what is it about a freshly sprayed piece that attracts the attention of vandals? it might seem funny to some that graffiti suffers from the problem of vandalism, but it’s true. following on from the atrocious defacing of the old banksy/kato piece on cato street, an act that still fills me with anger every time i see it, someone or a group of hooligans have been going round j3 of the m32 making a mess of the pieces there. this area has only recently been spruced up by the efforts of a group of writers and has been looking better and better as the days went past.

what is mystifying to me is why the vandals hone in on the one area of wall they should be respecting and leaving alone? i understand that some writers go over other writer’s pieces as an act of defiance and, while i can see how this could be infuriating to the previous artists, the intention is to put something up BETTER than before – a skillz war. what these mindless, artless goons are doing is spoiling someone’s skillful work with rubbish. it’s so disrespectful. i can’t imagine what goes through the mind of the writer who has been dissed, but i doubt if the perpetrator was caught that he’d get away with a light ticking off! i’m not even sure what i would do if i caught someone defacing a work of art with a shit tag…

what about respect? there are plenty of walls around, what makes the idjuts choose where they do? ignorance. where can you learn about the do’s and dont’s of the graffiti world? maybe a little sign in the area might help? [only if the vandals can read - that's another matter] respect may have to be earned, but it also has to be learnt.

how about a graffiti awareness day? pros and cons. not an arguement about whether it’s right or wrong, like the government’s stand on drugs, but more about the fact that it’s here so let’s deal with it. i still feel that it’s the young who need the educating. if someone walked into any bristol art gallery and defaced a work of art there would be outrage. i don’t expect the same treatment of graffiti work, but a modicum of respect would go a long way…

respect

peace