratching.

[G-Man]

^ Would have been great if Pandora Green actually existed.

[VicHockeyFan]

^ Would have been great if Pandora Green actually existed.

Oh, maybe is says Harris Green. My mistake I think.

[G-Man]

^ No I have seen it. It is the City's very large and painful mistake that makes me bash my head everytime I see it.

[VicHockeyFan]

^ No I have seen it. It is the City's very large and painful mistake that makes me bash my head everytime I see it.

You're right. It does say Pandora Green. Is the 900-blk not called that? "Pandora Green, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harris Green"

[RobinKimpton]

Can anyone tell me where the culture came from where people put stuff (their garbage) out on a street corner and mark it free?

[VicHockeyFan]

Can anyone tell me where the culture came from where people put stuff (their garbage) out on a street corner and mark it free?

I think it's quite friendly if it goes. If it doesn't then bring it back in after a few days. What's an untidier scene, one couch in a block, or 45 overflowing blue bins on recycling day?

[Holden West]

I don't think leaving junk out is vandalism. If it is, then leaving derelict buildings out to rot year after year is vandalism as well, wouldn't you agree, Robin?

We had a garage sale yesterday. We left a big pile of junk that was mostly gone by the end of the day. Anything left over will be trashed later today. Everybody wins, right?

As long as it's picked up after a day there's little harm. Those that abandon goods permanently are losers.

It seems a lot of the scrap metal is going to the Oak Bay High Band's scrap metal drive.

[Nparker]

An abandonded sofa has been sitting on the sidewalk between my building and Sands Funeral Chapel's parking lot for over 2 weeks now. There is no sign it is going anywhere. I know my strata has no intention of paying to have it removed, and I guess Sands assumes it is not on their property (although it is west of my strata's westernmost property line). Apparently the 2 seat cushions on it were a hot commodity because they disappeared after barely a day, never to be seen again. By the looks of things, this piece of s*** is here for long haul.