urbanSTL

Graffiti is art, its something that gives an the urban environment its context. I love how people want to live in and urban area, but dont want the things that make it what it is.



Graffiti is an art movement. Look around and you will see its influence everywhere.



As for tagging, that sh*t sucks.



The orpheam, screw the owners... All they did was take the best venue for music off the market.

1st, Tagging is not graffiti.



Ok then....



When i was in barcelona in 01 i ended up sharing a room at hostel kabul, in la ramblas with a couple of graffiti artists. These dudes were in their 30s, from smelLa, though had moved to chicago and san fran. They would send train cars back and forth to each other. Train cars were their favorite medium since it in all honestly, made the cars look better.



Anyway, these guys did work for taco bell, gm, coke (the beverage!), mtv, and many others. They were in town trying to get the merkin distribution rights to a spanish spray paint company. One also had a youth clinic in for children at risk that taught them art/life skillz through graffiti. These dudes were old skool, but since their art was in such demand they had made it into a business. Said they could barely keep up with the projects they were offered. Their portfolio was enough to make any artist jealous.



They were going out with the local crew one night, so i went along for a bit, after the Locust show, which was a great time, but thats another thread. That was one of the best nights of my life. I learned that these local kids were artists, and they were part of a something, something more then defacing property. These guys had been telling me about how graffiti was 'the' art movement of the late 20th century, early 21st. Just as hip hop was a movement that changed popular music around the world at the same time. Graffiti had changed art. I really didnt get it till i went out with these guys.



Not everyone likes cubism, but that doesnt make its influence less important.



I would like to give a shout out to ZORe, and Sabastian, and the barcelona crew for showing me a great time that night.



I honestly dont expect people here to understand, after all, most of you think that living on/walking down wash avenue is an 'urban experience'. I know i say this all the time, but if you dont like things like graffiti in your city, they are building a sterile little town in the flood plain of st charles that might suit your needs better.



I went to Flickr and found a few pics of ZORes stuff... Just like that.

They are mostly copyrighted so i didnt lift them and paste them here.

If you google graffiti & ZORe you will find some interesting graffiti links.

JCity wrote:Agent, your post makes me laugh. "Tagging is not graffiti" It Isn't? How so?...



Then you're "I'm so down because I'm cool with graffiti" made me die laughing.

1st tagging and graffiti are different.

Tagging is a signature of sorts, its a quick 'tag', and the same one is used over and over. Tagging is nasty.



Graffiti is murals, poems, messages, and at times, large intricate tags are included.



As for the "im so cool part", i must of missed that. Someone asked me how i formed my opinion on Graffiti, and who my favorite graffiti artist was, so i told em.



Urban dictionary tag definition...

Urban dictionary graffiti definition...

I would like to add that this is just one of the many topics that people will not find common ground on, or change their minds about.

You like it and accept it, or you dont like it and want to make a difference.

rustedhinge wrote:

Agent009 wrote:Graffiti is art, its something that gives an the urban environment its context. I love how people want to live in and urban area, but dont want the things that make it what it is.



Graffiti is an art movement. Look around and you will see its influence everywhere.



As for tagging, that sh*t sucks.



The orpheam, screw the owners... All they did was take the best venue for music off the market.

I'm pissed...but I had to bite. screw graffiti. Tell me 009, who is your favorite graffiti artist? How does this artist affect your inner spirit? Educate me on this movement. I don't know squat about it.



I guess I should have embraced it when my garage was tagged. Who are the masters in St. Louis? I want to know what is good versus what is bad so that the next time I drive down I-64 I will be able to decipher the differences.





shoot.gif

to which i gave you this...

Ok then....



When i was in barcelona in 01 i ended up sharing a room at hostel kabul, in la ramblas with a couple of graffiti artists. These dudes were in their 30s, from smelLa, though had moved to chicago and san fran. They would send train cars back and forth to each other. Train cars were their favorite medium since it in all honestly, made the cars look better.



Anyway, these guys did work for taco bell, gm, coke (the beverage!), mtv, and many others. They were in town trying to get the merkin distribution rights to a spanish spray paint company. One also had a youth clinic in for children at risk that taught them art/life skillz through graffiti. These dudes were old skool, but since their art was in such demand they had made it into a business. Said they could barely keep up with the projects they were offered. Their portfolio was enough to make any artist jealous.



They were going out with the local crew one night, so i went along for a bit, after the Locust show, which was a great time, but thats another thread. That was one of the best nights of my life. I learned that these local kids were artists, and they were part of a something, something more then defacing property. These guys had been telling me about how graffiti was 'the' art movement of the late 20th century, early 21st. Just as hip hop was a movement that changed popular music around the world at the same time. Graffiti had changed art. I really didnt get it till i went out with these guys.



Not everyone likes cubism, but that doesnt make its influence less important.



I would like to give a shout out to ZORe, and Sabastian, and the barcelona crew for showing me a great time that night.



I honestly dont expect people here to understand, after all, most of you think that living on/walking down wash avenue is an 'urban experience'. I know i say this all the time, but if you dont like things like graffiti in your city, they are building a sterile little town in the flood plain of st charles that might suit your needs better.



I went to Flickr and found a few pics of ZORes stuff... Just like that.

They are mostly copyrighted so i didnt lift them and paste them here.

If you google graffiti & ZORe you will find some interesting graffiti links.

and then this...

I would like to add that this is just one of the many topics that people will not find common ground on, or change their minds about.

You like it and accept it, or you dont like it and want to make a difference.

To which all you had to answer me was...

to quote Expat "It if isn't your property, you shouldn't touch it."



What don't you understand, agent?

Please...

Why dont you reread some of that, try to form some of your own thoughts, and get back to me with a conversation.



Or...

Calll bill oreilly and vent, he gets paid to listen to it.

This is a legal issue, not one art. I don't care if you paint something more beautiful than the Mona Lisa on the side of my house. It is my property and you have no right to do such. It is vandalism, plain and simple. There is no gray area here. If the owner did not consent, then it is a crime and the wrong doers should be punished accordingly (perhaps something along the lines of The Mask where he takes revenge on the auto mechanics...).

^ And only loosers play the blues...



Sometimes on street corners, filling the world with unrequested sound....

So, do people around here actually bother to read peoples posts and have conversations, or do they just assume what they want, then attack other posters who dont share their views?...