Friday, December 17, 2010
News / Visual Arts / Community City vows to buff out graffiti, maybe as soon as January. What would you save?
Posted by Debbie Michaud @DebsMichaud on Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 5:46 PM
- Debbie Michaud
- Is it art?
The city of Atlanta has organized an anti-graffiti task force to help give Atlanta a good, clean scrub. Word is the city and the four organizations it's collaborating with, the Atlanta Police Department, Atlanta Public Schools, rail company CSX and Keep Atlanta Beautiful, think things have gotten out of hand and are planning new buffing efforts, likely beginning sometime late January.
George Dusenbury, commissioner of parks and recreation, which is leading the effort says, "It's not a graffiti czar. As a city, we're working toward goals of eliminating graffiti."
So wait, how does Dusenbury define "graffiti"? "If you don't have permission to do it, it's graffiti. We know there are a lot of people who want to express themselves, while also recognizing there are people who don't want paint on their buildings. We're not trying to go after art. Our Office of Cultural Affairs has done a good job of recognizing the artistic component of what others consider graffiti."
One other thing: The city is giving the OCA until Jan. 17 to come up with a comprehensive (though not guaranteed) list of "legitimate" art that should be spared. That's about three weeks — over the holidays — to carry out an inventory of thousands of works across the city. By our estimation, it could take more like three months to do the process justice.
Currently, nonprofit community arts center WonderRoot's working on a list for OCA of work it believes should be preserved since it's not just random tags, spray-painted obscenities and other such vandalism that could get the brush. Among WonderRoot's priorities is the mural running the length of Wylie Street in Reynoldstown. WonderRoot helped organize the mural in the summer of 2008 at the behest of the Reynoldstown Neighborhood Association, and enlisted 41 graf artists from around the country to paint the mural. Funding for the project was provided by Home Depot and CSX.
At this point, it doesn't sound like the dozen murals commissioned through last summer's Living Walls street art conference are in danger. OCA would also like to protect the Krog Tunnel. And when it comes to private property, that's up to the property owner's discretion. Anything beyond that, however, is unknown.
We want to know what you think:
Does Atlanta needs an anti-graffiti task force?
Where do you draw the line between art and vandalism?
And, most importantly, what work around town do you want to see stay? (Be specific, please: artist's name, a description of the piece, and the nearest intersection — if not the actual address — would be helpful.) We're gonna let WonderRoot know.
Feedback will be taken through the end of the month. The sooner the better.
Editor's note: Comments have been removed because they violated our comments policy.
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Comments (41)
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What a bunch of conservative morons....Cover the graffiti up all you want, it's not going away. It will keep coming back all over the place. I believe this will inspire even more graffiti artists to come out and do their part. I don't do graffiti but his is making me shake my spray paint can in anticipation to fuck the shit filled Atlanta system. Another FAIL for Atlanta government.
This seems like an effort for the Mayor to get an 'easy win'. Why do people not strive to work on the serious issues of our city, infrastructure, education, crime. Seriously this is like going to the dermatologist for a pimple when you have a broken leg...
Maybe the police should actually step up and do something to make this a safer town. Graffiti doesn't rob you at gunpoint or steal your car.
As a property owner in tag central, if it is not your property and you do not have permission, it is vandalism.
Period.
It costs me time and money, and when it's done on virgin brick, I end up having to paint which permanently destroys the character of the building fabric.
My only problem is that if i catch someone i don't have enough legal recourse to make it sufficiently painful for the vandal to ensure it does not happen again.
Grafitti costs property owners money, and signals an area does not pay attention - a nice beacon for more aggressive property crime.
So contrary to TelephoneFace - yes it does, via the domino effect.
And to treevvoorr - the City is ever only reactive, (in this case to property owners), not proactive.
I'm tired of having my actively used property defaced.
Hang 'em high - it's time for a swing party.
