Saturday, April 2, 2011
Courts Graffiti artists hit with $1 million lawsuit
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Sat, Apr 2, 2011 at 10:41 PM
Fed up with finding their home and building defaced with graffiti, two Old Fourth Ward residents and a nearby business have filed a lawsuit against the people they say are behind the works. The AJC's Kristi Swartz says the lawsuit, filed Friday in Fulton County State Court, seeks $1 million in punitive damages for intentional destruction of property and emotional distress.
Among those named in the surprising lawsuit, the paper reports, are some of the city's most notable graffiti artists, including Hense, Ghost and NOPE. Also named are several businesses and — surprisingly — "25 additional unnamed defendants known only by their tags." Defendants contacted by Swartz denied any involvement or referred questions to an attorney. (Check out her full article here for more details.)
The legal move's yet another sign that Atlanta — and many of its neighborhoods — are ratcheting up efforts to curb uncommissioned graffiti. As we reported late last year, the city's revived its anti-graffiti task force to crack down on unwanted tags and murals on public property. And according to a neighborhood listserv message included on this lively Atlanta subreddit thread, the Atlanta Police Department's "graffiti abatement officer" has been meeting with residents tired of painting over bricks and peeling posters off walls.
The lawsuit — which is the first of its scope that we've heard of — should be interesting. Stay tuned.
Comments (44)
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Hopefully "Shine" is in the lawsuit as well. That no-talent asshat throws his tags everywhere in the various east Atlanta neighborhoods.
I unfortunately will be cleaning up some of his GP mess tomorrow.
And why couldn't vomet have fallen to his death when he was putting up all that shit on the I-85 overpass recently?
And I'm going to send a pre-emptive strike to everyone who will say that "graffiti is part of living in a big city-if you don't like it move OTP or Buckhead":
(1) Living in a big city (ATL) also means that assholes will try to break in my house to steal my TV, coke/heroin deals are made, crackheads try to solicit me for money, etc. All of them are a pain in the ass, and nothing I want my child to experience. Why should I settle for status quo on any of these negative things?
(2) I have lived in the city for a long time, and no, I'm not moving. My goal is to get you to move OTP, back to your parents place. Why should I move because you want to ruin things that aren't yours, be they personal or public property? Why should I have to live with the intolerant/gay-bashing/Bible-thumping/hard-core conservatives because you have a childish need to deface property??
Thing is this article (the AJC one) is lumping in artists who have nothing to do with tagging the building in question. The people issuing the lawsuit are also going after what ever graffiti and street artists they can, including ones with storefronts, and who are commissioned to do legal work, probably just because they are the ones they were able to find. For the most part experienced graff writers follow etiquette that includes leaving private property alone. Most tags of private property are done by stupid kids.
If the city wanted to prevent unwanted tags they should do two things :
1) stop buffing out tags, because that just challenges taggers to hit it again. If you want to keep a wall clean, put a mural on it, taggers (generally) respect superior work, including murals.
2) designate sections of the city as "free walls" to let those who want to tag, do so.
There will always be some people who feel the need to "fight the man" by being vandals (and you are never really going to stop them), but this article and the people who are issuing the lawsuit are also persecuting artists who want to give something to city, they just need to be given better opportunities to do so.
"Uncomissioned graffiti?" - in other words, graffiti.
These guys are lucky it's a lawsuit and not a load of rock salt in their buttocks.
buckplankchest----
I think you are confused. Tagging isnt a right. Its a crime. It also makes neighborhoods look like shit.
I have yet to meet a graffiti supporter who thinks it would be OK if I tagged their car. So is the rule that if it's someone else's property it's graffiti but if it's your own property it's vandalism?
I bet buckplankchest and mike83 are tagger's and I also bet I know who you 2 fuckheads are . I also bet more people will start suing the crack head and heroin using tagger's who has plagued our neighborhoods long enough . Well one house hold of tagger's has moved from R-town rightfully so cause you know I'm on you like stink on shit . Yes that guy who always walked by your house taking pic's was me .
To set matters straight buck you said this ( For the most part experienced graff writers follow etiquette that includes leaving private property alone. Most tags of private property are done by stupid kids. ) This is a lie hence and sever are not kids and they have vandalized peoples property .
You think by stop buffing out tags will stop the tagger's from tagging ? Your wrong buck about not buffing out the tags. Sure it's a challenge to tag a wall on a busy street and you forgot that I took your buddies out when they challenged me buffing out the wall .
