Part of the problem with tags nowadays is that their meaning isn’t always individual - crews/krewes go out and put up tags that are frequently both word and design oriented and are not the avatar of an individual but isn’t exactly a gang affiliation either.
Take the MOMS tag - Marks On Most Surfaces grew actually out of a statement on a type of indelible marking pen. That’s what it said right on the pen - “marks on most surfaces.” This was adopted by a growing number of people who may have individual tags, individual initials and other krewe associations and some who just plain like the idea and copy the ‘idea’ and have taken the tag to other parts of the country. Also, Krewes are a much looser affiliation than traditional ‘gang’ associations such as MS13 which tag to establish clear territory for business or violence. So, just because an individual is caught tagging MOMS doesn’t mean that all MOMS tags can be attributed to him/her. Other clues may hint at who did it, but like its history, the old language of hobo and rail symbolism writing of the depression and later, it doesn’t give up its clues quite so easily.
So while the police charge an individual with putting up an ETCHR tag, they are charging them with a very specific place and time where they can prove the individual (via surveilance cameras or catching them with paint cans and a wet tag) did it, they cannot - and have not as far as i know - made the association that all tags similarly marked must by by the same individual.
The asheville police have no idea what they are talking about or doing when it comes to Graffiti and gangs. It reminds me of the rule they had in my rural high school about not being able to wear overalls with one strap down because that was “gang related”. There is no “graffiti problem” in asheville, expect that maybe there isnt really enough skilled stuff. This is justa way fro them to talk tought without dealing with any subtsantial problems.
In addition, these kids know what they are getting into when they go out tagging and writing, and in most cases are only going to see a slap on the wrist a bunch of community service time.
It would be neat if that was useful community service time, like helping out in the community gardens or with the mural on lex, but it’ll probably be picking up trash on the inetrstate or cleaning crappy tags fro behind wall mart.
This is not art. It is vandalism and I am glad the APD collared these punks.
Funny that it is reactions like this that help validate it as an art to the artists. To many young people trying to express themselves in creative ways, they don’t want to make clay gee-gaws or pretty paintings gathering disinterest in coffee shops or galleries, they believe that art must, must exist outside mainstream or else it is not art at all, but the equivalent of writing made-for-TV-dramas or playing elevator music. Art must confront, piss people off if possible, or it’s not living, breathing. The more people decry that it’s not art, the more validated it is as an art.
The more you call for their heads of these ‘punks’, the more heads there will be.
I doubt it. I bet he would actually be quite happy. although that is a silly notion regardless, because i dont think there are many taggers out there defacing any property with a value as high as a vehicle. try abandoned buildings and the like, cullen.
I thought it was some kind of fiber-optic antennae catching the light. If Zen does not know what it is, I suggest ectoplasm. Used VW Beetles are notorious for that.
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