NETWORK
DOA
CRE
UAA
FS
DTK
AKB
Sparkyz, Jazz, Save, Leon, Chase, Porn, Crisis, Chen, Emer
LOL the tag at KROG STREET will come down and fuck the eye drum and wonder root ..... you are part of the problem here in R-Town, C-Town, East Atlanta ...its people like you that makes this neighborhood look bad ..... you all can thank the guy from Cabbagetown for the new changes when it comes to the tagger's..... and you can thank him for the taggers who just got busted ....oh by the way only one busted tagger was in the news .
Meanwhile cities from Miami (Wynwood Walls) to Shanghai (M50: Moganshan Lu) are utilizing graffiti art districts to revitalize sections of their cities. Way to be behind the cultural curve again Atlanta!
Street art will never die. This is the biggest art movement in the history of the world. Keeping buffing walls, it's just a waste of tax dollars.
Half skulls, full skulls, just tags.. Anything and everything by him let them ride... plus the wylie wall. More work by a passed away legend.
repression breeds resistance. this might be the best thing atl could do for street art. it's gonna be a game changer.
THE HELL WITH ohno AND HALF SKULLS AND FULL SKULLS ....SO WHAT ABOUT THE WYLIE WALL WITH THE TAGGERS WHO PASSED AWAY . FUCK THEM UP THEIR TOY ASS DO THEY CARE IF THEY TAG YOUR HOUSE HELL NO .... SO TELL ME WITH ALL THE TAGGER'S WHO DIED WHAT DID THEY DIE FROM ? DRUGS ..... I SAY START WITH THE KROG STREET TUNNEL FIRST COVER THE TRASH ALONG ITS WALLS . BURN IN HELL ohno .......
I like seeing people's creativity around the city. Most of it's good and clearly done by talented people. I don't see what the big deal is? Are we trying to make Atlanta more like the boring suburbs?
Some spray paint art can be creative, but no matter what, people need to respect other people's property. How many of these taggers own any property of their own? How would they feel if they came home one day and someone had spray bombed their house with a giant cartoon and they had to spend thousands of dollars of there own money to get it removed? I bet their attitude would change.
Part of the trouble is that many of the people who engage in this art form are using it as a form of class warfare.
They see it as a victimless crime against "rich" people (they can afford it because they're rich, right?), and the city (taxes will pay for everything for free, right?) and they think there're improving things anyway.
Here's the deal. Want more respect as an artist? Start with doing your art in a way that's not being a pain in the ass to anyone else. Second, you might want to do work on something other than tagger style graphics that say "BALLAZ" in ten foot high letters if you want to be taken seriously by anyone but Banksy and 15 year old kids. How much respect would Sheppard Fairey have if he was still painting overpasses?
I'd like to see more street art around town that doesn't revolve around text alone. Stuff like Mr. Fangs that is graphic, has humor, and actually says something about our city and where we live.
I could care less about those who just want to scrawl their lame ass nickname on every surface possible around town. That is just boring narcissistic bullshit. If you are going to throw up tags everywhere you go, at least TRY to make them interesting and creative!
What do they think will happen they pain over it then that's it? When will ppl understand. ITS TO LATE. You can not and will not ever stop graffiti. All your doing is making a new canvas. U paint a spot the next person is amped they get to hit that spot. or the origanl artist is amped he gets to take it back. And for every good artist that get arrested there's a 100 of other crappier artsit ready to make a name for them selves. If atlanta, usa was more open to graffiti and art in general the city would look better. Put a mural on your wall and ppl mostlikly won't take it.
For the uptight shop owner. If u don't want your shop tagged on do put it in "tag central" then be surprised it got tagged on. U won't stop graffiti. Might as well put a mural on it and let the artist keep the wall up if it does get tagged on. That or just be ready to clean tags off every week.may suck for a propertu owner but that's just how it is.
respect from obey and banksy? No one cares about that. For everyone that says "I bet they would feel different if it was there property" and they should change there way of thinking and be more respectful. Well people SHOULD do a lot of things but this is something that just isn't going to happen. Get over it
Graffiti is one thing, tagging is another. I hate people who just tag things, it's an insult to graffiti artists out there. But, if you didn't want your nice, new brick building to be vandalized, why did you risk being in Atlanta in the first place? Just sayin'...
rest in power ohno.
the painted walls give Atl its character/
if you wanted clean walls move somewhere else.
graf artist and writers will never stop.
