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Denver’s High Tech Anti-Graffiti Cameras Fail To Catch Any Graffiti
With word of leads fizzling in the case of the recent Times Square bombing despite being in one of the most surveiled locations on the planet—even capturing multiple images of the guy in action—it should come as no surprise that Denver’s highly praised anti-graffiti cameras have yet to catch one vandal. Not one. They’ve been in place for over four months now and despite a whole lot of jubilee among law enforcement and assurances from the company selling the cameras they’ve yet to show any promise. Paul Feldman, the president of the North Carolina-based company that specializes in the spy equipment and counts NATO as one of it’s customers, had this to say right before the cameras were being installed last year, “If you’re a tagger in the city of Denver, you’re going to get caught.”
Popularity: 35% [?]
Peter Vallone Jr. Gets Clowned By Stephen Colbert On Graffiti
We don’t know how we missed this one being big fans of Colbert and even bigger enemies of Vallone, but just this week, the graffiti-hating politician—who can’t get press without mentioning the outlaw art form—made a special guest appearance on the show to discuss how tags are ruining the world. Although the politician was hoping to push his anti-graffiti cause, the witty folks over the ‘Report’ highlighted the case of Natalie Shea, the 6-year-old from Brooklyn who’s parents were issued a $300 fine for the kid’s chalk drawings on her own front stoop as part of the city’s zealous crackdown last year, which lead to a public outcry over the heavy handed offensive. And even though Vallone was given a chance to spew his mindless ramblings about how graffiti is a “gateway crime” towards the very end of the segment, his foolishness had already been clearly tagged. Well done Mr. Cobert!
Popularity: 31% [?]
MARE 139’s “Monday Morning Commute”
Back in the day, it wasn’t just the exterior of subway cars that served as battlegrounds for graffiti writers. The insides were also considered prime real estate for vandals, and ink was the medium of choice for covering pretty much anything that could be written on. This eventually resulted in layers upon layers of flood tags and is what inspired MARE 139 to create this latest piece of work with KRink, that pays respect to the interior ink battles he refers to as the Flood Wars of the late 1970’s on the 2 and 5 trains. He calls this piece “Monday Morning Commute,” a fitting name that according to MARE, “[R]eflects that early morning train ride to school after a long weekend of hitting up the insides.”
Popularity: 22% [?]
‘Vallone’ T-Shirt Expresses Our Sentiments Exactly
The best thing about this anti-Vallone tee is that it’s 100% true, guaranteed. It was designed by graffiti 2.0 group, Free Art & Technology (F.A.T.), and prominently features the greasy haired councilman in front of a KIKO tagged gate with a simple yet effective message: “Peter Vallone Jr. is an asshole.” We’ve highlighted his assholiness on several occasions, but weren’t as smart as these guys to actually profit off of it. The shirts are American Apparel and the $21.90 price tag is money well spent.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Matrix Style Graffiti
German based graffiti writer DAIM released this new video detailing his latest project “Tagged In Motion.” It features the legendary vandal in an empty gallery space re-creating his trademark 3D graffiti in real time without a drop of paint. Now that you’ve seen his virtual work, here’s some of his real world stuff that it’s based on.
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Popularity: 14% [?]
GHOST Bombs Stussy SF
It’s RARE that you get a glimpse of legendary graffiti writer GHOST aka Cousin Frank in action: in both regards to being on video, and doing a wall legally. So enjoy this time lapse clip of him quickly and lawfully painting the Stussy store in San Francisco.
Previous: Stussy Releases Ghost Sick Skull
Popularity: 12% [?]
Was the BANKSY Wall On eBay Auction Sabotaged?
While the media is abuzz today with news of the BANKSY spray-painted wall that was just auctioned off on eBay last night for $409,206 (£208,100), no one’s taking the winning bidder’s relatively short and shoddy transaction history into account. A member since December 2007, 999toyota, has only bid on a total of 7 items, with the most recent and bigger ticket of them—damaged Toyota Corollas—not even being paid for, leading to this bit of negative feedback:
So naturally, if this eBayer can’t even pony up $1200 for a hoopty what’s the chances of them shelling out almost a half million dollars for a wall? We’ll bet this one gets relisted any minute now.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Leave Your Mark With ‘Forever’
If you’re all KRINKed out and want to try your hand with another brand of indelible inks for both art and vandalistic purposes, you might want to check out Forever In Control inks—unfortunately there’s no e-commerce shop or anything, you’ll have to email them. Tested to withstand 120 degree temperatures without losing its color, the permanent ink is suitable for use with mops, squeezers, and drippy markers. Plus, it’s endorsed by “world famous graff artists and bombers” like BATES, EWOK, RIME, AROE, and DOSE.
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Popularity: 11% [?]
The Decapitator Goes From Head To Head
In New York City we had the Splasher, the manifesto writing, paint splattering vandal who thoroughly enjoyed targeting “street art” and defacing it for his own perverse pleasures. But in London they’ve got ‘The Decapitator,’ a mischief-maker who doesn’t destroy art, choosing to wreak havoc on advertisements instead. The head hunter leaves nothing more than a painted bloody stump for a neck and completely removes the head like a guillotine, transforming the ad into a ghost of its former self. Check out The Decapitator’s very own Flickr gallery detailing the creatively gory beheading spree.
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Popularity: 14% [?]
Ol’ Dirty Gets Dirtied
A mural of ODB in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn—spray painted back in the summer of ‘06—has been recently vandalized: someone basically paint rollered his face, but left the rest of the welfare exterior intact. Maybe someone got wind of that merchandise deal we mentioned today (3rd item) and decided to take it out on Big Baby Jesus himself? The piece was originally commissioned by Dirt McGirt’s cousin, Raison G. Allah, and was based on the Return to the 36 Chambers album cover. Hopefully artist Victor Goldfeld, who originally painted the mural, is planning on going back to the Brooklyn Zoo and giving ODB his face back.
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Popularity: 11% [?]
