Hard News by Russell Brown

Read Post

Hard News: And on into a whole new year

94 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 Newer→ Last

  • samuel walker,

    The Herald are clueless. Sideswipe featured a photo of a piece that said 'Supercalifrajilisticexpelidocious' (sp?) with the caption "Nice Tag". Sorry Ana but that was a 'piece', not a 'tag'.

    and the scary bit is that thay arent even recent terms, they have been getting it wrong for more than a decade.

    supercali.... was a nice piece though.

    I was actually rather relieved by the rest of SatHeralds tagging coverage. Both discussing the "broken windows" theory as discredited and having a whole article about a homeowner who had to paint his fence almost weekly with the jist of the article being that it is no big deal.

    Since Nov 2006 • 203 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    a homeowner who had to paint his fence almost weekly with the jist of the article being that it is no big deal.

    I noticed something walking the kids home from the pool the other day. Two houses right by a bus-stop. The house on the right had an eight-foot high cinderblock wall, painted white, covered in tags. Many of which had obviously been done with a vivid while waiting for the bus. The house on the left had a three-foot high wooden fence, painted brown. It hadn't been touched.

    There's something in that which suggests there's something you can do short of stabbing people...

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Heather Gaye,

    But upon reading the article, it became obvious that the government action was going to be towards taggers, not graffiti artists. I emailed the Herald to let them know the difference.

    I know I'm just turning into a sour old cat lady, but I've been EXTREMELY PISSED OFF at the tagging over the awesome pieces around my neighbourhood. I've seen one or two graffiti artists doing interviews defending their art, but I'd really like to hear more of the artistic community distancing themselves from taggers. There might be a code of conduct somewhere, (y'know, that mythical "no tagging other people's work" thing), but in practice some people are just fuckwits.

    Granted, it does seem to give the artists an excuse to do another piece every couple of months. Just I have to get my photos pronto, before the work is defaced.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report Reply

  • Oscar Low,

    The irony (if it is indeed genuine concerned citizen) is that these posters could get them charged with the very same charge a tagger faces, willful damage.

    AK • Since Feb 2008 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

    Robyn -

    Was perusing your lovely photo stream and wondered if Greenland hospital was actually in Greenland ? <chuckle>

    The tagging thing looks like a conversation between the deaf and the blind.

    I want to be seen....I want whites walls.....

    Can't help feeling that I would have tagged as a kid - The angry git in me still wants to vandalise those big electric security gates that people put across their drives...

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

    NO offence intended to the deaf or blind I might add...

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Was perusing your lovely photo stream and wondered if Greenland hospital was actually in Greenland ?

    I don't know what you could possibly mean... ;)

    ---

    Another thought on tagging. In the Herald today, Brian Rudman called for banning the sale of aerosol paint to under-18-year-olds.

    That's well and good, but most of the tagging I see around is done with marker pens, not spray paint.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    supercali.... was a nice piece though

    Yup! I'm no Size Queen but you had to marvel at it's length!

    a whole article about a homeowner who had to paint his fence almost weekly with the jist of the article being that it is no big deal.

    I don't think he thought it was no big deal, just an ongoing chore like mowing the lawns

    There's something in that which suggests there's something you can do short of stabbing people...

    Best thing you can do is what the chap in the article mentioned above does: paint them out first thing in the morning so the taggers don't get their tag seen ie they get no props

    There might be a code of conduct somewhere, (y'know, that mythical "no tagging other people's work" thing), but in practice some people are just fuckwits.

    It's not a myth, but it has gone the way of all good manners. Maybe it's time TVNZ re-screened **Style Wars** to remind the kids about what is art and what is pissing on a lamp post like a dog. According to **Style Wars** tagging someone's piece is wack. According to **Beat Street** if you do it you shall get burned.

    The angry git in me still wants to vandalise those big electric security gates that people put across their drives...

    Weird. Only today I was telling myself how great it was to a have a FO electric gate. It stops people from wandering up and forces them to buzz me on the intercom and announce their presence. Meaning I don't have to put my pants on unless I want to see them.

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

    Weird. Only today I was telling myself how great it was to a have a FO electric gate. It stops people from wandering up and forces them to buzz me on the intercom and announce their presence. Meaning I don't have to put my pants on unless I want to see them.

    How very........__bourgeois__ of you I take it I'm not invited to the barbie then ?

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    How very........__bourgeois of you I take it I'm not invited to the barbie then ?

