“Teenagers who are known to be taggers will not be allowed to use the paint facilites.”

so, if your tagging, you cant use the allocated graffiti areas. now, doesnt this mean your only option is to go out and tag public places? Whats the goddamn point?

“I’ll do a drive round tomorrow to see if any new tags have appeared locally over the weekend.”

http://martinmullaney.blogspot.com

thanks, can show you how to do it if you want, it’s a piece of piss

it may take two seconds to scrawl a name, but it take months of development to practice that scrawl, as a result of that development the scrawler learns how to handle the medium (pens, cans, whatever), they learn the visual syntax of graffiti and they learn form and composition of letter shapes. all essential to the next development which is what most people see as the “art”. You cant really have the “art” without tagging.

“crap tagging vandalism that makes our town look like a shithole”

in the words of the Big Lebowski “thats just like, your opinion man.”

I don’t claim to know anything about graffiti, but all I do know is that I don’t like tagging and I do like graffiti art.

To me, tagging is just lazy vandalism – it takes, what, 2 seconds to scawl your name. Whereas graffiti art takes a certain amount of thought and skill.

“Just because you sees no aesthetic value in something you assume it has no value or purpose” – I can understand that some people may think that tagging has aesthetic value, just as some people may think that smashed up phone boxes have aesthetic value; but it’s not how the majority feel and so it costs money and time to clear up after these acts of vandalism.

If the two things are/were part of the same culture as you say, then surely they don’t always have to be. What’s wrong with encouraging youngsters along the more artistic route?

I really don’t think that Martin “assumes that a whole movement of Art needs or wants his regulation or encouragement” – I’m sure it’s more a case of wanting to cut down on the crap tagging vandalism that makes our town look like a shithole.

Maybe it is an attempt to appeal to the boho/arty demographic, but what’s he supposed to do, not try and connect with people at all?

We’ll never really know whether his motives are genuine or not, but I think I’d rather he did stuff to try and improve where we live than not.

P.S. Nice stencil ;

I take it we’re NOT allowed to print the image onto stickers or create smaller stencils for permanent marker fun aswell?