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[Brighton] Graffiti Tagging - who is doing it and why?
- Thread starter Lush
- Start date
You are! It is 2 sides of the same coin. There's a chap that uses the moniker Aroe to do a lot of murals and commissions in Brighton, even for the council in the past. Regularly see his tags about the place and he has an instagram where he proudly shows off the trains he has defaced etc. The way it currently works is the big murals wouldn't exist without the tagging as it is all part of the same thing (trying to get your pen name seen by your peers, some do it by simple repetition and some by creating big colourful works). Not saying that is how it should be but tagging and street-art/murals go hand in hand.
- Aug 7, 2003
- 7,795
Gilliver's Travels
Peripatetic
You got a smile and a thumb from me, but severely reduced kudos for that "would of".
Bwian
Kiss my (_!_)
- Jul 14, 2003
- 15,898
Apologies. I accept that inferring cause and effect and implying a correlation was wrong.
CaptainDaveUK
Well-known member
- Oct 18, 2010
- 1,506
There is also a national, international element too. In the same way there are professional gamers, there are professional street artists / taggers. Certain individuals will frequent Barcelona, Bath, Brighton, London or wherever and go on a tagging spree weekend. Literally putting their name / tag everywhere they can. Also a few throw ups, which are more quick 3-4 minutes, silver / black name pieces, followed by a really detailed mural if possible, that can take all afternoon. People who do very stunning murals are also the most prolific taggers, although the very good artist probably grow out of tagging or at least think it maybe isn’t worth the risk any more. Being very good at graffiti art takes years of practice and by then they will have put up 1000s of tags.
Nottseagull
Well-known member
When I went on the Hove-Worthing train in 1999 for the first time in 20 years, I was pretty shocked by the graffiti at the stations, including on the station name plates (at least at Southwick).
Another 20 years on, what are they like now?
Another 20 years on, what are they like now?
Pretty much 100% graffiti free thanks to CCTV
It might be a different order of magnitude from these other things, but graffiti do certainly impact on my wellbeing in the sense that they tend to impair my enjoyment of the streets and buildings of my home town, and I resent that impairment.
It does though. The same as littering and broken windows. A lot of people find it depressing.
Faversham is the same. We piloted CCTV in the 90s and street crime virtually vanished. We have had occasional graffiti on a buiding near the bridge across the creek but it gets painted out very quickly. Elsewhere . . . I can't actually recall ever seeing anything.
When I get the train to Victoria I can see graffiti from maybe 20 years ago. The bloke who was put away used the tag 'VAMP'. It amuses me to see is work fading away or being painted over by other nobbers.
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/8g7wna/surveyor-dad-graffiti-gang-kingpin-kristian-holmes
From the above, this is a thing of beauty:
Most men lead lives of quiet desperation, but here was one who channelled all that nervous energy into flipping the script. He was trapped in the body of a man from Sidcup. But he fought back against it. I bet he stood on top of the vintage trains of the East Kent Railway while vandalising them in April 2009, and said: “I am not ordinary. I am extraordinary. I am Kristian Holmes. Yes, Kristian Holmes, the man who wouldn't go gentle into that good night, or at least write the word VAMP on as many public surfaces as humanly possible before being forced to bow to The Man. Tell me, are you not entertained?!” And then he probably went home and watched The Wire, and played Fifa, safe in the knowledge that ordinariness was not even on his radar.
And slightly more platitudinous from the Grauniad:
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jun/21/my-secret-life-graffiti-artist
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jevs
Well-known member
He was given a conditional caution....the condition was that he spend a day doing unpaid work....which he did with me, removing Graffiti from the Rockery and nearby areas.
oneillco
Well-known member
- Feb 13, 2013
- 1,259
This is the problem; Brighton Council have ring-fenced a tiny remit for grafitti removal which doesn't barely scratch the surface of the problem. It's obvious that the Council needs to take a muscular lead on this and equip several teams to remove tags quickly. When tags are left they immediately attract more and become the norm.
oneillco
Well-known member
- Feb 13, 2013
- 1,259
But I can't see any tagging? That is permitted grafitti art...
Isn't that an oxymoron?
oneillco
Well-known member
- Feb 13, 2013
- 1,259
Well don't get too insanely happy mate... social media and Instagram in particular is awash with proud taggers posting their latest scribble. The psychosodimisation has already happened...
oneillco
Well-known member
- Feb 13, 2013
- 1,259
Well you loved the Bruno street art
Are you saying that you can't see the difference between tagging and street art?