Well, er, yes... The trouble with graffiti in our town (Victoria, B. C.) is
that there are essentially two different types - the commissioned kind, and
the tagging kind.

The commissioned kind is legitimized because it fits into the same category
as building murals, and generally serves to beautify otherwise ugly (aka
"drab") buildings.

The "tagging" kind generally ends up in alleys, dumpsters, abandoned
buildings, and construction sites - and ocassionally end up covering
heritage buildings (generally brick) and heritage signs that were painted on
the sides of buildings at the beginning of this century.

I believe council legislation in this city prohibits the removal of these
heritage signs -- but what happens when graffiti gets painted over top?  Do
you remove the graffiti (the sign inevitably goes with it...) or re-paint
the sign?   (remember your principles of conservation...)

The "tagging" is okay - you get some really interesting social commentary,
I'll admit.  But how to discourage protected heritage buildings being
covered by graffiti?  How about cast - iron grating?  Electric shock
therapy?  Bleach?  I'm not sure there is an easy answer.  However, there has
been a positive public response to the "legitimized" form of graffiti:  we
now have a display of up-and coming young graffiti artists in our Market
Square every year; a downtown youth society encourages the sale of graffiti
on canvas - I think prices tend to fetch from $500 to $1000 for a "big name".

The other side of the coin is that the graffiti is part of the city's living
history - remember, we learned a lot about Roman society from the writing on
the walls at Pompeii!  There is no such thing as a "restored" building,
either.  While the building still stands, it lives, deteriorates, and is
repaired, along with all the other buildings around it.

I guess it just depends on where you draw the line for the 'ole staus quo.

>Why the problem with grafitti? Its a wonderful political and social tool.
>Don't know much about its artistic credentials. If the urban legends are to
>be believed, during the bad old days of Apartheid the South African
>police force actually had a grafitti unit-no not to catch the pepetrators but
>to follow their grafitti with suitable rejoinders. Sometimes even starting up
>dialogues. They were apparently responsible for some of the best
>political grafitti in Cape Town. I love this country.
>
>Kathryn
>
>

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Troy Whitbread                                  [log in to unmask]
Consultant / Internet Publishing
Royal British Columbia Museum
Victoria, BC