The City of Toronto is shooting itself in the foot again with a plan to penalise property owners for allowing graffiti to remain on their walls. Maybe city council didn't notice that all those other fun destination cities in the world have a bunch of cool art on their buildings? I guess the plan is to make sure that there's no free culture around for tourists and hipsters from out of town to soak in, thereby driving them onto public squares awash with the ambient glow of corporate billboards.
NOW magazine did a good piece (via TPSC) on the issue last week. I was apalled/amused at this non-savvy quote from Dennis Reid, chief curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario:
It sickens me when I see people spray-painting on old stone buildings. What the hell are they thinking? I can't imagine the citizenry wouldn't want to clean up the mess as much as we can, but at the same time, there are those occasional pieces that are inspired and we should be pausing over.
NB: there's a public forum on what makes a beautiful city next week. details here.
I've been in Berlin for three weeks now, and here's a quick impression comparing it to Toronto:
There is graffiti everwhere in Berlin and no one seems much worried about it. It's just part of the colourful fabric. In general the nice old stone buildings remain unpainted - unless of course they are old and crumbling. I'm not sure what protects the attractive buildings - perhaps Berliners feel some ownership of their city.
In Toronto so much of the graffiti is mere tagging - dull territorial claims like so many dogs pissing on hydrants. There's lots of of tagging here in Berlin too but it is overshadowed by the clever stuff, the colourful stuff, political stuff and really artistic stuff. It's much more a public statement than a personal claim and truly belongs to the forum of the street.
I don't see how passing a bylaw can possibly stop graffiti - it's just something humans do. Raising a sense of 'belonging' to our public city won't stop graffiti either, but it could bring about graffiti that is more interesting to us.
Graffiti is something humans do, and have been doing for centuries. I remember seeing ancient graffiti in the ruins of Pompeii! I recommend watching the movie Style Wars (http://www.stylewars.com/) to anyone interested in graffiti culture. This documentary features great footage and interviews with the original bombers and b-boys in New York, circa 1982. This was the beginning of the crack down on graffiti, particularly the stuff on trains, initiated by Mayor Koch. The documentary does a good job examining the argument of graffiti as art v.s. vandalism, presenting views from politicians, the transit authority, the public and the writers themselves. Essential viewing, and a refreshing look at a culture before it was completely co-opted.
mnobody is right about that film being good. grafitti was a big influence on french and german stencil artists and wanna be wild stylers working both sides of the gallery system. also an important influence on the east village-soho nyc art scene right about then. the fun gallery pepes : kenny, keith also ny/hc missing foundation, jean michele, john fekner, kruger, holzer, kos, ahern and i might even make a stretch to include kosuth-art and language and wiener, for showing up on their radar too. as well as me, ernest t.
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The City of Toronto is shooting itself in the foot again with a plan to penalise property owners for allowing graffiti to remain on their walls. Maybe city council didn't notice that all those other fun destination cities in the world have a bunch of cool art on their buildings? I guess the plan is to make sure that there's no free culture around for tourists and hipsters from out of town to soak in, thereby driving them onto public squares awash with the ambient glow of corporate billboards.
NOW magazine did a good piece (via TPSC) on the issue last week. I was apalled/amused at this non-savvy quote from Dennis Reid, chief curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario: NB: there's a public forum on what makes a beautiful city next week. details here.
- sally mckay 5-17-2005 9:42 pm
I've been in Berlin for three weeks now, and here's a quick impression comparing it to Toronto:
There is graffiti everwhere in Berlin and no one seems much worried about it. It's just part of the colourful fabric. In general the nice old stone buildings remain unpainted - unless of course they are old and crumbling. I'm not sure what protects the attractive buildings - perhaps Berliners feel some ownership of their city.
In Toronto so much of the graffiti is mere tagging - dull territorial claims like so many dogs pissing on hydrants. There's lots of of tagging here in Berlin too but it is overshadowed by the clever stuff, the colourful stuff, political stuff and really artistic stuff. It's much more a public statement than a personal claim and truly belongs to the forum of the street.
I don't see how passing a bylaw can possibly stop graffiti - it's just something humans do. Raising a sense of 'belonging' to our public city won't stop graffiti either, but it could bring about graffiti that is more interesting to us.
- gh (guest) 5-18-2005 7:49 pm
Graffiti is something humans do, and have been doing for centuries. I remember seeing ancient graffiti in the ruins of Pompeii! I recommend watching the movie Style Wars (http://www.stylewars.com/) to anyone interested in graffiti culture. This documentary features great footage and interviews with the original bombers and b-boys in New York, circa 1982. This was the beginning of the crack down on graffiti, particularly the stuff on trains, initiated by Mayor Koch. The documentary does a good job examining the argument of graffiti as art v.s. vandalism, presenting views from politicians, the transit authority, the public and the writers themselves. Essential viewing, and a refreshing look at a culture before it was completely co-opted.
- mnobody (guest) 5-23-2005 6:57 pm
mnobody is right about that film being good. grafitti was a big influence on french and german stencil artists and wanna be wild stylers working both sides of the gallery system. also an important influence on the east village-soho nyc art scene right about then. the fun gallery pepes : kenny, keith also ny/hc missing foundation, jean michele, john fekner, kruger, holzer, kos, ahern and i might even make a stretch to include kosuth-art and language and wiener, for showing up on their radar too. as well as me, ernest t.
- bill 5-23-2005 8:53 pm