TREEJUMPER, without having to revisit the pain by trying to put it all in words again, I wanted to share the following post I put on the Reynoldstown forum the week after OHNO passed, and a few shallow people distastefully spoke ill of him.
As a property owner, I understand the frustration of having your property or neighbor's personal property defaced-- it is WAY not cool. But cursing someone to rot in hell, that you did not even know, and if you had crossed, probably would have left you walking away with a smile, is just childish. You should really think twice before jumping to such conclusions, and no, he did not die of drug use, or any other bad or illegal action.
Here's my post in response to comments like yours on forums like this one (and references the Rtown graffiti clean up crew's efforts):
Our unbearable hurt does not need to be compounded by those that did not know Matt. I'm sorry that you feel you know he was a bad person. A lot of people's occupations could make others judge them in the same way. However, as the city mourns a great loss and a void in our everyday lives that will never be complete again, please be respectful. It is not fair to add to the hurt we are suffering
from right now by talking sh*t about a great human being that you never met.
Keep it to your own personal gatherings, please. We all appreciate it.
Matt passing has left the city a colder place. It makes you wonder why the great souls leave us while we are left with the less savory ones. Matt had the largest heart of any person I've ever met and never passed judgment, complained, or had an ill word to speak of anyone. Please be respectful of the hurt that so many of us are going through right now.
While I understand he worked counter to many of your efforts, it was never out any negative notion. I'm sorry he may've spray painted your stop sign or brick wall, but these actions do not call for the disrespect of our loss. While if I had my way, I'd memorialize every chicken scratch tag he has on our block (as right now, they are one of very few comforts), I recognize I cannot ask that of
the clean up crew. You all are working hard and I appreciate everyone's efforts to clean up our hood. I've photographed every piece he has in Rtown, so I may
have my own personal reminders.
Thank you to those who're sensitive to the loss, and yes, those of us in the neighborhood who knew him appreciate this forum not being used to discuss it.
Friends, your comments are great. Also, please help us build this list. Don't just tell us what's wrong/right with this decision, but tell us what needs to be preserved.
emilykvon I knew the guy right before he moved to R-Town . I knew his friends as well and I did see heroin being sold in his place where he lived . So who are you his tagger friend ? Matt and his friend Zakk and all his room mates all 8 of them roamed my neighborhood at night tagging it as well as other neighborhoods . So don't tell me I didn't know him I know a lot more then you think . I know what tagging gang he was in . Tagging is a gate way crime it leads to other crimes as drug dealings and drug use , and IT IS A FACT THAT MATT AND ZAKK GAVE DRUGS AND BEER TO KIDS , don't forget I was in his house when he passed the kids a beer pills and a joint .
Look he didn't care about my neighbors when he and his friends got high and kept my neighbors up at night .
You are so full of shit to say he was a good person it might be so if your one of the people hanging ,tagging with him or doing drugs . Then you say ( the city mourns a great loss and a void in our everyday lives that will never be complete again, please be respectful. It is not fair to add to the hurt we are suffering ) ( Matt passing has left the city a colder place.) It sounds like you don't know Matt in my book , and with his death that means one less tagger to worry about . And I will take it upon my self to cover all his tags that I find .
Let see how much you know about him what tagging crew/gang was he in ? I know the answer to that . What are some of the tag names in Matt's crew ? I know the answer to that as well . When did Matt and Zakk came to Atlanta ? What city did they come from and was they busted in that city and had to do prison time in that city ? And how many came with them two ? Who did they stay with once they got to Atlanta ? I have the answers to that as well ..And do you know what the N with a circle around it means when you see it on a tag ? I have more info on the tagging crews here in Atlanta then what the city of Atlanta police has right now I even have pics of 5 people of Matt's crew ..... SO ONCE AGAIN MAY HE BURN IN HELL ........ AND THIS GOES OUT TO HIS CREW AS WELL AS ALL OTHER TAGGERS .