    Heh heh. That's what fascinated me about your original comment. That someone could seemingly get themselves so upset by someone else errecting a big electric security gate across their drive just seems so ... so ... __eighties.
    I really do enjoy keeping the barbarians at the gate. When people come to the intercom and ask me :
    1] if I'm prepared to accept Jesus into my life?
    2] do I watch a lot of movies?
    3] do I eat a lot of pizza?
    4] is the lady of the house home?
    5] can I have a moment of your time?
    I take great delight in politely saying "No" and leaving them hanging. It really throws them off their game.
    As for the BBQ invite, if I invited you 81st it's because I wanted you to come. But I would hope you're not the type of person to walk up someone's driveway uninvited because you smell sausages cooking in the back yard.

    The angry git in me still wants to vandalise those big electric security gates that people put across their drives...

    I presume you mean the gates in middle class suburbs. You might get into trouble vandalising those FO gates situated outside gang HQ.

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    You might get into trouble vandalising those FO gates situated outside gang HQ.

    Not to mention those selfish farmers....

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Pleasingly, the Herald today has an article looking at street artists who aren't happy to be lumped in with taggers and anti-tagging sentiment.

    Oscar from Street Arse is quoted, and gives a thoughtful perspective. Not surprisingly, street artists don't like those punk-arse taggers either.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    This comment by Karl du Fresne in this morning's Dom Post just looks silly to me:

    The fatal stabbing of a teenage tagger has revived the debate about the need for zero tolerance of petty crime.

    I can't read that any other way than 'stabbing of a teenager is a petty crime', which presumably isn't what he meant. But still, talk about not seeing the forest for the tiny sapling.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    from Robyn's link:

    Oscar spoke to the Herald on the grounds of anonymity, and revealed he is a 29-year-old Auckland street artist who works full time in photography. Many graffiti artists like him hold down respectable jobs in advertising, fashion or the film industry, with some first-generation graffiti artists now in their 30s.

    In their **30's** eh?
    Heh heh.
    So I must be ... 39 ??

    The police said yesterday that it was wrong to make a distinction between tagging and graffiti as both were illegal activities that were antisocial, costly to tackle and made people in communities feel unsafe.

    **__BOO! HISS!!__**
    (Although I'd concede that the choice of wall must be made wisely. Just because a wall is blank doesn't make it fair game for a piece)

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Chamberlain,

    I can't read that any other way than 'stabbing of a teenager is a petty crime', which presumably isn't what he meant. But still, talk about not seeing the forest for the tiny sapling.

    My interpretation was 'if we don't have zero tolerance for petty crimes like tagging, then people will take the law into their own hands and stab people'. Not quite as egregious as yours, but still pretty bad.

    London • Since Aug 2007 • 33 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    The police said yesterday that it was wrong to make a distinction between tagging and graffiti as both were illegal activities that were antisocial, costly to tackle and made people in communities feel unsafe.

    God, it's all so small minded. There is a vast difference between tagging, and people who engage in street art. In the not too distant past, there's been some stunning art on the Metrowater tower up the Big King. (Large hill visible from Mt Eden Rd, lge concrete tower on top, fabulous dog park). We've had great discussions about it, my people pack and I. (That would be the owners of the other dogs that go up there. They're a dog pack, we're a .......) Some, one of whom's a police person, don't like it that much. Others, like me, think it's very clever. One of the loveliest is a dog - just that. In other instances, the people who've done it, have written lovely messages to the dog park people by their art. We look forward to seeing new ones.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    My interpretation was 'if we don't have zero tolerance for petty crimes like tagging, then people will take the law into their own hands and stab people'. Not quite as egregious as yours, but still pretty bad.

    I'm sure that's what he meant. But he really should have written it with a bit more distance between 'stabbing of a teenager', and 'petty crime' to push that wee line.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

    Eighties !!!! Eiggghties !!!!

    Well I guess that is me in a way - At least I understand that you cannot shop your way to a better future. Don't start me on bikes and cars again either. The gates comment is a bit dumb out of context - sorry I still just get all tanty over suburban drawbridge mentality. A class of people who feel no sense of ownership or responsibility for the troubles they seek so ineffectively to exclude.

    As for gang HQ......a few well placed pebbles might just do the trick......... There is in my mind, something quite fun about exploiting the property of a gate that can be just as effective at keeping people in as out.

    Funny though, my partner and I asked the same sort of question about the guy who stabbed the tagger; would he do that to a P dealer ?

    Different rules for different people aye !

    I/O As for the BBQ be assured I always bring decent wine....

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    There is something to be said for zero tolerance to tags and broken windows.
    That is for the owner to paint over the tag or fix the window or be prosecuted by the council.

    Confession: My mate & myself aged about 12 sprayed "Tears for Fears" on one of the Vicarage out buildings. He was the Vicars son & all his idea. I didn't mind T4F but it really doesn't lend itself to graffitti does it.
    Anyway a decade or so later at a wedding I checked out the building and no sign of our crime.
    I didn't expect that I would would have got a clip around the ear for that - have to clean it up sure - but a kid got stabbed & killed for tagging.

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.