Grafitti in Warsaw

Hasn't happened to me.


What about some colour to liven up the dull grey concrete of motorway bridges and the like?
Okay, so in Warsaw - I don't know, but I have seen a few places that have benefitted from a lick of paint.

I would prefer to come from a country that doesn't cane and beat it's creative people and artists. No one is condoning personal property vandal, I'm talking street and bridge art.

And that IS vandalism of public property. You can agree or not but it is against the law to vandalize so your definition of art aside it is still not allowed. If you can afford paint you can afford something to paint on. The poor artist needing to express himself nonsense does not justify vandalism.

If you dislike it on public property but have no problem with the form or tone of the work than support organizations that create sanctioned areas and venues for these people to express themselves that wont mess with your precious overpasses. Here are a few:
URL
URL
URL

Why should I have support someone in order to keep them from vandalizing property? Do you realize how ridiculous that is?

How about they don't commit the crime....should we buy date rapists hookers so they don't bother the passed out girls? (It applies the same logic regardless of the extremity)

Nobody is entitled to 'express themselves' in the form of vandalism.

Again post your address so we can make sure your house gets kryloned from top to bottom in the name of art. While you are at it post your family's and friend's too...lets help those poor kids who have no choice but to spray!

My point with the links was that you seem to only dislike graffiti because of where it is conveyed, those were options to change its venues. I think you make great assumptions when you equate violent crimes (which are destructive) with graffiti (which is, at its core, creative). As I've already noted that I don't support private vandalization and for a myriad of other reasons, I won't post my or anyone else's address here. However, as it doesn't appear either of us can convince each other of our point of view, we'll have to agree to disagree, my only request would be to be wary of suppressing expression, no matter how invalid you may perceive it to be. With suppression, often nonviolent "criminals" can become violent criminals.

OK...you agree crime is ok and I will not.

Right, I'm glad we understand each other...

I'm not talking about the graf on unsuspecting peoples walls, but the art that is paid for and the art that is sold in galleries. Vandalism is vandalism and I don't condone it in any medium. However, I do respect the talent that some of these kids display when done legally. To me, it's considered art.

Sure...put it on canvas or a gallery wall and it's fine with me.

What I have a problem with is vandals and this idea that they HAVE to do it to express themselves. And the ridiculous assertion that if I don't want them committing these crimes I should sponsor activities for them to do.

I like whiskey...does that mean somebody should hire me a full time driver so I can drink whenever I want and not drive drunk? It is a stupid mentality that tries to make criminals victims.

Half the problem with all the Art vs Vandalism debate is that there seems to be no clear definition of what constitutes graffiti (or at least just a woolly one). Unfortunately, the same word is used both for the "Banksy" version (which I agree is valid art or at least valid political satire), and the tagging and vandalizing of private property, which is clearly just malicious destruction under the cover of art.

The fact that the opinion formers of the world can't agree means that the bast**d vandals can continue with impunity, because the powers that be can't sit together round a table and decide what is art and what is crime. Unfortunately, we live in a world where the politicians (especially in Poland) are too namby-pamby to make proper decisions and then stick by them. Hence also all the problems in Europe with immigration, a problem really of namby-pampiness among the politicians, not really of the people - who have long ago made up their minds.

Bring back the cane/birch/rattan I say. We are being far too soft on these little sods, something we can no longer afford in the 21st century.

It's pretty clear...painting on property that is not yours is illegal regardless of how pretty the picture is.

If the property owners give you permission to paint on it then fine but some people advocate that the vandals have a right to their "art".

So in the sense of graffiti as painting on property that is not yours, Banksy is guilty. So what that his pictures are amusing and sell for £500,000 a throw - that is irrelevant. If the authorities are not prepared to stick by their guns and prosecute, it is they who are guilty, just as much as the vandals.

I really wonder how difficult it would be to track Banksy down. I mean Banksy = surname Banks, duh? Now he lives in Bristol (my home town BTW). So how difficult would it be to find him, if the authorities really wanted to do so? So he becomes a Robin Hood figure? But he's in prison, so perhaps at last he will divert his energy to canvas art or cartoons in the papers, and stop being an icon and motivation for thousands of so called 'street artists'.

Sorry guys, I'm fairly liberal most of the time, but here I find the local authorities are just not doing their jobs properly, and we are all suffering as a result.

It (graffiti) can be viewed as an avenue of expression, form of relief or art. We can also call illegal immigrants "undocumented aliens" and drug dealers "unliscensed pharmacists", if we wish to. However, it is still a crime to vandalize property and this is not a victimless crime. The perpetrators usually do their damage at night. When nothing is done and they begin to loose the fear of being caught, it is done in broad daylight. When this happens, it means that this lower level crime has become acceptable. It escalates from there to "acceptable" amounts of violent crimes. Eventually, it can become, "As long as nothing happens to me, why should I worry about it or even bother to get involved". Perhaps citizens can band together and have "watch groups" to point out these people and call the authorities. Since nothing apparently is happening from the top down, it should start from the bottom up. This has worked in other cities and countries and it can work here. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to solve this problem. It just takes good and decent people who have had enough, to get out and do something about it. And this is not just a problem in just Warsaw or just Poland. Warsaw is a beautiful and historic old world city that deserves better. Are there any other suggestions to get something done about this? Thanks guys.