Comments on: Off the wall

By: Adam

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:43:23 +0000

Indeed, he is pretty much just a tagger, but this being Lancaster, that’s the closest we’re going to get a banksy-alike.

I too am rather fond of stencils, although I prefer to leave my social commentary to sharpie pens on public signs. I spent a few days correcting the spelling and grammar in road signs and council placed warnings (we had one that said – Dont’ let your dog foul here)…

Actually, you might be able to help me out here… I see that you sell Banksy prints (and some pretty nice looking ones at that) however, where does copyright stand with reference to graffiti? I mean, technically you can’t copyright something that is illegal…

By: Banksy Fan

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:32:57 +0000

The lancaster guy looks like nothing more than a tagger – that’s bog standard graffiti if you ask me and gives guys like Banksy a bad name. It’s the usual uninspiring gangbanger tag. Stencils on the other hand are a lot more aesthetic and you can leave an implicit message rather than some huge bubble font of your gangname.

By: ambroziak

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:36:13 +0000

honestly mary is pretty badass to raise a magic baby… ever read Lamb the gospel according to Biff? but seriously she is definitely iconic, the pieta is one of my favorite sculptures… at least classic sculptures, Marcel Duchamp’s fountain will always hold a place in my heart, but its not quite an emotional piece as the pieta.

By: justine

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:12:45 +0000

even more fun, i find, is finding somewhere high up and blowing bubbles over a road
it must be pretty confusing for the drivers

By: justine

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:08:19 +0000

my friends and i do that with origami…once we wandered in to one of our favourite cafes (a different one) to find that one of the cranes we had left behind last time was bluetacked onto their till. we were delighted!

By: Melanthios

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:32:34 +0000

Cuz y’know, the terr’ists use bubbles and hippies. Secretly. XD

By: Adam

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:30:20 +0000

No, but I bet it won’t be long before it is considered an act of chemical warfare.

By: Melanthios

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:21:08 +0000

Does standing on a street-corner blowing bubbles count as loitering? That is my favourite hipppie-activity. You can even do it in large groups, and canvas a city block.

By: Adam

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:14:29 +0000

Oddly, despite my stance on religion, I have a real soft spot for the virgin Mary… She’s a bit of an icon, and one of the least realised aspects of modern Christianity in the west.

The Church is very male, yet at the centre of all this is a woman… I think it has something to do with men’s inability to give birth.

I love the idea of dressing streets on a temporary basis… especially knitware!

My friend’s daughter was told off by a policeman for drawing on the pavement with chalk… apparently it is still considered graffiti.

By: Melanthios

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:24:45 +0000

Since I’ve moved to NC, it’s been odd to see walls that aren’t patched-over from graffiti ‘repair’–all over Orange County, CA there is tagging. It’s just a fact of life.

Of course, if you want the prettiest graffiti, it goes without saying that you need to go farther north and drive around Los Angeles.

I rather miss graffiti, really. It was one of the background things I took for granted.

By: ambroziak

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:27:20 +0000

here in sacramento california, there is plenty of graffiti, most gang related or kids writing their names, lots of strange stencils (the virgin mary shows up a bunch), one guys been going around and pouring paint into cursive words in the middle of streets, there are a handful of good big works and funny wheat pasting, some of my friends including myself have been sewing and knitting random things for the streets. we’re not hard core enough for permanence. we’re like fake tattoos, or maybe mandala’s mandalas seem cooler. oh speaking of that… there is also a group of people that sidewalk chalk areas once a month.

By: Adam

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:29:40 +0000

What, only 15% genius?

By: justine

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:22:51 +0000

I’m 85% coffee and art!

By: Adam

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:21:19 +0000

Thanks Calan,

I think it is OK to read a Banksy book for free… it’s sort of the ethos of his art. Besides, when selling multi-million dollar sculptures to the Beckhams and Samuel L Jackson, I think his bank balance can take the hit on that occasion.

When I lived in Brighton I used to walk past two of the rat stencils… Banksy never asked me money for that…

…should have started with a ‘what’s your favourite Banksy piece?’.

By: Adam

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:13:06 +0000

Sort of like secret signals left by urban trackers… being able to read tags makes you a translator and a guide of a particular type of jungle.

It’s an ace comic by the way.

By: Adam

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:02:56 +0000

That’s pretty cool. Especially the fact that you can catch the artist at work… because of the nature of graffiti, it’s rare you even find out who created it, let alone get the chance to watch them create.

Coffee and Art – you can survive off that combination, without food, for approximately four months.

By: Adam

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:58:24 +0000

“…suggesting various positions from karma sutra” – or perhaps just the result of fingerpainting breakdancers.

“Graffiti is banned at work” – let me guess, as is stock car racing and blood sports.

I’m just being a little glib… My respect to your lunchroom picasso – that’s the bit about graffiti that I admire, a need to create art despite the context and the rules.

By: Adam

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:44:20 +0000

Wet paint and very dry words. Spookily true too.

By: Seraphine

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:17:06 +0000

the day after tomorrow, the universe…
the day after friday, heaven.
after heaven, it’s monday again.
and they say i’mmoody!

By: calan

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:50:53 +0000

thanks for this post adam and the link to the article about banksy’s street project. that’s just incredible. my boyfriend and i are both fans. we once sat on the floor of this posh store hidden behind some racks and went through every page of a banksy book, laughing and oohing and ahhing at his brilliance, balls and wit. (yeah, it’s more supportive to actually buy the book, but we were broke) i love that he’s managed to keep his identity under wraps and doubt that he’s the dude with the facebook account, lol.

Anyway, great post and articles, thanks for sharing. oh and f**k ye!

<3 calan

By: Seraphine

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:46:46 +0000

grape minds think alike. tomorrow’s comic, monday’s
encore serpahine, is also about graffiti, so i added a link
from it to the FU. i even mentioned your name, adam, in
case your parole officer is looking for you again.
most graffiti is shite, although some would argue it’s
the point. as long as it isn’t sprayed on my house,
i do love observing it, deciphering the meaning. i feel
if i can recognise street tags, i’m part of the small group
of people ‘in the know’ though that knowledge really is
worth less than paint compared to things of importance.

By: Pages tagged "witty"

Pages tagged "witty" — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:20:54 +0000

[...] bookmarks tagged witty Off the wall saved by 2 others veverik bookmarked on 07/20/08 | [...]

By: Davey

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:10:23 +0000

I like it.

By: justine

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:04:49 +0000

en route to one my regular cafes, there is a shortcut through a laneway (only to be taken in broad daylight, mind) filled with fabulous graffiti and i think it’s accepted by the people in charge to be art, because nobody seems to care about it. there’s some crazy good stuff up there, and it is always changing so there’s something new almost every time i go to my cafe! several times i’ve walked past people in the middle of producing a work of art. like i said, nobody cares. it’s my favourite wall.

By: Ben

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:34:15 +0000

I found some graffiti on a board walk last week. It was outlines of hand and foot prints, maybe suggesting various positions from karma sutra. Except that some of them may have been impossible.

Graffiti is banned at work, and mostly that is a good thing, as the majority of the graffiti is simple and crap.
There is one guy tho who draws great pics on the walls and cupboards of the lunch rooms.
Real art.
He’d get fired if he got caught.

There is a surprisingly little amount of graffiti here, and that means very little art aswell.

Seems Bansky has a larger fan club then I knew.