Foreigners Nabbed For Vandalism (Public Graffiti Art)

[quote=“Chaon”][quote]And yet again, everyone is gossiping about them like a bunch of old ladies.
[/quote]

Clueless, self-righteous old ladies.[/quote]

Chaon, I’ve always enjoyed your style. I just wonder why your irony meter shut off when you hit Submit on this one. Coffee-less morning?

And almas john is in fact a self-righteous old lady, but not a clueless one.

[quote=“almas john”][quote=“TwoTongues”]I agree graffiti’s unsightly, but it’s basically a law and order thing and defacing of property thing, hard to see whipping and linseed oil as an appropriate solution, this aint Singapore and thank god for that. Fine them a penalty plus the cost to repaint for a first time offense and leave it at that. Jesus man.
[/quote]
You liked it when I mentioned birch rods in a previous thread but now you seem unenthusiastic about the willow branch whippings. Growing soft are we, made effete by the heat and corrupting influences of Thailand.[/quote]

Did I really? Don’t remember that… I’m not against the rod when it fits the crime, like, say, ummmmm… SHOOTING FERAL CATS WITH A PELLET GUN!!!

Why is it that the media needs to refer to one of the individuals as an American of Taiwanese-Filipino descent, but they didn’t mention the other’s racial background. Why couldn’t they simply refer to him as an American like the other guy Jeffrey? When I finally get arrested will the media simply call me an American or will they go to the extraordinary lengths to refer to me as an American of Dutch descent? It’s the same thing with British citizen Zain Dean. The media makes an extra point that he is of Indian or Pakistani descent when none of that actually matters. Why? :fume:

[quote=“China Post on 4-26-2010”]

Two foreign graffiti artists caught in the act, fined

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Two foreign male students were arrested and charged with violating the Social Order Maintenance Act for spraying graffiti on a wall in Taipei City, local media reported yesterday.
According to reporters, the graffiti artists brought paint with them to Daan District Sunday morning at 4 a.m., and started spray painting a wall before neighbors approached and attempted to stop them from continuing.

The two American students, known as Jeffery, 24, and Tores, 23, told spectators that graffiti is a form of art, reporters said, adding that a complaint was filed by unknown bystanders soon after.

The reporters said they were each fined NT$2,000 yesterday.

Police said when they arrived on site, the two students were surprised to see them, and when photographers turned up and started snapping away, they both started hiding their faces with their shirts.

Some people gave compliments to the two artists and said they were impressed with how they finished their artwork without drafting it first, local media reported.

Local reporters said Jeffery, and Tores, [color=#FF0000]an American of Taiwanese-Filipino descent[/color], study Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University and teach English at after-school study centers.

Even though graffiti has generally become better accepted now, artists cannot just choose to spray paint any wall in the country.

In order to encourage local artistic talents, several city and county governments have set up designated graffiti zones for spray painters.[/quote]

[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]
It’s already been said he’s a foreigner so he would be an immigrant.[/quote]

No an immigrant to the US. Just wondering, couldn’t place the accent.

Not necessarily at all. Vandalism by locals could easily make the news as well. In fact i just saw such a clip on here the other day. Vandalism in itself is not unworthy of comment, but that guys hilarious attitude surely deserves it :slight_smile:

[quote=“Northcoast Surfer”]Why is it that the media needs to refer to one of the individuals as an American of Taiwanese-Filipino descent, but they didn’t mention the other’s racial background. Why couldn’t they simply refer to him as an American like the other guy Jeffrey? When I finally get arrested will the media simply call me an American or will they go to the extraordinary lengths to refer to me as an American of Dutch descent? It’s the same thing with British citizen Zain Dean. The media makes an extra point that he is of Indian or Pakistani descent when none of that actually matters. Why? :fume:

[quote=“China Post on 4-26-2010”]

Two foreign graffiti artists caught in the act, fined

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Two foreign male students were arrested and charged with violating the Social Order Maintenance Act for spraying graffiti on a wall in Taipei City, local media reported yesterday.
According to reporters, the graffiti artists brought paint with them to Da’an District Sunday morning at 4 a.m., and started spray painting a wall before neighbors approached and attempted to stop them from continuing.

The two American students, known as Jeffery, 24, and Tores, 23, told spectators that graffiti is a form of art, reporters said, adding that a complaint was filed by unknown bystanders soon after.

The reporters said they were each fined NT$2,000 yesterday.

Police said when they arrived on site, the two students were surprised to see them, and when photographers turned up and started snapping away, they both started hiding their faces with their shirts.

Some people gave compliments to the two artists and said they were impressed with how they finished their artwork without drafting it first, local media reported.

Local reporters said Jeffery, and Tores, [color=#FF0000]an American of Taiwanese-Filipino descent[/color], study Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University and teach English at after-school study centers.

Even though graffiti has generally become better accepted now, artists cannot just choose to spray paint any wall in the country.

In order to encourage local artistic talents, several city and county governments have set up designated graffiti zones for spray painters.[/quote][/quote]

Hello there,
I don’t see that information is necessary either. But how about just send your comment here to China Post editor?
webeditor@mail.chinapost.com.tw

[quote=“almas john”]Perhaps we can come and decorate your place.
[/quote]
I’m an expert in spray painting giant hard knobs with big hairy balls. I can even do the veins. Can I do it, please?
But yeah, that mess they daubed is not art by any definition. I’ve seen artistic tagging in tons of places. That shite was not.
The good thing, however, is that it might – just might – give the city government the idea of painting some of those filthy cancerous concrete walls that blight the city and are FAR more disgusting than even the most amateur tagging.