Then your dumb ass wants free walls what for to practice on then to go else where to tag ? Well Mill Town Lofts has the same tag on their wall that's on the CSX wall . shane and vomit ,steal are just a few tagger's whos been painting on the CSX wall and you will find the same names else where . And I say this to all tagger's I'm the man now fight me you punk bitches .
You can call the tagger's artists all you want ,what if Atlanta was a free space it wouldn't be fun to tag now would it . You all get your rocks off to know you doing wrong running from the law ,it's like a high to go out at night to do your dirty work .
To bad matt the rat died from a drug over dose but oh well one less tagger to worry about . Maybe next time it will be enzo or perve,steal,cee,and her girlfriend along with shane ,mr.e . all the names I just used are part of a gang called f.i.d. kaos inc ,better known in the tagging world as ps or paid scum . or is it the 28 gang ? you all tag this don't you ?
Don't forget that I have Cee and her girlfriends pic as well as enzo , perve,vomit ......... oh yes juse I have his mex ass pic .
Oh let's not forget there is a cops son that is a tagger and the cops name is tony singh do I need to say more ? Even the people of East Atlant knows about the kid and his mother and father as well as the teachers of his school knows about his habit that matt the rat showed him .
TAG YOUR IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Hangman, check the side of your house for my latest tag. It will say "ur it". Stay tuned.
What a waste of tax payer money and the court's time! The state does not have the funds to waste the court's time on this nonsense...unless you have video evidence of individuals destroying your property, you will never win. You may soon be defending against a counter suit...you're going for a milli? Leave legitimate businesses alone and go make money by working instead of filing frivilous lawsuits. Understand that any chump can go and tag any psudoname. Just because I'm known as "joe" and someone writes "joe" on your wall, it does not make me liable. Anyone could have done that! You can't just accuse anyone because you suspect they wrote a word on your digs. Set up a video camera and get some proof. Until you can put 2 + 2 together and get some hard evidence, just keep scrubbing. After all, you have nothing better to do. PS - get a criminal conviction before you file a civil suit.
We should have areas like Krog and public areas willing to allow graffiti and then ratchet up the severity (penalty as is fines, not time) for tagging in any other area. This is not rocket science. Otherwise stop making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Specifically you, Hangman, your talking like a juiced-up soccer mom. Use some of that extra time to do something positive. You must have enough nervous energy to do some good manual labor around your neighborhood. That will justify your righteousness like you've never felt. Trust me.
There's a p
That's it Rodney Bowman (Hangman). I am tired of your hate speak. Your address is going up on every post online you have been spewing your hate on if I see one more post talking shit about a dead young man. I didn't want to do this because your old crazy ass doesn't even own the house you live in but I'm tired of hearing all your nonsensical hatred. I never knew the kids you talk so much shit about but I'm fed up with your shit old man. You are not anonymous! I know you! I know where you live and I will post you info all over the internet you old crazy ass nut job! Fuck You!
Hey Hangman, how about you spend a little less time chasing graffiti artists, and a little more time learning to express yourself through writing in a reasonably intelligent manner. Judging from your post, I'm fairly confident that I know third graders who have a better grasp on the English language than you do. Perhaps people would be more inclined to listen to what you have to say on this matter if you were capable of expressing your thoughts in a reasonably intelligible manner. It is difficult to take someone seriously when they're forcibly sodomizing the English language.
I'm with @(MrMynor). At least bad graffiti can be washed away -- but @(HANGMAN HANGMAN)'s incoherent drivel is now part of the public record forever. Talk about crapping on a pristine wall.
If you can't cook, don't. If you can't paint, don't. If you can't write, DON'T.
Hangman ya daft bastard. If I ever come across your wrinkly old ass while I was out painting I will beat you with a can of my paint. Now fuck off back to your retirement home you old wanker
I wonder how much money the paint stores make from selling the paint to the actual artists, the wannabe artists, the private property owners covering up unwanted "artistic donations", and the tax payers from the gov't also covering up said unwanted "artistic donations"? The only people winning here are the paint suppliers.
serves them right. graffiti is only desirable because it subverts authority. if you get off on subverting authority you had better be prepared when authority cracks down.
do the crime, do the time. if you didn't spend enough effort advancing your shitty tags into the actual realm of socially constructed art, it's your fault.
