A comrade of mine who lurked on the list for a while commented that
most of the list members went a little bonkers when it came to tagging
issues, so I tried to avoid the topic. But I couldn't help making a
comment on the 'gang scare' issue. I that the primary point of my posting
was that despite the fact that tagging is really obnoxious, ugly, and
annoying, it doesn't mean that a crime wave is approaching.
I can't help suggesting that comparing taggers to dogs pissing on
walls is perhaps not the most subtle metaphor engaged to criticize tagging,
but I'll be more direct. No, I don't like tagging. I think that putting
graffitti on people's houses is abhorrent. I'm not even that fond of it on
small businesses or even to tell the truth large businesses. But, I do
hold the possibility open for graffitti as a subversive art form. I think
that activities such as billboard reclamation (where the messages on
billboards are edited and manipulated) is positive. I have nothing against
creative art put on abandoned buildings (not a major occurance in
Minneapolis) Personally, if someone wrote 'sexist' on every objectifying
bus shelter, I wouldn't have a complaint either.
Tagging makes the city ugly, but so do many legal activities such as
billboards and the target center. And frankly, I find those two more
obnoxious than the tagging.
To reiterate, my last post was not the Taggers' Manifesto, It was just
crititcal of 'gang scare' tactics, which I might note WERE in fact started
by the police in the mid-nineties.
Robert Wood, femino-marxist/green party member
St Paul resident, university employee
PS One last note concerning landlords, from my personal experience in Mpls
with renting, and the experience of most of my friend who I have discussed
the issue with, it would nice to see our landlords do anything concerning
the property that they own. My St Paul landlord on the other hand will fix
things on occasion.
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