your feelings on graffiti/street art

[Dr0ndeh]

peoples opinions on this subject vary quite a bit, i'd like to know how the hl2.net peeps feel on graffiti! do you hate tagger scum or do you secretly like a good handstyle? do you like stencils but dislike other forms of streetart? do you do graffiti in anyway yourself? or know the biggest bomber in your town? post your opinions on all forms of graff from:

the tag:

the throw up:

the piece:

the stencil:

the paste up:

the installation:

and the humble sticker:

and everything in between.

 

[Eejit]

Not a fan.

But then I'm from N.I. full of sectarian graffiti/murals.

 

[lePobz]

Tagging for the sake of talentless chavs 'making their mark' should be banned, they should be lined up and shot.

But street art, with talent, and meaning, should be encouraged. As long as it's in designated places, and not plastered everywhere. Stickers art? GTFO. Ban them.

 

[Phobie]

I love graffiti/stencils/street art if it is done well. I really appreciate when it is not just senseless vandalism.

Recently they removed a banksy from near my house because they didn't want to give the message that graffiti is acceptable. I don't quite know how I feel about this. I'm not a banksy bummer, I think they are good though.

 

[noQ]

First two are ugly imho, but the rest are nice. The examples I mean.

 

[Eejit]

But street art, with talent, and meaning, should be encouraged.

Depends on the meaning -.-

 

[kineaesth]

Tagging for the sake of talentless chavs 'making their mark' should be banned, they should be lined up and shot.

But street art, with talent, and meaning, should be encouraged.

I agree with this much of what he said.

 

[Solaris]

I quite like Northern Ireland murals, always make me feel at home when I arrive at Belfast from stranraer.

Nationalist ones are the best.

 

[Eejit]

I quite like Northern Ireland murals, always make me feel at home when I arrive at Belfast from stranraer.

Nationalist ones are the best.

Well there's that side to it. They're still hate-paintings

Nationalists do tend to put more effort into them from the ones I've seen.


My favourite Irish murals are the guinness ones

 

[Dr0ndeh]

As long as it's in designated places, and not plastered everywhere.

wouldnt be the same if all graffiti was legal pieces.

 

[Eejit]

 

[Solaris]

The nationalist ones are rarely hateful too.

They don't glorify groups of butchers who's sole intention is to kill catholics.

 

[Dr0ndeh]

*snip*

 

[Shinobi]

In NA there are many subgroups of writers (artists, gangs, etc etc) so it's kind of hard to generalize

I wrote for a good while, and one warning, the people I know who were adamant about it and have been painting for 20 years without a mask are very slow now

so ALWAYS WEAR A MASK

and always put your backpack on the front

 

[Eejit]

The nationalist ones are rarely hateful too.

They don't glorify groups of butchers who's sole intention is to kill catholics.

Uh kinda. There are some of those, the difference is a lot of nationalist ones focus on victimisation. Like the Bloody Sunday ones, Bobby Sands ones etc.
And keeping all those memories alive isn't exactly helpful.

 

[Adabiviak]

I think I'm with a lot of people here - if the work amounts to marking territory, it's almost invariably lame. I am however a big fan of graffiti when it's done well. I have some friends in San Francisco that used to do this and I went on a couple trips with them to some train tunnels where a lot of this took place and there was some seriously good art in there. The fact that it's done 'on the fly' with spray paint (good tips be damned) makes it that much cooler for me. Good ones in my opinion also make a subtle statement in a clever way. I have an old issue of 12oz Prophet that has some really stunning pieces in it.

Also, that "God Listens to Slayer" billboard is my desktop background.

 

[Darkside55]

I like street art, but tagging doesn't fall under my definition of "art." It's just stupid kids putting up names and gang affiliations.

But things like murals and stencils, that's good stuff.

 

[Trevelyan]

'tags' in white featured here (and the first pic) seem to be everywhere in my city and do not smack me like some of the other pic's posted here, which smack of fine effort and for the most part I enjoy them.

I monger on the warmonger's and those that perpetuate it though, banksy is quite good at this.

Barcelona is a great place i've been to for graffiti art and Jean-Michel Basquiat is super.

 

[Jintor]

Most of the time I hate it, but I have seen some beautiful, beautiful things on Street Walls. Also, Banksy.

There was this one time I turned a corner and there was a full-sized mural of all the characters from Season 1 of Digimon on a wall, in full colour. It was beautiful.

 

[15357]

I've never seen any good graffiti in real life, just distasteful ones. :/

 

[MFD00M]

I disagree with some of you. I'm a graffiti enthusiast and I do a lot of it myself. I agree that drunk college kids writing their names on a wall is retarded. But I think that a skilled, original tag is amazing. I spend hours a day working on original stuff.

 

[Raziaar]

I think creative graffiti is a beautiful thing, and we should encourage it.

