[RP TownTalk] Graffiti continued

[Marc Molino]

What fascinates me about this discussion is that the only person who called this particular piece of vandalism "art" was Gerald, so that he could make his point about it not deserving of being called "art." Taking a marker or a can of spray paint and applying it to public or private property does not take talent, but there are talented artists who do it. Seems like there are two separate issues here:

1) Is it legal? That's the easiest answer: No. But I don't personally know any children who believe this is legal or schools who are encouraging this sort of thing. In fact, we keep cutting the funds for every sort of creative outlet our children have: art, music, physical education, etc.

2) Is it art? A question which has and will be debated for as long as humans make creations. If Gerald or any other of our fine local artists decided to use a public wall (without permission) as their canvas, it would still be art or of high quality, it just wouldn't be legal (nor necessarily welcome by everyone). Given already blighted or trashed areas, illegal art can sometimes improve certain areas. School playgrounds... maybe not so much.

Nice to see such a civil-but-spirited discussion here and kudos to the town for taking care of the vandalism so quickly.

-Marc Molino

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> Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:24:47 -0700
> From: wheadle at yahoo.com
> To: towntalk at riverdale-park.org
> Subject: [RP TownTalk] Graffiti continued
>
> I'm an art lover myself and even if I don't care for a particular art form, I
> respect the artist for his/her work.  However, I'm sorry, but I can't see where
> defacing someone elses' private property, no matter HOW pretty the picture, can
> be justified in any way shape or form.  Maybe it's because I was brought up in a
> different time (the 50's) when kids were raised to have respect for other
> peoples' belongings?  Nowadays it seems the kiddies are allowed to do whatever
> they want under the guise of "self-expression," "finding themselves," etc., with
> little or no discipline; and then when they get into REAL trouble, parents put
> the blame on everybody else.  If my Mom would've ever caught me defacing, excuse
> me, painting someones' wall or car, I would've been grounded for a month (at
> least), made to clean up the mess, AND made to apologize for what I'd done.
> (note; I am NOT talking about murals like the ones on the school or the one that
> used to be at East-West Highway and Route 1; I'm assuming that permission was
> given for those paintings?)   Just my humble opinion, of course...
>
>
>
>
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