Don't get me wrong I like graffiti art but if you going to do it illegal then it makes it bad for the good guys who do nice graffiti .
treejumper. you are the dumbest motherfucker. i have a feeling matt beat your ass once and you cant get over it. grow the fuck up. respect a fellow human being who, despite what you think, was an amazing person. just because you can name people in his crew doesnt mean you fucking knew matt. im not a tagger and i've known matt for over 5 years and he was the greatest friend anyone was lucky enough to have.
I agree with the above commenter. How about focusing on REAL crime and its roots rather than random paint on walls? I like or love most graffiti I see, minus the tagging. A large part of intown ATL's appeal comes from the vibrant chaos of its street art.
If Krog Street tunnel ever becomes sanitized, I'm moving to Philadelphia.
Oh, crazy old Mr. Bowman. It amazes me after all these years that you just continue to get crazier and crazier. You have got to be one of the loneliest, most miserable pieces of human existence I have ever come across, you are a genuine cartoon character. You go way beyond the realm of being a "concerned citizen". You are the epitamy of a rebel without a cause. I always get a good laugh at reading your non-sense rants, seriously, they are very entertaining to read and I thank you for that. but I think you're getting a bit carried away at this point. Someone needs to put you on some tranquilizers or something. Perhaps you should take an anti-depressant and think for a second about what you are saying and what you are instigating by saying the things you are saying. In my opinion we shouldn't even be talking about a guy who passed away to begin with but whatever. Sure, the guy had some minor issues with substance abuse; as do A LOT of other people out there. That doesn't mean he was a heroin attic who went around tagging peoples houses and raping young children. Its a tragedy that he passed away at such a young age, and thats all I want to leave it at. you are speaking about this guy as if he raped your daughters and murdered your wife or something. But then again considering how much of a bitter crazy asshole you've proven yourself to be, I can't imagine you being able to relate to anyone who has other people that care about them. So I guess thats why you say these crazy things that you say. I would feel sorry for you, but after reading you cursing a fellow human beings' grave 3 times I can't say that I feel any sympathy for ya. Maybe your anger with graffiti is your pathetic way of filling in the abundance of voids in your life? I dunno. But as much as you are claiming to know soooo much about graffiti; you couldn't be more wrong about the subject in so many ways. And then it makes absolutely no sense when you say "Don't get me wrong I like graffiti art but if you going to do it illegal then it makes it bad for the good guys who do nice graffiti". Well then, do you care to explain those streaks of green paint going through the sanctioned legal work just outside of the tunnel? perhaps you could explain who is responsible for vandalizing the beautiful work that was once blessing the concrete walls in cabbagetown a couple of years ago? maybe im jumping to conclusions here, but if you are going to basically accuse all graffiti artists of being in gangs and accuse us all of being heroinatics than i think i have every reason to suspect you are the dick who is responsible for vandalizing "good graffiti". Honestly I really dont even think you have the capability of distinguishing the difference between graffiti work that is "good" and graffiti work that is "bad". Judging by your rants that you continue to make, anyone with a sense of sanity can easily determine that you are clearly an uneducated nut-job with some serious anger management issues. If I had to guess I would say you were scizophrenic. I don't know what exactly is wrong with you but I think you need to go to a shrink. because its a bit disturbing hearing your delusional notions that kids painting graffiti is the cause of all of the bad things that exist in the world.