"Hangman ya daft bastard. If I ever come across your wrinkly old ass while I was out painting I will beat you with a can of my paint."
you spray paint on the side of other people's buildings because you know that you're too talentless to find any other venue for your insipid childish scribblings. learn to play the guitar like every other insecure suburban kid and leave other people's stuff alone
is it any wonder that taggers inevitably end up trying to impose their crap art all over someone else's effort? essentially because they are too lazy and talentless to appeal to a broader demographic. they simply have to circle the drain and play soggy biscuit with other social rejects who engage in circular justification over whatever worthless crap they decided was cool.
it's silly nonsense cooked up by alienated teenagers who desperately crave daddy's (the state's) approval. taggers could very well spend their time learning to manipulate an artistic medium that means something to someone other than crackheads and hipsters, but they refuse - probably because they're insecure and fear rejection. it's kind of sad really, graffiti could be so much more inspiring or interesting without so many wannabes spreading filth like stray dogs
I think the little ghosts painted around town are cute. I do not think that painting on street signs is very useful, however.
I have an opinion. I won't share my opinion though because I also have a long, untagged wall at my house.
Well,
Theres both an overlap and distinction between "tagging" "graffiti" etc. and "street art" I never said tagging was a "right." I did say though that its always going to be there in some form. People like writing on walls, always have (cave paintings etc)
The point i was trying to make was, specifically, that the people in the article are not just going after the taggers (vomet, enzo, etc) but people who make a living off their art and had nothing to do with fucking with that particular building (hense, Greg Mike, Totem, etc)
The tagging is inheritly illegal, and that is part of the appeal for those who engage in it, absolutely. But there are a number of artists who put up work (murals, wheat pastes, etc) with either permission or in a way where it doesnt hurt anyone, and they are unfairly being lumped in with the taggers in both the lawsuit and attitudes of people like Hangman .
well there is proof that hense ,totem, sever did do tags with out permission . WTF thats why the city needs to include them on the tagger list .... it's time we nip it in the bud . not talking about smoking pot and getting DUI's . if you want the crap put it on your mom's house lets see how she likes it ....
Jesus Hangman Hangman! Fucking call the Crime Stoppers hotline and hand over your evidence and be done with it! Really, you really would rather take the credit for your hard work, though so roll on down to the station and file a report. Call Paul Howard and you two can be crazy ass fuckers together and revel in your grand accomplishments of having caught a smooth criminal.
If HH and everyone else so hot and bothered over this paint would get their eye focused on other things like rape or assault and what not (encounter any of that, HH?) APD could free up time to kill more old ladies or raid gay bars during Project Runway viewing parties. HH if you are so bloody passionate about this issue why don't you get in touch with Peggy Denby and that crew and put on a forum about the matter? Really- wouldn't that be more effective than your drivel?
BPc- right on!
lul I have talked to Peggy so many times and the police. If you and others dont like what I say then you might have to move on cause I'm here to stay . Remember to lock your doors you might be next .LOL
There has been a lot of published talk about the graffiti situation in our city in the past
year. Some of it is accurate, some is not. I have personally dedicated a serious amount of time to
understanding the graffiti debate from both sides because it is what i believe to be the most
important artistic issue to come up in my lifetime. I am a graffiti artist, writer, vandal, or whatever
you'd like to call it because all of those may apply.The purpose of this rant is not to change
anyone's minds about whether or not they like seeing someones name written on a building. There
are a lot of obvious things that are going on here that are not being discussed but are central to the
issue of filing a lawsuit against graffiti (whatevers) from Atlanta, but I'd like to start at the beginning.
I believe graffiti, as a movement, is something that developed in America exclusively as
a reaction to the increasing use of our public spaces for advertisement. America, when compared
to other developed countries, has an especially lasiez faire policy towards in-your-face ads. As
adults we all know quite well that a lot of advertisements often sidestep any real issues with a
product in favor of creating an image of a perfect hip world where you can enjoy that product
with your (insert social desires here) friends. In other words, ads aren't there to just sell a product,
they create a culture that you can be a part of and enjoy their product exclusively in. Another
important feature is that ads are shown to you whether you like it or not and have over the years
become increasingly insidious in their methods of display. It is not so strange now that
underprivileged youth in a few of our most important metropolitan centers developed a way of
showing a culture that sidesteps the idea that the only things that are important in our country are
tied to capitalism.
