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the 2nd great wall of china

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Philarct

Anybody hear about the chinese
building a large replica of the
great wall of china so that graffiti
artists wouldnt tag the actual wall of
china?
what do u guys think of graffiti anyways?
im a tagger myself

 
Mar 27, 07 3:41 pm
chupacabra

are you a property owner?

Mar 27, 07 3:43 pm  · 
 · 
quixotica

I have no problem with street art or Graffiti. I think it adds an element of liveliness to an area. Allthough i prefer actual art instead of just someone's tag. Especially in Philly, there is some amazing street art out there.

But the great wall of china? C'mon people, get some class.

Mar 27, 07 3:45 pm  · 
 · 
Philarct

no im not a property owner, but i only tag run down buildings
and skate parks, i use spray paint and street stickers
quixotica-ur right taggin history is low

Mar 27, 07 3:53 pm  · 
 · 
n_

i LOVE,LOVE graffiti. i LOVE,LOVE architecture. i LOVE,LOVE beautiful graffiti juxtposed on a defunct building.

i don't tag. i usually stencil away. i like for my art to have more of a meaning behind it other than my tagging name. i attempt to craete stencils that make people more aware of their built environment. and the usually are politically charged. i feel small illustrations have the power to make people think outside their box, even for a short second or two.

while graffiti means something postive for me, i have a few reservations abou it. it's a catch 22. i understand why people think it's vandalism, dangerous for their communities (only in instances of gang or drug activity), etc.

anyway, i joined an architecture competition last year and my project was all about tagging and graffiti on movable surfaces. if you want to check it out, philarct, i'll email it to you.


this is my latest stencil:

Mar 27, 07 3:54 pm  · 
 · 
n_

oh yea, and that photo is an obligatory hipster shot for one of my friends. as a joke.

Mar 27, 07 3:55 pm  · 
 · 
n_

wait, one more thing. there is an incredible book that examines graffiti architecturally. it's called urban calligraphy and beyond.

they take tags and extrude them three dimensionally. it's beautimos.

Mar 27, 07 3:56 pm  · 
 · 
Philarct

hey elvischyld are u on myspace?
i like that stncl

Mar 27, 07 4:00 pm  · 
 · 
larslarson

i'm more a fan of paper cutouts..although taggin and stencils
are nice too..i just like the way they age..that and layers of
posters...i don't tag or glue or whatever myself..but i like to
take picures of them since i know they'll be gone more or less
tomorrow.

Mar 27, 07 4:06 pm  · 
 · 
vado retro

you suburban kids go ahead and express yerselves!!!

Mar 27, 07 4:12 pm  · 
 · 
JMBarquero/squirrelly

hey elvischyld, im interested too. Been a long time fan of graff art

Mar 27, 07 4:13 pm  · 
 · 
Philarct

i signed on here and talk to you guys and then
i go to ekosystem.org
or delarge.co.uk
or stickerswitch.com
hey maybe ill tag archinect on a crappy building
one day

Mar 27, 07 4:19 pm  · 
 · 
quixotica

I've done paste ups before, but never tagged. I love stencils too (as evidenced by my banksy tattoo) but again, never got the hang of it. It's more something I like to photograph and look at and the history behind it is pretty tight. i think it can do as much to enrich an environment as it can to destroy it, depending on how it is employed.

Mar 27, 07 4:23 pm  · 
 · 
Jonas77

absolutely more graph in public spaces

when will they make Zero-VOC spray paint for us environmentally/health conscious burners?

Mar 27, 07 4:25 pm  · 
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vado retro

when i was an undergrad at the great indiana university i used to go to this old barber to get my joe strummerstyle haircut. well anyway one time i was in the shop and for some reason the city had just put up this wooden fence to cordon off a vacant lot next to the barber. while i was in the chair the barber and some other old guy were talking about how little time it would take for some graffiti "artists" to deface the fence. you see there had recently been a story about a local artist name tom cat spray, who did stencil graffiti work in local alleys etc. well niether of these guys thought that graffiti was art. they saw it as vandalism. the barber thought that when the law caught a graffiti artist that they should be forced to do a tom sawyer type whitewash of a fence using the teeny tiniest paint brush available.

Mar 27, 07 4:33 pm  · 
 · 
quixotica

I like that Vado

And I kind of agree. Grafitti is an expression of emotion, and in this case, an expression that, if caught, can get you in trouble. But in my mind that means that the serious grafitti artists are ones who accept the risks and say fuck 'em. Thats the type of art I like to see any day.

Mar 27, 07 4:41 pm  · 
 · 
post-neorealcrapismist
here you go

art placed upon art. we have always built on the unused and outdated.

Mar 27, 07 4:45 pm  · 
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n_

my claim to fame (and only building i have tagged that is not abadoned) - the macba by richard meirer:



PS. this was actually more for a class and a grade. my urban theory professor and i had a bet on how long it would take for it to be painted over it meirer's white. the stencil lasted about 2.5 hours.

Mar 27, 07 5:10 pm  · 
 · 
n_

yes, i am on myspace. if you check the archinector's group site. i am one of their friends. and my image is the graffiti here stencil. send me your email and i'll send you the competition boards.

