This is clever

Shadow on Canterbury Street

 

Blog gone a little dormant

It’s been a long time since there was a post on this blog.  Other interests have won out over this site it seems.

That doesn’t mean the creative community has gone dormant.  There was an interesting post on the Country 94 news blog about an “art bomb” of a modified Mona Lisa going up in the city centre.

Check out their coverage here:

 http://country94news.blogspot.ca/2012/10/mysterious-art-pops-up-in-saint-john.html

Germain Street Chalk Art

Frankenstein's Monster

On Leinster Street:

Mickey Mouse Stencil

On the UNBSJ building at King Square North.

Face

On Germain Street.

Stencil–Elliot Row

I’ve been noticing a lot more stencil work around town lately. I’ll have to try and get some photos over the next few days.

Anti Nuclear sticker

On a garbage can downtown:

Never Stop Pushing

Evening on the Grand Manan V

Goomba Stencil

In east SJ.

Sticker on a postal box

East Side: Never Stop Pushing

Graffiti on Rocks – Bay Shore, Saint John

Elusive Stickers

I noticed some of these Elusive Snow Skate Life stickers on the boards of Market Square boardwalk.

Postering charges dropped in HRM

Halifax has a by-law that limits where you can post event posters. This didn’t stop Evolve promoters from putting up some signage for their event last year. The organizer was charged and faced $4,500 in fines.

The charges have been dropped according to The Coast.

The lawyer working in the defense of the organizer suggests that postering is a form of communication that is protected under the Canadian Chart of Rights and Freedoms.

I’ve said before that postering is proof an active culture in a city. I’m pleased that the Evolve folks didn’t have to pay to promote what was voted the best music festival in Canada.

Exit Through The Gift Shop

As someone who pretends to be into street art I very much enjoyed Exit Through The Gift Shop.  The movie covers street art a number of artists including of Shepard Fairey, Invader and Banksy.   

There is a lot of good comedy in the movie, and Bansky seems to satirize the form he has made popular, or at least those who have followed in the form without adding too much new.

West Saint John railway graffiti

In west Saint John this concrete wall that I believe to be former railway infrastructure has been painted with interesting work for a long while.  I finally headed to get some photos this evening.

Broad Street creatures

The purple people eater and a skeleton are just a few of the creatures painted around on the concrete that remains at an industrial property on Broad Street.

Consequences

I support the idea that graffiti can be both a form of protest and an art form.  Still, I respect the fact that property owners or those responsible for public property have the right to protect the places and buildings they care about.  If an artist believes his or her work belongs somewhere and puts it up without permission, they have to be willing to accept and even expect consequences.

The taggers who sprawled paint across the rear of the Imperial Theatre have been arrested.  According to 94.1 FM news:

“The two men responsible for spray painting the Imperial Theatre and the area behind the Hilton are facing charges.
Staff Sergeant Jim Fleming says the two men caused at least $20,000 dollars in damage and will appear in court on July 6th.
He says charging them is a key step in preventing more vandalism because it will stop young people from doing the same.”

Maybe I’m going soft in my anti-authoritarianism as I age, but this is similar to my thoughts about people getting arrested for illegal activities at protests.  If you believe that doing something illegal is necessary or “right” you should be willing to deal with the consequences – fair or otherwise.

Private property

The president of Hayward and Warwick wrote a letter to the editor expressing disappointment about graffiti at the rear of his building (the owners painted over a picture of a girl with balloons, and apparently someone with a spray can came back and tagged the wall). 

While I liked balloon girl, I respect the right of a building owner maintain the exterior of his building the way he finds fit. 

I still find graffiti interesting but wanted to balance this interest with a respect for property owners. 

It would be great if artists could work with interested property owners to create interesting aesthetics – that way owners wouldn’t have to paint over unwanted work.