Taggers - What should we do about them?

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FelixDeCat

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
31,012
2,682
126
I think people that deface private property with graffiti ("taggers") are a loathsome bunch and should be delt with harshly if caught. You find such activity seemingly glorified and condoned in shows like "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "GTA San Andreas".

But what exactly should happen to these people when caught?
 
FelixDeCat

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
31,012
2,682
126
Originally posted by: joesmoke
use them as scapegoats for governmental budget shortfalls.
Click to expand...

Thats right Mr. Obama, if werent for all those damn taggers in California, the budget would be balanced.

- A. Schwarzenegger
 
rivan

rivan

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2003
9,677
3
81
I'm torn. On one hand, I appreciate well-done graffiti as much as anyone. I'd go so far as to say it makes some buildings (industrial) MORE attractive.

On the other, I've had to clean up some dirtbag's 4-second, no-effort, crappy tag off of my own property (my garage) in the past.

For the former, nothing. For the latter, spray paint to the eyeballs.
 
QueBert

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,976
1,178
126
Depends on where it is and what it is. Dudes who do Chicken scratch shit should spend 5 years in prison. But the ones who have pieces that take them days to finish and are works of art, as long as they're not on the side of somebodies house/wall and improve the area I think the cities should make exceptions and allow those types places where they can create their artwork legally. Some of the best art I've ever seen was in tunnels and Aqueducts out in LA, it's a shame there's no outlet for these kids. The talented ones could be used to make an ugly city beautiful, I know in Riverside they comissioned some of the better graf artists to do some legal pieces and they're all amazing.

No matter what the police or other agencies do they won't ever stop kids from doing graf, working with them just seems logical to me. in Seattle they have a park set aside for the graf dudes where it was legal to tag all they wanted. Not sure if it's still there. But I know the news story I saw on it the place was a success, locals were trying to get it shut down as they claimed it encouraged tagging. But it kept a lot of kids off the streets and from bombing on public property.


Good Example - nobody should be against shit like this, it has a great message and looks beautiful. That's a huge piece, I bet 10-12 feet high and maybe 100 feet wide.


 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,574
13,804
126
www.anyf.ca
I think it depends, I don't have an issue with graffiti under bridges or spots where it actually makes it look better. I'm talking about art style graffiti. stuff like a giant F U are not exactly, art.

Now if it's a nice clean city area and they start spray painting store fronts and such then yeah, that's bad.

I voted to make them clean it up as community service. in some cases they should also have to pay for the cleanup costs (material, etc).
 
M

mxyzptlk

Golden Member
Apr 18, 2008
1,888
0
0
I agree with quebert.

Single stroke, chicken scratch writers should be shot on sight. Anyone simply writing their local, punk ass gang name should be first castrated and then shot on sight.

True graffiti artists, hypothetically, should be being rewarded for their talents. But then this would probably be too much like selling out and would ruin the medium so realistically they should just be ignored by the mainstream.


edit: I'm not as thrilled with the jingoistic bullshit that quebert used as an example but it's in the right direction.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,858
31,346
146
tagging is effing worthless. Gone, for the most part, are the days of legit street art. Yes, the destruction to public, and especially private property by hoodlums is obnoxious in itself; but back in the 70s and 80s when a lot of that graffiti was truly art, I don't think it was nearly as loathsome as it is today with this crop of worthless, no-talent wastes of life that just scratch some BS words in quick fashion across anything and everything they see. All these pieces of shit should spend several years in Juvi, cleaning up their crap every day.

Those that have real talent should be recruited into instructional outreach programs to teach other inner-city kids how to express themselves with a real art form. Set aside public spaces to allow them to paint or whatever. Graffiti isn't so bad if it's worthwhile.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,858
31,346
146
Originally posted by: QueBert
Depends on where it is and what it is. Dudes who do Chicken scratch shit should spend 5 years in prison. But the ones who have pieces that take them days to finish and are works of art, as long as they're not on the side of somebodies house/wall and improve the area I think the cities should make exceptions and allow those types places where they can create their artwork legally. Some of the best art I've ever seen was in tunnels and Aqueducts out in LA, it's a shame there's no outlet for these kids. The talented ones could be used to make an ugly city beautiful, I know in Riverside they comissioned some of the better graf artists to do some legal pieces and they're all amazing.