Mar 27, 07 5:11 pm  · 
 · 
n_
Mar 27, 07 5:11 pm  · 
 · 
mdler

philarct

I will give you a call the next time I have to paint over the grafitti on my office

Mar 27, 07 5:12 pm  · 
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cln1

seriously,
while i recognize that graf. is an art, and many are very talented - anyone who 'tags' anothers property is a douche

if i ever caught someone tagging my property (if i owned any) they would be met with a fist to the face

Mar 27, 07 5:30 pm  · 
 · 
mdler

cln1

I would love to taser the punks that tag our building, zip-tie them to the tree outfront, and spraypaint them

Mar 27, 07 5:33 pm  · 
 · 
n_

oh and back to the great fake wall of china...

i think the idea is lame. i don't think it will stop people from tagging the real thing (which i think is an inappropriate place to tag).

i lived in shanghai last year. it's interesting that the city is about 8 times the size of new york city and has a tiny little splashes of graffiti here and there. i was told that it has a pretty heavy criminal penalty there if you get caught.

Mar 27, 07 6:24 pm  · 
 · 
Apurimac

the fake wall has to be a joke

Mar 27, 07 6:32 pm  · 
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n_

i just did some internet research. i couldn't find any info about the fake wall.

it looks like their 'graffiti problem' is more of carvings into the wall as opposed to actual spraypaint. i suppose spraypaint takes more of an ephemeral condition because it can be power washed off?

i also read the chinese government has bulldozed many parts of the wall down to make way for developments, one in particular being a shopping mall.

Mar 27, 07 6:50 pm  · 
 · 
b3tadine[sutures]

has anyone been to the Met in NYC to see the Temple of Dendur? It's fascinating to see how far back graffiti goes in history and how stylistically different the tagging was. i wish someone would tag it now.

Mar 27, 07 6:57 pm  · 
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Alackrity

dude, carving your name in something is not tagging.
old carvings are not tags.

I think you are incorrect to say they are graffitti.

Mar 27, 07 7:29 pm  · 
 · 
Apurimac

i think they are definately related

Mar 27, 07 7:38 pm  · 
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Philarct

elcischyld - ill find u on myspace an what not
mdler - roger that
and you guys rock

Mar 27, 07 8:14 pm  · 
 · 
Alackrity

How do you see them as related?


To me they differ in form, mode, intent, value and permanence. Tags do not even relate a name, but a "tag".

Mar 27, 07 8:23 pm  · 
 · 
n_

i don't think that carving is tagging. the 'graffiti problem' that is described on the great wall is, through the info provided on the internet, appears to be more of carving. hence, why i put 'graffiti problem' in quotations when i describe it.

Mar 27, 07 10:00 pm  · 
 · 
graffito

, pl graffiti : an inscription, figure or design scratched on rocks or walls or on artifacts mde of plaster, stone or clay.

...and of course there are the contemporary derivatives of the meaning.

Mar 27, 07 11:21 pm  · 
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b3tadine[sutures]

of course carving is tagging, what do you think they had sharpies and cans of spray paint back in the 15th century???

Mar 28, 07 9:24 am  · 
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Alackrity

sure, the term graffiti refers to writing or scribbling on a flat surface.
If I write my name on a piece of paper then that is graffiti by that definition.

Tagging however separates itself from carvings by being art. A subform of graffitti art which is one of the 4 forms of hip hop.




tagging is about claiming space and recognition.

carving your name in stone is a memorial of time and place akin to that found on gravestones or monuments.


superficially they are similiar, but I will have to disagree that carvings are tags. I do not think they have anything more in common than my signature has with both of them.

Mar 28, 07 1:41 pm  · 
 · 
mdler

if I ever caught someone tagging one of my projects, I would smash their hand with a hammer. We were doing a project where we were going to have board formed concrete walls. Some punk kid tagged the concrete while the project was under construction. Had to sandblast the walls to get rid of it

You guys are all fuckheads

Mar 29, 07 5:32 pm  · 
 · 
n_

wow, there mdler. relax.

just because you don't agree with it, doesn't mean you need to be extraordinarily hostile.

i don't agree with conservatives, but you don't see me going around calling them all fuckheads and threatening to smash their hands with hammers. relax, buddy.

Mar 29, 07 5:35 pm  · 
 · 
mdler

im hostile when someone fucks up my project....

Mar 29, 07 6:12 pm  · 
 · 
mdler

someone tagged my crotch with an elephant

Mar 29, 07 6:13 pm  · 
 · 
mdler

at the next Archinect party we will play 'pin the trunk on the MDLER'

Mar 29, 07 6:13 pm  · 
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mdler

MDLER WAS HERE

Mar 29, 07 6:14 pm  · 
 · 
drums please, Fab?

going for the first page, eh?

*tags*

Mar 29, 07 6:20 pm  · 
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mdler

MDLER WAS HERE

Mar 29, 07 6:25 pm  · 
 · 
drums please, Fab?

stop spamming

Mar 29, 07 6:25 pm  · 
 · 
mdler

its virtual tagging

Mar 29, 07 6:34 pm  · 
 · 
drums please, Fab?

don't make me sandblast my screen

Mar 29, 07 6:37 pm  · 
 · 

Good graffiti = art. Bad graffiti = vandalism. You've got a lot to learn about style, mdler.

Mar 29, 07 6:39 pm  · 
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drums please, Fab?

any un-asked for graffiti not on your property = criminal vandalism

now get off my lawn

Mar 29, 07 6:45 pm  · 
 · 
mdler

art can suck

Mar 29, 07 6:46 pm  · 
 · 

Oh, was that the point you were trying to make? :]

kristin, thx for posting that link, interesting read.

Mar 29, 07 6:53 pm  · 
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cln1

hmmm...
maybe i should start carving my sketches into the hoods of cars parked on my street... ya know, if its art and the owners have some style

Mar 29, 07 8:03 pm  · 
 · 

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