As for writers tagging houses, respectful graffiti artists (this includes "taggers") know better than to tag peoples private residencies. Very rarely do I see anyone at all tag a house, and if I do, its usually just some dumbass kids being stupid or else it is an abandoned home that is going to be bulldozed anyways to make way for more condos. Considering some of the fucked up rants you have been making, I wouldn't blame anyone for vandalizing your house. For the comments you've made I think you more than deserve it. You really need to learn to distinguish between gang scribbles, commissioned graffiti art, un-commissioned graffiti art, and just completely senseless vandalism. then you need to ask yourself: "Does any of this REALLY affect my life?". But apparently it seems that you group young adults spray painting on things in the same category as murder and giving heroin to children. So I guess there isn't much of a point in trying to reason with you is there? my advise to you is to find something a little more productive to do with your time. Why don't you build a deer-stand in a tree somewhere and try to catch people breaking into cars or something? Nobody likes car thieves; why dont you take a break and focus all of your anger on those guys for a bit? Just a suggestion... Otherwise, maybe if you learn to use somewhat proper grammar when you go on your meaningless rants then maybe people will actually take you a little more seriously. In the meantime, you have a very merry christmas good sir, try to lighten up a little...seriously, you're scaring people...
wow...reading these posts makes it clear how the graffiti criminals are as detrimental and worthless to society as their graffiti.
Erase the garbage and arrest them. Increase fines and community service hours cleaning up similar garbage. If you paint murals...get a commission. Otherwise, go into a dark corner and huff till you drop.
OR MAYBE SPEND YOUR MONEY ON AREAS LIKE KIRKWOOD, THE WEST END, EAV, ETC, ETC... WHERE WE GET ROBBED AND BURGLARIZED ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS. FUCKING GRAFFITI? LOOK AT ALL THESE ZOMBIE CRACKHEADS OUT IN THE STREETS. HOW ABOUT THESE POTHOLES? WTF......SOUNDS LIKE SOME YUPPIES IN INMAN PARK ARE PISSING THEIR MILLION DOLLAR SOCCER MOM PANTIES. YOURE GONNA GO AFTER GRAFFITI WITH ALL THIS REAL CRIME GOING ON IN ATLANTA? HAHAHA, GREAT HOPE YOUR GLAD THE WALL IS CLEAN WHILE YOUR BLOOD SPRAYS ACROSS IT AS YOU'RE GETTING MUGGED.
Hey TreeJumper - I'd be glad to meet up with you anytime my friend. Seriously, you wanna grab a beer at 97 Estoria (not my hangout, but most likely near where you live) sometime? Just you and me buddy. We can talk, hold hands and stare deep into one anothers eyes and just feel how deep the connection is. This could be the beginning of something real, something we have both always longed for in our cold and lonely lives. Maybe one day we could play games, like hold each others head under the covers when the other farts. Or even take turns shaving our initials into each others chest hair. I can see us now watching Wheel of Fortune, eating our TV dinners and ranting incoherently to one another about how serious of a crime graffiti is and how we should spend an inordinate amount of time cursing people while being overwhelmingly angry.
I like your style and I wanna get on board with a chap like you. Let's team up and take this city by storm. And who knows maybe, just one day, maybe we will become more than just friends. OMG I just love Jennifer Anniston movies and flannel jammies as well.
P.S. Promise to be just as tough in real life as you are on these posts. I don't need another disappointment in life, like finding out that this is the last season of Oprah... I need you to be strong, hateful and as close minded as you are here.
Thank You and I hope to meet soon.
xoxoxo
OR MAYBE SPEND YOUR MONEY ON AREAS LIKE KIRKWOOD, THE WEST END, EAV, ETC, ETC... WHERE WE GET ROBBED AND BURGLARIZED ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS. FUCKING GRAFFITI? LOOK AT ALL THESE ZOMBIE CRACKHEADS OUT IN THE STREETS. HOW ABOUT THESE POTHOLES? WTF......SOUNDS LIKE SOME YUPPIES IN INMAN PARK ARE PISSING THEIR MILLION DOLLAR SOCCER MOM PANTIES. YOURE GONNA GO AFTER GRAFFITI WITH ALL THIS REAL CRIME GOING ON IN ATLANTA? HAHAHA, GREAT HOPE YOUR GLAD THE WALL IS CLEAN WHILE YOUR BLOOD SPRAYS ACROSS IT AS YOU'RE GETTING MUGGED.
lol JW you and Dick need to swing together and bump your bats ..... I do better swinging out of a tree by myself ..... and as for ohno he is dead and the basterd is where he needs to be DEAD . And for his friends in the F.I.D. crew AKA Kaos Inc. you are next . This means perve, enzo, mr.e, steal and others are marked people.
