Riding around the industrial wasteland of Lee Valley today, stumbled across what I considered a bit of a treasure trove of urban art… what do you reckon? Is this Art or Vandalism?

[img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3374/3273931997_3cec73eda9.jpg?v=0[/img]

Art

+1, except for the last one of the fat cat

The girl with the flower really blew me away, the level of detail in it is really something… the picture doesn’t give it full justice 🙂

deffo art

depends on whether you own the property, or if you are an impartial viewer.

I like it though. even the Alice in Wonderland cat.

If it’s an industrial wasteland (the implication that it’s full of eyesores) then perhaps these images provide some sort of relief. They certainly look like someone has put a lot of thought and effort into them.
They’re also, to me, more absorbing and engaging than, say, tags which suggest a territorial claim over the space, and by extension have a more sinister and threatening effect.

It’s a fine line though, isn’t it? Some tag work can appear to be very elaborate and considered, and therefore ‘arty’.

I would say that vandalism is more associated with destruction. These images you’ve posted are creative. Sure, they are ‘damaging’ the finish of the building, but if the buildings are rundown anyway, their fabric needs more attention than just a full coat of fresh paint, eh?

That said, though, I’m not so keen on the last two images, and if the ‘artists’ tried out their work on my gable-end, ….. grrrr

What is art? The answer is that the images are probably both art and vandalism.

[chinstroke mode]Is not London itself art?[chinstroke mode]

If its done on your property then its vandalism.

They could be both, they could be neither, it depends on the viewer.

I think they look badass and I think you must be a bit of a square if you would prefer to look at a plain brick wall over a colourful picture

it depends on the viewer.

Well, IMO whilst beauty is in the eye of the beholder, art is in the mind of the creator. Discuss…. 😉

Definatly art if it is not just a scruffy tag, there’s an underpass near me which is often covered in scruffy tags and it must cost the council a fortune to keep cleaning it, i personally think they should allow someone to do a proper mural in it and then see if it gets left alone by the others, if it does good, if not nothing lost.

If its done on your property then its vandalism.

Hmm. Some might say that ‘property is theft’…

That above, that’s art. The second one down, I love that. I had a chat with a couple of blokes doing stuff just next to that, a few days ago. There’s some really brilliant stuff down there.

Psychle; you up for an urban graffiti bikey sometime?

Has Mamadirt seen these? She’s into graffiti and that, from what I can tell.

Hey rudeboy, good to see you’re up late 🙂 I’m a tad intoxicated (had a work do tonight, free booze, it’ve been rude not to indulge 🙂 ) Anyhoo… definitely up for a ride with you mate, drop me an email at simonATintrepidtravelDOTcom and we’ll sort out a sortie into the urban jungle that is London 🙂

Oh,and because of my work drinks I missed out on an ebay auction I was hanging out for… ended up going for well under what I was willing to pay, grrrrrr 👿

Banksy

Loads of good stuff here

yeah, but banksy is so per se 🙂 over inflated self promoter… I prefer the humble anonymous folk who just do it for the sake of it 🙂

yeah, but banksy is so per se [:)] over inflated self promoter

passe?

A+ Art all the way, I also like the girls with the flower but I also love the first one.

yeah, but banksy is so per se [:)] over inflated self promoter

passe?

Passé, even?

The top two items, I might consider as art, but the rest are simply exterior decoration: an expression of technical ability without any apparent reason for their being does not make something art.

Art and vandalism can easily co-exist and be one and the same thing. Art doesn’t only happen in galleries or in books….

Would the people who say “if you own the property it’s vandalism” still have the same opinion if it was Banksy himslef who had adorned your gable in the middle of the night and in the process made it rare and extremely valuable?

The girl with the flower is trite.

I quite like the first one. [waves glasses in a circular motion]

1st one is great as is the boy with the turban. The others are well executed but cliched. Better than nothing though!

It might be art, and they might be technically very good, but they’re uninvited and technically illegal. If someone did it to my garage wall I’d want to break their face, regardless of how good it was.

The girl with the flower is trite.

I guess it is a little, but the technical skill is very good (this is a 8-10ft tall painting btw!)

Personally I like the 1st one the most, closely followed by the Screaming Man: I’ve tweaked these in PS a bit to improve the contrast and black point, so I take a little credit for the finished photographic image 😉 Plus with the first one, I deliberately shot it on an angle to include the foliage, I think this helps with the overall image?) See, I’m an artist me 🙂

but if everyone’s garage walls were so nicely decorated wouldn’t life be colourful!

It might be art, and they might be technically very good, but they’re uninvited and technically illegal.

This is on the back of a disused warehouse in the Lee Valley, so it’s not causing any real harm. It’d be a different matter if it was someone’s house I suppose, though personally I might not mind something of this quality on my garage wall, maybe…

Definitely art for me but the problem lot of it out there isn’t and tagging isn’t

First one interesting, quite like the second one, bit Francis Bacon-y.

Cat one is nice and cheerful.

Probably makes the lower end of the Lea Valley look less grotty, to be honest.

If someone did it to my garage wall I’d want to break their face

that is a good deal more criminal

got a whole road like this in Brighton;

If someone did it to my garage wall I’d want to break their face, regardless of how good it was.

You’d resort to extreme violence, just because someone graffitied your garage wall?

What I’ve seen, of the proper artists’ stuff, and what I’ve learned from talking to a few of them, is that they try to stick to abandoned warehouses, railway bridges etc- somewhere where he ‘vandalism’ impact is very little. The people who do the kind of stuff above, are actually mostly very conscientious, and even try to get permission from the property owners, sometimes. I know some that actually get paid to do stuff on shop fronts etc.

It’s the casual taggers, that just scribbly their inane street name everywhere, that drag it down, the same as selfish, careless cyclists drag us all down.

Can’t see any problem with someone covering up a boring grey motorway support with something colourful and imaginative.

Art can be vandalism and vandalism can be art. The two aren’t mutually exclusive of each other.

Art has to be intentional so therefore this is art, assuming the creator sees it that way, but also vandalism.

Its both

From the other side of the fence, even when somebody has been invited and paid to do it on somebody’s wall, it can be vandalism. Enter stage left the monstrosity on the wall of North West Mountain Bikes in Stockport.
Dearie me…..

Is it art?

Dunno, Roper; can’t see anything!

Oh, link didn’t work
Still could have been worse.
(as you may know) 🙂