But painting a picture of troubled youth taking on a noble crusade against ads is
inaccurate. You have to have a huge ego and a lust for fame if you do it, yet most good writers
are interested mostly in developing a personal style and exploring the potential of that style and
ways to push it further. We do it because we love to MAKE something, and there is really little
interest in "destruction" within the community (despite the terms we use like "bombing"
"crushing" or "burning"). We are interested in lettering mostly because of the potential for
abstraction within a set of of letters,--the way they communicate, and the way they relate to each
other when put together in a name. We paint what we want to see out there as best we can, and
I've never met another writer that didn't want to constantly get better at what they are doing.
Because you are dealing with a subculture that (like all others) wants to identify itself as unique
and immune to the desires of those outside it, you wind up with a lot of visual communication that
is pretty much lost on those that are outside of it.
"Thats great that you want to talk to each other with your letters and everything, but
why do I have to see it all the time and buff it off my damn building?" one might ask. This is the
most important question facing graffiti today and has no easy answer. To understand graffiti a
little better you have to look at what has happened in the past 40 or so years. A quick browse
around the internet will reveal what looks less like an art movement and more like an unstoppable
beast with thousands of arms and legs, endless energy and talent, and every limb severed is
replaced with two more. This is not going to stop folks, it will continue until we burn this planet to
the ground. If you run the best ones out of here who will remain? The rampant discussion about tags and pieces, who should and who
shouldn't be allowed to put their personal expression up publicly has actively involved all of you
here in the artistic debate. The line between what is art and what is not is constanty under pressure
from artists and the cultures that surround them because art always has to assert its own value in a
changing world. The struggle to progress art and our culture is absolutely the most valuable thing
about this situation, and far outweighs price tags attributed to objects created by the handful of
artists each generation deems a "genius." The recent Banksy movie, "Exit Through the Gift Shop"
dealt with this rather deftly by displaying a farce around people's obsession with ads disguised as
art, and the disheartening assertion that we as a culture would rather see the former because they
make us feel wanted.
That brings me back to one of our local artists, Hense. I do not know who Hense is
personally but I know his work quite well. His works show a genuine interest in making the most
out of a particular spot, and always have a sensitivity to the surroundings that make his pieces
seem like they should be there. Indeed most every one of the run down spots he paints looks
better to almost any average joe than they would have before. But in the past several years Hense
has made what seems to be a concentrated effort to "go legit" so to speak by doing
commissioned walls, gallery shows, and major public projects. It seems to me that as one of the
city's most dedicated artists he would rather not be considered a thorn in the city's side but rather
an indelible part of our city's history and culture. I would like to know what attempting to sue a
person who has made honest efforts for 15+ years to make this city a more interesting place to
live is going to accomplish. You folks may not understand it now but you are forcing the best
ones out of here while running around in circles pointing fingers at random names as the source of
this city's issues. The names mentioned in this article demonstrate an attempt to make examples
out of a few easily accessible Graf artists without any consideration for the implications of suing a
person for a EXORBITANT sum of money because you had to scrape a poster or buff a few
tags. And was Hense even ON your building?
We are at a point where Atlanta's art scene is exploding. Eyes around the world are
upon us all as we decide to make this city what it will be in our shared future. Public art will
change the face of this city forever (and I'm not talking about grey columns here). There are many
of us that are willing to make this city more beautiful and interesting with public consent for next to no money because we LOVE this place. We want to be a part of it and make it better as much
as you do. But frivolous lawsuits will make most of us crawl back into our holes to come back
out at night again when we can paint what little bit we can get over before getting arrested (tags,
throwups etc..). And BTW you can reach the Skydive company that puts literally hundreds of
illegal stickers all over the highway here at 770-684-3843. You're welcome, you can probably get
TWO mil out of them!
This lawsuit is a joke. Do they really think they're gonna get ONE MILLION DOLLARS out of unnamed street artists and other misc people who have nothing to do with the tagging of those buildings? They have no concrete evidence of any named person tagging the buildings, just words from a crazy nut job who pretends to talk to the dead for a living. If anything relatives should be suing his ass for fraud.
Oh, man, so riled, Atlantans, so riled!
The point has been made that as street art and graffiti is a crime, and by its very nature is subversive, that the perpetrators of it must deal with the consequences decided on by the police. (Whether they be fines or someone painting over your work.)