And concerned citzen maybe you need to keep your ass at home and stop getting drunk . I am as tough in real life as I am here so I know I'm not going to be the next one to be mugged . and you say I'm being hateful and closed minded ? I only hate a few things in life one of them are tagger's and matt was one . Did he even care about the buildings he tagged ? Hell no he didn't so why should I care about matt he didn't care about my neighborhood and all the damage that he and his buddy caused . All matt cared about was the next high heroin , meth, crack .... and it killed him .
Hope they don't get rid of the Mona Lisa by ATL zoo. Anyone know who painted this or if it is even considered graffiti? http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenzodom/35…
After spending much time on the Wynwood streets at Art Basel I keep imagining what Atlanta would be like with a stronger appreciation for "street art". Could you imagine artful murals taking over the dead walls of our city? It's hard to when rich color is painted over with dull grey all over the city. It breaks my heart a lil every time I drive by the Cabbagetown wall. People forget what Cabbagetown used to be. Recent homeowners want a piece of the suburbs in the midst of a city that possessed a certain culture long before they were ever there. Thanks for supporting this dialogue CL.
Why do you live in a major city if you don't want to deal with graffiti? Move to Roswell.
lol I don't have to move any where I was here long before the tagger's so why runaway and hide ? That's what the tagger's do they hide when they do the tagging . So you and the taggers can kiss my ass if you think I'm going to move .......
Here's how you do it: every thing you think is "graffiti" leave it alone. Everything you think is "legitimate corporate advertising" paint over it. All art is legitimate as it represents a human being expressing themselves in a non-violent, peaceful way, while every corporate billboard, advertising poster, or commercial canvasing represents greed, profiteering, capitalism and the enslavement of humanity to the hegemonic forces of autocratic extraction economics.
For the people that complain that they don't like tags, but like the "good stuff" I just want to ask something that seems like it should be self-evident, but wouldn't one consider the fact that an artist is giving up any chance of economic gain, by using a medium he does not himself own the rights to sale belies the fact that the artist neither values nor empathizes with your opinion?
It's distressing that some people cannot see a purpose to art for personal expression that exists outside of the economies of exploitation or a scale of consensus about what art is? Shouldn't there then also be a law against all art in public including the art of Coke logos and Billboards? Or do we accept these ludicrously as legitimate because the people who erected them had the capital to do so. Graffiti is not class warfare, it is NON-VIOLENT resistance and protest against the class warfare that is being waged against the poor everyday.
Obviously you can't supply art only to people who want it because of the nature of the tools available for creating physical (and not psychic) media, and even if this were possible, there's much to be said about artists who make artwork that people don't like while knowing full well they won't like it. This would be indicated by hundreds of years of paintings of naked ladies being replaced by images that might make you think of something else beside your little fleshy thimble and where to put it should you become lost.
I hate all graffiti AND THE PEOPLE WHO DO IT . The taggers need to save their monies not buy drugs like matt and his friends do every chance they get . Graffiti is a VIOLENT CRIME the break into buildings to bust holes in walls and bust out glass in the windows . Plus the taggers need to save monies to pay their fines ....and the damages they cause...
"ITS TO LATE. You can not and will not ever stop graffiti. All your doing is making a new canvas."
B.S. - Getting "up" is all about ego. Take away the "art" promptly and you take away their motivation. They go to other spaces where their scrawl is more likely to be seen for a longer period of time.
Most of what they write is simply a made-up tag (nothing thought provoking). Probably because we would laugh at their spelling. See quote above.
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