tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post424639136513287573..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Toward a restorative graffiti policyGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-5815159207596867312007-08-18T09:40:00.000-05:002007-08-18T09:40:00.000-05:00As far as the subversive element goes, I see two t...As far as the subversive element goes, I see two types here. I was a pretty subversive kid - I never got in much trouble, but that was because I didn't get caught. When I was channelled correctly, I did good stuff - I was winning math competitions because my calculus teacher rocked, while at the same time I was dropping acid, producing samizdat that made my highschool principal nuts, because I didn't have a different outlet. These are the kids to appeal to. Authoritarian approaches just encouraged me.<BR/><BR/>There's a second type, with whom I hung out with a lot during that phase. There's a core of antisocialization that sets in, and I think there's little that can be done after a certain point to get them through it. A small group, but there.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09348310699109651020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-59708193248061711562007-08-17T13:25:00.000-05:002007-08-17T13:25:00.000-05:00Hey Proximo, good to hear from you. I'd been wonde...Hey Proximo, good to hear from you. I'd been wondering what happened to you!<BR/><BR/>I agree you've hit on a central cultural dilemma with this or any graffiti solution. I'd answer this way:<BR/><BR/>First and most important, the key enforcement is the cleanup, not incarceration. Washing off uninvited tags promptly is a big disincentive - most taggers aren't caught most times they go out, so jail doesn't scare them. But if hours of work aren't there the next day, they won't keep doing it. <BR/><BR/>Authorizing "good" spots (backs of signs, overpasses, business walls, electrical boxes, etc.) creates a positive incentive to go with the negative one. If graffiti in approved spots stays up and uninvited graffiti is removed, over time committed taggers will migrate to where their work will have staying power.<BR/><BR/>Finally, I think that by mainstreaming graffiti a little bit - removing its "outlaw" mystique - you mitigate some of what you're talking about. If growing up, every school art class had an electronic graffiti wall, e.g., <A HREF="http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2007/08/paint-responsibly-museum-offers-hands.html" REL="nofollow">like in the Liberty museum</A> and tags are stored and shared anywhere in the world, it might take away the air of wildness surrounding graffiti. <BR/><BR/>Since writing on the wall is illegal, the very act of doing it is rebellion. When it's common and allowed, the rebellious kids will do something else. It's like skateboarding - it's cool unless your Dad likes to come with you - then you'd rather do something else.<BR/><BR/>And of course, some people will inevitably still violate the law, and gang tags will still be used to mark turf. For them, you keep cleaning up the graffiti promptly, arrest them if you can (and when you do, try to work the program), and otherwise go on about your business, because at the end of the day, it's just graffiti.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the comment!Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-70816170997243036202007-08-17T10:16:00.000-05:002007-08-17T10:16:00.000-05:00I think you have a good idea that might turn some ...I think you have a good idea that might turn some property offenders around where conventional enforcement has failed. How would you address the subversive component to tagging? Isn't that the element that really drives the art form and will graffiti artists give up that power?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com