Read on for our first installment.
If you haven't heard what has been happening in the world of graffitti then turn off street fighter II turbo and listen up... As Tan mentioned last week, five members of the DPM graffiti crew were jailed at Southwark Crown Court – one, Andrew Gillman, for two years – after admitting conspiracy to cause criminal damage.
Sign the petition here: Support DPM
In the meantime Tate Modern is showcasing "Street Art" featuring the work of artists Sixeart, JR, Faile, OS Gemeos, Nunca and Blu. Each commissioned to design a piece covering the height of the building front.
As we stood there admiring this celebration of street art dominating the riverfront, the question that was battering our brains was... What is the difference between these commissioned pieces and the art of the now incarcerated DPM crew?
As we walked away from the Tate we watched the youth skate at the Southbank's unofficial skate park (recently in the news regarding its inevitable closure). While we debated the topic of which we now write, next to us stood an elderly couple who were fascinated by the skaters and the surroundings, so much so they spent the next 15 minutes taking pictures of the kick flips and various grinds.
This brought to our attention one of the positive aspects of what Tate is achieving with the "Street Art" exhibit, they are successfully educating the middle classes to appreciate and accept graffiti as a legitimate art form. This scene would never have happened 10 years ago. Instead of taking pictures the couple would no doubt be contacting the law to disperse of this "anti-social" behaviour.
The Anonymous Gallery Project in SoHo -New York prepare to launch an exhibition next week based on the work of those convicted at Southwark. "DPM – Exhibit A" will display large photographs of the convicts' work alongside copies of their charge sheets.
TTOD want to know your thoughts on this blatant contradiction that has occured between the art institution Tate, and the British justice system... Should the law reconsider its negative outlook towards the misunderstood art form of graffiti?
Are these men criminals or artists?
Forget Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst are these the true masters of our time?
TTOD
17 comments:
i think teh govenmet need to establish their rulings on street art and set them in stone. some councils are scrubbing Bankys of the wall claiming his work to be vandalism and some are showing off that they have got the newest piece by this mavarik!
i think the government should establish exactly where the line that brakes street art into graffiti is.
and untill they do artists such as DPM should be set free!!!
SIGN THE PETITION!!!
draw on my wall ull get a slap.
im gonna draw on your face
My feelings on this matter are to strong to even begin to air them on here. FREE DPM FAM
Graffiti and street art are completeley different. i see graffiti as a movement steeped in history and culture. street art is bunch of blue blodded, media hyped, art school pricks who are claiming to be something that took 30 years for graffiti to create. i dont think DPM should be inside for what they did, and we should do everything in our power to get them out, but using 'street art' as a way of justifying their actions is irrelevent. DPM painted trains. thats real graffiti. how many panels has banksy done?! thats street art.
If the laws are changed and let the 'creative' pieces of graffiti slide then all graffiti will be ok regardless of how artistic or kitsch it is and we'll probably end up seeing that bloody tag 'rainman...' everywhere.
If the wall or building etc that is being used as a canvas doesn't belong to you and the owner hasn't given his consent for it to be used then it is vandalism plain and simple.
As much as I appreciate Banksy and the work of other artists he doesn't have the right to spray on walls as he does. Just because he is politically motivated and challenges conformity which culturally renders him 'cool' doesn't necessarily make it acceptable.
If DPM were graffiti'n walls they didn't have the consent to then they got what they deserved.
I think regardless of whether street art has anything to do with it the bottom line is that DPM got far more than they deserved. Sure they caused some damage, but it's only money and the train companies are insured to cover this damage anyway.
It's obvious they've been used to make a very public example of.
I think the fact that street art is being celebrated is irrelevant, graffiti has been just as celebrated, if not more, in mainstream media over the past 5-10 years.
FREE DPM!
Regardless of whether the laws are right or wrong. You cant commit a crime, knowing the maximum penalties and likely serving time and then complain when you get locked up?
The laws that are putting these people down may well be wrong but the fact they are in prison serving them is not surprising.
I'm all for getting them out but lets be honest...when has a petition everr work?
If village cant even keep post-offices with petitions what chances we got of the them releasin a group of "criminals"?
villages*
erence between what the tate are showing and what dpm have done is that dpm broke into train yards consistently over a long period of time with no permission (i am presuming the tate has commissioned the work on its walls), that is why they have been sent to prison. i dont think they should have been but at the end of the day as the law currently stands what they have done is illegal. it would be better if they got sentenced to community service really for all of society as some of us are now paying for them to watch telly and sit on their asses for a while.
this is the flip.
erence between what the tate are showing and what dpm have done is that dpm broke into train yards consistently over a long period of time with no permission (i am presuming the tate has commissioned the work on its walls), that is why they have been sent to prison. i dont think they should have been but at the end of the day as the law currently stands what they have done is illegal. it would be better if they got sentenced to community service really for all of society as some of us are now paying for them to watch telly and sit on their asses for a while.
this is the flip.
Realistically, they won't serve 5 years.. Still it's a fucked ammount of time. But for mass criminal damage.
The point the guy made in the original article Tan posted was, the people that are up on the Tate Modern now, have done illegal 'street art' before, and now they are being promoted for doing so.. He wasn't comparing the legalities.
Definitely done to make an example.
2 years? hes lucky he didn't get 5
600 000 is alot of money, and that is the way the judge looks at it.
these men have no affection for banksy or street art, they painted alot of trains with the belief that if they were caught it would be for a handful of offences at most. they played the game wrong but with grate energy hats off.
btp used the press to there own end and i understand dpm's fam will do the same and i hope it works because like every other decent human i think only violent dangerous criminals should be locked up.
Whats the big issue the big sentance of 2 years for a non-violent offender?
For me its the hypocritical issue of street art on Southbank and Tate, when the goverment and every council in London want to destroy all graffiti completely and gentrify.
In the weeks leading up to the Tate Street Art event there was a huge amount of buffin' around Southwark.
The entire event is sponsoured by a car company that wants to sell cars to young middle class people. Its not designed to show 'free' art but to make 'street art' a comodity.
dont get sucked in!
I heard of walls being selectivly buffed and only Banksy pieces remaining, or stingy shopkeepers and property developers selling entire walls. Its the most horrific form of cashing in.
its not sympathetic to the 'cause', as these are the people that would bring back hanging if they had a chance!
Luckily by the end of this year the economy will collapese and London will be f***ed up with anti social types and hooligans painting and fornicating everywhere, and the council and LUL won't be able to do anything about it as thy will be skint!
hahaha!
I don't think you could say DPM were the 'true masters of our time' - their graf isn't that good to be honest.
I think jail is nonsense though, they should be made to clean paint off things as punishment instead.
The Police could have stopped the boys sooner and moved on to other problem within the rail system. Public money has been spent and is still being wasted on locking the boys up. A lot of things need to change, if this is the best the police have to offer Londons had it. Have the police been doing their job and doing a honest days work themselves?Reading some of these comments make me feel sick please get a grip on it what would you lot do with real criminals?
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