In late September, Liberal-Democrat Councillor, Colin Hall, of the London borough of Sutton asked his blog readers what they would like done about the new graffiti mural that recently appeared in the community. The suspected Banksy mural was confirmed as such about a week later by the Guardian. Hall offered an email address where citizens could send their opinions on the artwork, and after the first week there was a significant majority in favor of allowing the mural to stay. The vote continued via email through the end of October.

The mural depicted a stenciled image of a man with a mohawk and hooded sweatshirt reading assembly instructions from a box marked "IEAK." Presumably, the box contained graffiti slogans and the individual was attempting to figure out how to write his own street art--a commentary, it would seem, on the canned nature and lack of creative thought in some graffiti art.

 

Which made it all the more ironic when, over this last weekend, vandals from the area left their own, rather simplistic, tags across the image in red and white paint. So...you thought you could get rid of the graffiti by making it uglier (and extremely ironic)? Or...you assumed it would stay and wanted to glean some credit for yourselves? I'm at a loss. 

 

But the whole ordeal does bring up a sort of social conundrum. The clandestine (read: illegal) nature of graffiti is one of its defining characteristics--this is also why it continues to spark debate in the communities where it appears. If local officials support graffiti artists and allow the work to remain visible, some argue that this marks the beginning of another one of those pesky "slippery slopes." On the other hand, in communities where the local government has chosen to paint over these murals (as the borough of Hackney did in early September), the citizens tend to make some noise. 

 

Well, if graffiti is "vandalism" to the physical structures in a community, what about the auditory vandalism that assaults my ears on a daily basis--that of loud trucks, car alarms, busking musicians, or people talking on their phones? It seems as though we're already far-gone down that slope, and frankly, I got over it a long time ago. Is it really that disruptive to see a spray-painted picture every once in a while on a blank wall?