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Reverse Graffiti

Posted by michael on from the cleaning-up dept.

glawrie writes "UK Graffiti artist 'Moose' thought he had come up with a perfect socially friendly approach to his art - to trade paints for cleaning fluid. An article in the UK's Independent Newspaper describes how he has created graffiti by taking '... any dirty inner-city wall or pavement, place a template over it, and scrub the concrete clean, revealing an image as sharp as any spray paint which fades with time.' Moose was commissioned by a subsidiary of drinks manufacturer Diageo to create some 'clean' graffiti in Leeds to promote their vodka brand Smirnoff to local students. However, this work was subsequently condemned by Gerry Harper, a Leeds councillor, as 'sheer vandalism'. With wonderful irony, the council demanded that the artist 'clean-up' the graffiti that appeared in one of the city's gloomiest underpasses. Maybe all those senseless vandals out there will now think twice in future before scrawling 'Clean Me' on the back of vehicles overdue for a wash... But perhaps the state is now going too far - surely it is only a matter of time before rainfall is similarly targetted by the good guys."

7 of 554 comments (clear)

  1. The city was being reasonable, not Smirnoff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Why does the article present this as some sort of travesty? It is what it is, and that is unlawful advertising on public space. To get rid of it would require public money to clean the rest of the overpass. It's graffiti, period. Why can't people just leave things alone, is it that hard to resist 'making your mark?'

    I mean come on, is this for real? We're supposed to feel sorry for this guy and Smirnoff? Gimme a break, they crossed the line and should be responsible.

  2. An ad by any other name . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's funny, until you realize he's not doing grafitti, he's doing commercials.

  3. Political commentary at the Key Bridge in DC by michaelmalak · · Score: 5, Interesting
    There's a sign on the Virginia side of the Key Bridge that goes into Washington, DC that has become a cultural phenomenon of political commentary. Who knows what the sign was really for -- it probably announced that the bridge was the "Francis Scott Key Bridge" or something. Then after 9-11 it was spray-painted with something patriotic -- a flag I think. Then after people started realizing Bush was just using 9-11 as an excuse to advance an empire and limit civil liberties, the patriotic graffiti was grafitti'd over. IIRC, the oldest one shown at this Georgetown lawyer's website was the first, "Read Orwell". After that, it went back and forth between pro-war and anti-war messages.

    Oddly, authorities never cleaned it up. It's like it's become an unofficial but implicitly sanctioned public forum.

  4. Re:legal grafitti.. by XryanX · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Aye, we have several free walls here in Tallahassee, FL. I have a bunch of friends that paint, and it truly is art.

    Unfortunately, most people equate graffiti with silly kids that scrawl basic tags all over the place. If you look at some of the bigger pieces(murals and such), you'll see it for the art that it is.

    Vandalism = bad
    Painting free walls = good

  5. Re:Depends on the kind of graffiti by ashesblow · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been graffing (its an industry term) for the last 5 years. I never leave my name, so its not really a tag. However I feel that using a designated wall is useless. The point of Graffing to me, at least, is to subject (as infringe on others) the unwary to art. Putting a 3 foot Venus DeMilo on a wall in a grubby factory is a much more fufilling act than putting that same stencil on a wall thats designated for art. Two distinct demographics really.

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  6. Re:Depends on the kind of graffiti by Cederic · · Score: 5, Interesting


    Actually, I rate top-quality graffiti as better art than you'll often find in galleries.

    Take Banksy (check the website at http://www.banksy.co.uk/ ) - total vandalistic anti-socialism but at the same time valid social commentary, truely genius artistic vision and inspired execution.

    ~Cederic is a fan.

  7. Re:Depends on the kind of graffiti by legoburner · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They did that here in the UK in my town. The next step was to get all the schools to give the police photocopies of every single schoolbook that has got any sort of doodles on it. Lo and behold, almost every kid under 18 who had done grafitti had tagged all their schoolbooks and the police were able to tie most tags down to kids by name, and either give them warnings or punishments. The best bit was most actually stopped and grafitti dropped by at least 70%

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