Snigger.

It still looks better than the rotten concrete wall that was there before…more graffiti please! I think roving bands of street demolition artists would be much better though.

“Oh Gawd! They’re spray painting our broke ass city that no one bothers to clean up because of our cultural aversion to make things beautiful and clean shit up.”

Do they prefer the unwashed, unpainted and unkept look which reminds them of their Chinese origins? Let’s face it-China is one giant crap hole.

Why is it that in Thailand the poor rural folk can still lift a paint brush and plant nice gardens and clean shit up but the Taiwanese can’t? You’d think the Japanese would have beaten that out of them.

[quote=“TainanCowboy”]The linseed oil soaking is a nice touch.

The mark of a professional.[/quote]
:roflmao: Brilliant!

I could never understand how someone would take a spray can to a wall that doesn’t belong to them. And I’ve seen young local kids do the same, but usually something small and quick late at night. Pose for a picture. Get the hell away.
Odd how these guys didn’t think it was out of the ordinary to be spray painting a wall in a foreign city in the middle of the day. Ah well, NT$2000. Not that bad. They could have been horsewhipped with five-foot willow branches soaked in linseed oil…

[quote=“Bubba 2 Guns”]“Oh Gawd! They’re spray painting our broke ass city that no one bothers to clean up because of our cultural aversion to make things beautiful and clean shit up.”

Do they prefer the unwashed, unpainted and unkept look which reminds them of their Chinese origins? Let’s face it-China is one giant crap hole.

Why is it that in Thailand the poor rural folk can still lift a paint brush and plant nice gardens and clean shit up but the Taiwanese can’t? You’d think the Japanese would have beaten that out of them.[/quote]

I totally agree!

Bullshit. That’s not art. From what I could tell from that video, those guys just sprayed crude renditions of their names on some property owner’s door, like a dog pissing to mark its territory. Nothing beautiful about it. Just ugly vandalism that violates the innocent homeowner’s rights, deteriorates property values and even leads to increased crime (according to the “broken windows theory” as described in Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point). I owned a house in hte US with a garage opening onto a back alley that was repeatedly tagged by bastards like these guys. Nothing beautiful about it. I admit that grafitti can be interesting and beautiful, but those tags weren’t even close, and in any event it should be in a more appropriate place (like under a bridge or on the side of a highway and not on some guy’s front door). No sympathy from me for this one.

For an example of graffiti at its worst, just take a drive around Manila. Spray-paint vandalism, indeed!

perhaps the best that can be said about those petty vandals (vandals, not artists) was that they prompted Taipei to actually paint some grey concrete horror-shows with a nice clean coat of white paint. Hurrah!

now, if they made graffiti that actually was art, they might have stood a better chance of getting away with their vandalism. Or if they had chosen not to do it on a random wall in Da’An district (surely one of the most uptight areas of Taipei), but in a designated graffiti area, then they wouldn’t even be seen as the vandals they are (whether or not it’s art-worthy, it’s still vandalism if you don’t have permission). 50 lashes for both of them, while wearing little more than gimp masks with a decent ball gag… in public.

Paint is just way too expensive to going wasting it on buildings and walls.

On the other hand, down by the riverside bike paths in Songshan, I’ve seen some interesting graffiti that should qualify as art, sprayed on the supporting structure for a highway, I didn’t mind looking at it at all and even appreciated some of the work and was somewhat disappointed when the city painted over all of it. I was even more disappointed when it was replaced by further amateur efforts, that are much cruder, less talented, less artistic and less appealing.

I realize some might jump on that to say “oh, so good grafitti art is ok and bad grafitti art is not ok? Isn’t that subjective? Therefore you’re opinion is unfair to perfectly talented artists whom you just don’t happen to care for.”

And I would wholeheartedly disagree with that. It’s not JUST a matter of talent, though that is PART of the issue in my mind. I think most people would be less offended by graffiti if it were all done by artists as talented as Banksy.

Check out the below one from the Israel-Palestine wall.

More Banksy here:

Clearly, those are art and they’re amusing and provocative. Even just a stylishly done name can be artistic. But the mere fact that one takes a can of spray paint and marks up a wall DOESN’T make it art or worthy of protection.

Admittedly, the line between art and non-art can be hard to tell at times, as Banksy indicates below.

But just because it’s hard to draw a line, doesn’t mean one can’t try.

In any event, often or usually with respect to graffiti, the more important issue is where it’s done. Would it be ok to tag the front door of a courthouse or a schoolhouse or your house that you just purchased? Of course not. Which is why I suggested the underside of bridges and highways might be a more appropriate place. And perhaps if one is more talented, as with Banksy, it might even be acceptable to move into more viewable PUBLIC places.

Of course it’s always vandalism and if the authorities bust you for it, too bad – do the crime, pay the time. And if you commit vandalism on someone else’s private property and they paint over it and/or get angry about it, don’t be surprised. How would you like it if some talentless teenage moron tagged YOUR house with an ugly rendition of his name?

Absolutely. Just a couple of completely no-talent fuckwits. The only reason those brainless bobbleheads didn’t tag their own homes is that their mummies would have grounded them.

What about the guy who spotted an opportunity to turn a massive billboard advertisng campaign on it’s ass by climbing up on the thing, and with half a can of black spray paint, switching it’s message to mean "exactly " the opposite of what the advertisers intended. What about how in the following days they removed ALL the bollboards in the city because in that one deft move some bobblehead proved how vulnerable, tedious and insulting their mesage was. Of course graffiti is way cool. If it’s done right.

BUGA-UP

1 Like

That last photo about advertising is priceless!