That being said, it's essentially impossible to distinguish between art and vandalism; even something that's aesthetically ugly as shit could be making an important statement. Maybe the plan should be to monitor the hotspots, fine the perps, and sponsor design contests for city-designated 'fitti areas, then let the artists work in the daylight.
Personally, I don't care what walls get tagged, but some pecking order of respect for high-quality work should be maintained. Lest you be deemed a punk.
LET'S GET READY TO RUMMMMBLE!!! Rumble in the concrete jungle!!
They ain't gonna sue nobody. They'll try, and they'll
FAIL.... Plead the 5th all day
Atlanta's walls call our name and ask us to paint on them, an now they're scramming and begging louder than ever...
Give us back the 40 and civic yards!!
I miss the 90's
@Hangman STFU DAMN, u litter the internets with your ignorant comments someone should sue your dumbass for the stupid shit that you WRITE
is it the pollen in the air that makes atlantans file pointless lawsuits in the spring? or just smooth talking lawyers?
lol The truth is the tagger's will pay for their crimes one way or the other just like matt the rat and ynot they paid for it with their lives . You on the other hand will pay for it with time in prison .
someone PLEASE post a picture of this hangman character.
i'm dying to know if he looks exactly like the grizzled old western prospector that he sounds like.
well the beard certainly fits what i pictured.
but i was kinda hoping for a corncob pipe or maybe a coonskin cap.
does he at least have a faithful 3-legged dog following him around or a house full of cats?
you'r just mad that many people in the city don't your kind tagging their neighborhoods with your trash .
Hangman, YOU ARE A PSYCHO. Shame on you! Posting the names of some kids who you claim is an artist's parent. You're so angered you're to the point of threatening others over the internet and libeling some kid's poor dad. I've never understood people like you in my life, how could you be so angered by scribbles on a wall? Aren't there other things in life you should be concerned with, such as human trafficking, murders, rapes, and drug rings in Atlanta? Crack down on those, then concentrate on something as trivial as paint on a wall. Ever heard the Hemingway quote "if a writer needs a dictionary, he should not write"?
Please, listen to those wiser than yourself, Rodney Bowman a.k.a. Hangman.
"Hey Hangman, how about you spend a little less time chasing graffiti artists, and a little more time learning to express yourself through writing in a reasonably intelligent manner. Judging from your post, I'm fairly confident that I know third graders who have a better grasp on the English language than you do. Perhaps people would be more inclined to listen to what you have to say on this matter if you were capable of expressing your thoughts in a reasonably intelligible manner. It is difficult to take someone seriously when they're forcibly sodomizing the English language."
Couldnt have said it better myself.
You seriously sit around in trees and wait for graffiti artists to appear? When you were born do you believe your purpose in life was to stop kids from writing on things? Thats what you wish to spend your time in life doing? There's really no greater purpose you could think of dedicating yourself to?
"lol The truth is the tagger's will pay for their crimes one way or the other just like matt the rat and ynot they paid for it with their lives . You on the other hand will pay for it with time in prison ."
-Hangman a.k.a Rodney Bowmen
HOW DARE YOU EVER EVEN SPEAK MATT AND YNOT'S NAMES. Those are two amazing people whose lives were taken by unfortunate circumstances. THE LIVES OF OTHERS ARE NOT A JOKE. DONT TALK SHIT ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY, YOU'VE CROSSED A LINE. I'm glad you cary on like such a lunatic, you're only angering the ones who surround you more and more. Making fun of people's loved ones who passed away? You're burying a deep grave for yourself, death is not a joke. You're simply a rat teasing a lion in it's own cage at this point, you're waiting to have your ass beat or killed by being so disrespectful. HOW CAN YOU FIGHT AGAINST THE "IMMORALITY" OF GRAFFITI AS YOU SIT AND SPIT ON THE GRAVES OF SOME OF THE MOST RESPECTED GRAFFITI ARTISTS IN ATLANTA.
In this article:
http://clatl.com/atlanta/5-rodney-bowman-cant-stop-graffiti-in-his-neighborhood/Content?oid=1276279
you claim that you have no problem with artful graffiti, yet YNot and OH NO were two extremely well known, creative, and skilled artists in Atlanta. They put up beautiful pieces. You're going to rot in your own disillusioned hell
"Let not your tongue cut your throat"
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