However, the largest problem with graffiti comes from the fact that most elements of graffiti out there(not all of course, but most) are from the hands of gang members marking their turf. That kind is not very artistic, and it's not very nice to see around because you see it and you recognize that there is a turf war going on, and you could be in very dangerous territory.

It's a reminder that gang life is ever present around us, and expanding. It taints the beautiful works of graffiti with a marred message of violence and hate.

 

[ailevation]

I like good graff art, not stupid crap shit like those random gangs tagging their gang name on walls that look like 5 year-old's hand writing.

 

[Bad^Hat]

If it's a show of talent rather than a few indecipherable letters, then sure. On the other hand, in my apartment building, they had to start locking up the bottom floor because people kept getting in and tagging up the walls. Everywhere. And it was just that "represent" bullshit that consists of a W and an S occupying the same space and nothing else, or some other nonsense. They weren't even spraying it on, it was done in permanent marker. :|

Anyway, I had to get a key cut to get into the bottom door, which cost me $6, and I've already locked myself out once, which cost me my dignity. So yeah. F*ck tags.

Edit - As far as vandalism goes, ie - graffiti on someone else's property without permission, I think generally it's stupid but there have been exceptions. In my old town, there were a few businesses who actually made a point of keeping the graffiti on their walls around, even encouraging it, because it was part of the local culture. There were a few pieces in particular that became pretty well known, which only did the businesses they were attached to favours.

 

[French Ninja]

Some white trash spray-painted their shitty tags on a bridge across the creek in my backyard. They piss me off.

 

[Raziaar]

Some white trash spray-painted their shitty tags on a bridge across the creek in my backyard. They piss me off.

And what sucks is that if you try to clean it up and remove it... first of all there will be more. Second of all you could be putting yourself in danger of being beat up or worse, killed if these are some serious violent gangs involved.


Isn't it true that they are developing technologies that are graffiti resistant and even potentially graffiti proof?

 

[Acepilotf14]

Not a fan at all. I think anarchists should die.
Especially those people who want to make their mark or try and tell the world something through graffiti, and expect the first amendment to protect them.

 

[MJ12]

Like any form of art, some of it is good, and some of it is terrible.

I. Love. Good. Graffitti. It adds so much color and creativity to a dull world.


Tagging and gang affiliations do not count as good graffitti art. And if you can't do it right, don't do it at all.

 

[Cheomesh]

Some can look nice, but they should stop putting paint on other peoples shit. It isn't theirs.

 

[15357]

Some can look nice, but they should stop putting paint on other peoples shit. It isn't theirs.

Exactly.

iirc, there was a movie where there was an automatic graffiti prevention system, and the computer would automatically shoot the perp with machine guns.


I laughed.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I like street art, but tagging doesn't fall under my definition of "art." It's just stupid kids putting up names and gang affiliations.

But things like murals and stencils, that's good stuff.

Tend to agree with you, but there are alck of murals around my area

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I like street art, but tagging doesn't fall under my definition of "art." It's just stupid kids putting up names and gang affiliations.

But things like murals and stencils, that's good stuff.

Tend to agree with you, but there are a lack of murals around my area

 

[Mr Stabby]

Proper artistic graffiti might as well cover bare walls. Political murals are bloody stupid, with the sole purpose of annoying someone.

 

[Musk]

I hate the pointless tags people leave but some of the stuff they do looks really good. One of my friends does graffiti and I've seen what he does and it looks great.

 

[Druckles]

If graffiti looks good, or it fits, or it's not obstructing something else, or the place needs it, then sure, it's good. It varies.

 

[Dog--]

Most graffiti is shit, but there are some really talented people out there who paint some really amazing stuff..

But sometimes it's just funny, like during election time there are giant pictures of people on billboards, and people paint mustaches, beards, eye-patches, speech bubbles (particularly the 'I'm gay' bubble), sometimes it's just shit, though.

 

[MFD00M]

I pretty much agree with what you're all saying. Amateur/Gang/Shitty graffiti should be discouraged. But real graffiti with artistic talent should be encouraged.

 

[Ennui]

I'm fascinated with urban art and graffiti... even tagging, when I see a cool tag or handstyle I'm excited. Murals are awesome, and even clever stenciling (a la Banksy).

I used to do a little myself but I don't think it's worth the risk, plus I sucked at it but I do know some very talented artists, one of whom got 4 toes chopped off by a train while hiding from security because he was painting a train.

 

[dead-memory]

thats really cool about the toes, i think loosing of body parts if its not like a vital thing(head,arms,legs,wholehands,whole feet, ets) is cool to me idk why

 

[MJ12]

thats really cool about the toes, i think loosing of body parts if its not like a vital thing(head,arms,legs,wholehands,whole feet, ets) is cool to me idk why

You wouldn't have typed that if you didn't have fingers.