Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The barrel monster


Art or sport... or crime?

Many years ago I saw an exhibition of American graffiti art in the famous Louisiana museum north of Copenhagen (It has a wonderful location by the sea). I overheard a conversation between a upperclass middle-aged lady and one of the young graffiti artists, who'd been painting art on subway trains in NYC. She asked him if the art was being preserved. He said with indignation that no, they'd spend a fortune cleaning it off. Well, personally I could kind of see their point of view. It might be good art, or it might be bad art, but the fact remains that the guys had been painting on other people's property without permission.
If you're a decent artist, many companies will be happy to let you decorate their property if you ask them. They might even pay you a little, whereas if you don't ask permission, you're not only a criminal, you're just out of pocket too, and the art will be removed much sooner.

Of course it is clear that many people feed emotionally off the idea that they are doing something forbidden, and that's an issue all onto itself.

Update: Joe R points to this, a naughty word hidden on a yearbook cover. Personally I think it's a mistake to make such a big deal out of it.

1 comment:

Joe said...

Apology by the student artist

" I cannot begin to explain the miserable feeling I brought upon myself, when I betrayed the trust of all of you. I apologize for offending anyone and everyone.... I offer my sincere apologies."

In reference to the yearbook art. It seems it was a intentional act by the student artist to slip a subliminal message into the art. It was hard to detect but it sure got him a lot of attention.
Joe