No matter what the police or other agencies do they won't ever stop kids from doing graf, working with them just seems logical to me. in Seattle they have a park set aside for the graf dudes where it was legal to tag all they wanted. Not sure if it's still there. But I know the news story I saw on it the place was a success, locals were trying to get it shut down as they claimed it encouraged tagging. But it kept a lot of kids off the streets and from bombing on public property.


Good Example - nobody should be against shit like this, it has a great message and looks beautiful. That's a huge piece, I bet 10-12 feet high and maybe 100 feet wide.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,858
31,346
146
Originally posted by: mxyzptlk
I agree with quebert.

Single stroke, chicken scratch writers should be shot on sight. Anyone simply writing their local, punk ass gang name should be first castrated and then shot on sight.

True graffiti artists, hypothetically, should be being rewarded for their talents. But then this would probably be too much like selling out and would ruin the medium so realistically they should just be ignored by the mainstream.


edit: I'm not as thrilled with the jingoistic bullshit that quebert used as an example but it's in the right direction.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wouldn't think those that define themselves as graffiti artists (and are accepted as such) would be to happy to go mainstream. part of what they do is anti-establishment.

I don't see Banksy ever stepping out into the light and willingly have the authority "accept" his work. Though, I suppose the fact that much of his work remains undisturbed is some sort of acceptance....
 
Kadarin

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
It should be legal to shoot them. Seriously, they are worthless human beings.
 
QueBert

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,976
1,178
126
Originally posted by: mxyzptlk
I agree with quebert.

Single stroke, chicken scratch writers should be shot on sight. Anyone simply writing their local, punk ass gang name should be first castrated and then shot on sight.

True graffiti artists, hypothetically, should be being rewarded for their talents. But then this would probably be too much like selling out and would ruin the medium so realistically they should just be ignored by the mainstream.


edit: I'm not as thrilled with the jingoistic bullshit that quebert used as an example but it's in the right direction.
Click to expand...

Some needs to get exposed, I think when writers reach a certain age a lot want to be a legit artist and do gallery shows. I am biased as I grew up around a lot of graf writers and have always loved good pieces. There will always be the ones who rebel against police and want to express themselves in an illegal manner though. Those ones will never sell out. About 20 years ago, I was in LA and I saw a Hexx One mural. It was huuuuge, maybe 15 feet high and 50 feet wide. It was a Octopus with each Tenticle wrapped around a spray can. I can't for the life of me find the image on Google. But it has to be on the internet. It was mind blowing how cool it was. It has to be comission work because it must have taken him weeks to finish. That guy later found God and stopped bombing.

People like Hexx One should be encouraged to pursue a legal way. Even some of the ones who just want to rebel can see the light and might want to convert. My neighbor has the typical "I wish I could shoot them all on sight!" mentality. I asked him what he thought about the murals the city put up down under the freeway. He was stunned when I told him it was graffiti kids who did them. Mind you these were the same walls they had done illegal shit on before, but when the city approved it all of a sudden what use to be an ugly eye sore to him became nice art work.

if anyone knows of Octopus one I'm talking about and has a link I'd LOVE to see it again lol.

an interesting story, in Orange County maybe 15 years ago a teenager was paid by a store owner to put up a mural on the side/back wall. He was shot by a passer by with the "kill them all!" mind set who has no idea it was being dome LEGALLY. The kid lived and the shooter wasn't even prosecuted. A shame really. Steve Masters shot 2 in the back and claimed they were charging after him. Of course they didn't have weapons, their backs were turned to him and he had to go back to his car to get his gun and return to shoot them.

Nothing ever happened to him too. Graffiti is a crime, I understand that. But it shouldn't be punishable by death. Expression is expression.
 
S

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
First offense - 40 hours community service and a few hundred buck fine
Second offense - 100 hours community service, 1000 buck fine 30 day suspended jail sentence
Third offense - 200 hours community service, plus you serve the 30 day sentence that was suspended, 11 month suspended sentence (I don't think it should be a felony)
4th - 11 months jail, big fine and a "If you do it again you're getting royally reamed"
 
WaTaGuMp

WaTaGuMp

Lifer
May 10, 2001
21,207
2,506
126
I did see something on the news months ago about certain places setting up cameras and catching taggers, I wonder how they are doing.
 
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