When is Graffiti not Graffiti?

Every now and then I stumble across things that make me go "Hmmmmm." I'm sure most people have a working definition of graffiti, but I thought, why not write about it anyway. I'm sure most people would recognize the artwork on this truck which was parked on a street in San Francisco as graffiti.

According to most sources, "graffiti is a form of visual communication, usually illegal, involving the unauthorized marking of public space by an individual or group." In each of the three examples I'm posting with this, I'm pretty sure that the image makers were not given permission to create what they created, although some will argue, and I think rightfully so, that the middle example probably didn't need permission before creating what they did. But are we sure that the first example of the truck isn't a piece of art that's on display on the streets? I did not research who created the artwork on the truck. I didn't feel like I had to.

What I wanted to do was examine each piece and try and figure out if it's art, graffiti, or something else entirely. I think I would argue that all three pieces are art and graffiti. The phrase, "One person's trash is another person's treasure" comes to mind immediately. I think most people would say that the first piece is graffiti, but some graffiti is wonderful art at the same time. If you don't believe me, then look at the last photo I've attached to this. Those images, on the last four columns, are original graffiti that was placed on the Berlin Wall during the Cold War era.

The second one is the most interesting, I believe. If we look at the definition that I wrote earlier we can makes some judgements about it. Visual Communication?  I would say so. Illegal? Hard to say, but probably not. Unauthorized marking of a public space? Probably, but then again, the Ancients of Utah and Colorado probably didn't have the concept of ownership of land, so it was all public space and who's to say they didn't have permission to create those symbols on that rock outcropping? Today, I know that almost everyone who sees this would view it as artwork, not to be disturbed. I mean, the state of Colorado has viewing points set up alongside the road where you can look at these pieces of art from afar. There are also posted signs stating that the defacement of the art is considered a crime. 

So I guess, time plays an element in all of this. Even the National Park Service has weighed in on this issue. While they don't condone graffiti, they actually preserve graffiti in some of the areas they are set up to protect. I know of at least one instance in Great Basin National Park where writing inside of Lehman Caves inside the park have been preserved as part of the history of the park and cave. The writings (mostly signatures and dates) were done by employees of the National Forest Service over a hundred years ago. Time heals all wounds?

What it boils down to I guess is the public's perception of it or maybe the authority's perception of it. The Berlin Wall, when it was all in Berlin was a striking example of this. The western side contained all of the graffiti. The eastern side was pretty much pristine. Different forms of authority obviously made this a reality. People in West Berlin let their feelings known about the wall in the one way they could at the time and that was by drawing on it. People on the east side didn't not have that kind of freedom since there were barriers in place that prevented people from even getting close enough to it to place graffiti on it.

And while I don't like the gang related graffiti that is so pervasive in some areas, I'm not going to deny that some of it is amazing artwork. What's your take on this? Graffiti? Art? A combination of both? As always, comments are welcome.

It's that time of year

For those of you who don't live in Southern California, this is wildfire season, because this is the time our Santa Ana winds kick into high gear. A massive high pressure system is sitting over the desert and the mountain passes are acting like huge funnels sending high winds (70 mph or higher is some cases) through the passes and into the coastal areas. Everything is tinder dry and there are already reports of brush fires in Orange County south of us.

We moved into our current house in 2003 in June and in October of that year the Grand Prix fire swept across the foothills just north of our house. The fire was 15 miles to the east of us when we went to bed that night and the next morning it was probably 5 miles beyond us to the west. Almost 70,000 acres were consumed and 194 house destroyed. Fortunately, no loss of life happened, but many people's lives were permanently disrupted.

I took this photo this afternoon of my front parkway. This would have been a major nuisance in my mind in my younger days. However, these lost limbs are a minor inconvenience compared to some people who are at this very moment preparing to evacuate on a moment's notice. I need to remember that.

Paths

A very dear friend of mine gave me a tee-shirt when I retired last year. On it was the imprint of a boot print, but the print was actually words, which said, "Of all the paths in life you take, make sure some of them are dirt."

I've been trying to do that on a daily basis, not always successfully, but the park just north of my house has a nice walking path of dirt, so I count that, but I think I want to amend that phrase to include something about paths covered in flowers. The photo doesn't convey how orange this really is, but it literally is covered with orange petals from the tree at the right of the shot. 

If you can, walk on a flowered covered path sometime soon. It will make all the difference in the world.

Paths

Because of the recent viral outbreak I haven't been able to do any kind of hiking. All of the trails nearest me have been closed down either because of lack of workers to keep the trails clean, or because the lack of social distancing has become a problem. This means my main way of walking and getting any kind of exercise is walking the sidewalks in the neighborhood.

When I retired last May, a very dear friend of mine gave me a retirement T-shirt with a message on it. For those of you who know me well, this T-shirt pretty much sums up my approach to life in general. On the shirt is a large bootprint and in the tread of the boot is the saying, "Of all the paths you take in Life, Make sure a few of them are dirt." 

Sidewalks are not dirt, but today I was able to take the message to heart by walking this exercise path in the park north of my house. I walked five laps and it made all the difference in the world today.