Roundup: Alternative Graffiti

CasaSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:00:43 -0700

Graffiti, the process of scratching, scrawling, painting, or marking images or letters in any manner on property, has existed since the Roman Empire, and has evolved into much more than simple scratch marks. Some people think of it as vandalism (defacing property), others as art, and for others it's a movement of its own. You can see from a recent CitizenSugar poll about British graffiti artist Banksy, the consensus is largely divided. If you have the chance to check out the film Beautiful Losers, which is in theaters now, you'll see that for some, graffiti is truly an art medium. While some graffiti is often reviled by authorities, other work is heralded for encouraging creativity and for the sense of community it builds. To see a few examples of these, check out this slideshow. Source

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Before and After: Banksy v. the Gray Ghost

CasaSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:30:01 -0700

If you read my roundup of alternative graffiti, you know about satiric, prolific, and pseudo-anonymous British graffiti artist Banksy, and also about Fred Radtke, the Gray Ghost, who has been painting over graffiti throughout New Orleans with gray paint since 1997. Although I lumped them both into one category of "alternative graffiti," the motivation behind it for the two is not the same. For Bansky, the medium is a venue for making political, cultural, and ethical statements, while Radtke considers his graywashing more of a public service, referred to as "Operation Clean Sweep." Not only do they differ in the end to their means, but Banksy actually recently took it upon himself to battle the Gray Ghost on his home turf. Above is an image of a wall in New Orleans, which was painted over in gray by Radtke, as it had been marked with graffiti. Banksy's caption reads:

I came to New Orleans to do battle with the Gray Ghost, a notorious vigilante who's been systematically painting over any graffiti he can find with the same shade of grey paint since 1997. Consequently he's done more damage to the culture of the city than any section five hurricane could ever hope to achieve.

To see Banksy's response to the Gray Ghost, stenciled on the same brick wall, read more.

I must say, I agree with Banksy. If you consider graffiti an art form or a statement, isn't Radtke wiping out something of cultural and communicational value? If you consider it vandalism, isn't he eliminating a measure of the city's state of being and health? How can the issues related to vandalism be solved without evidence of the vandalism itself? If a home's exterior is white and it is splotched with gray, doesn't it still look tarnished? Tell me your thoughts!
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