Sunday, May 16, 2010

Just wrong in the head

The Livvi's Place playground was hit again over the weekend. I've reported it to Council (as usual), and it will be cleaned up again...


Not even the trees are safe from the spray can.



There was an article in the SMH just after the first Graffiti Action Day. They managed to dredge up a couple of clowns who said:

He said the government should create more spaces for legal graffiti and give young people who tag - write basic names or signatures - the chance to develop their artistic skills.

"If you encourage more legal spaces it increases the quality of the work because kids can spend all day and improve their technique," he said. "[The government is] never going to make it go away so they should try to make it better".

Cameron McAuliffe, a fellow at the centre for cultural research at the University of Western Sydney, said he helped organise ''Keep Australia Colourful'' because he was concerned the state government's campaigns against graffiti were criminalising people who did legitimate work.
Well, here is a proper bit of art in the playground, and some "numskull" has applied a tag next to it. How this is supposed to have improved their "artistic skills" is beyond me. Maybe Dr McAuliffe can explain this to us.



The canteen and toilet block were hit as well. I can't make out the big tag properly, but it starts with "big bad". Yeah, right. Probably a puny little weed with zits and an ego problem.




Charles Purcell wrote a column on graffiti for the SMH recently and copped a lot of flak in the comments. I agree with everything he said. Here is one comment:

One of his great quotes is "Any advertisement in a pubic space that gives you no choice whether you see it is yours. It belongs to you. It's yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head" (Wall and Piece)

Why is it ok for oil companies to put out unsolicited greenwashing campaigns or junk food companies to promote obesity in public space, while somebody who wants to improve society through discussion is not acceptable? I guess brick walls are much prettier than thoughtful attempts at social discourse and humour...
The only "advertising" at Livvi's Place are a number of small plaques that name the companies that helped pay for this playground. There are no billboards or hoardings anywhere near the place. So what justifies someone tagging this wall?



I know it's very non-PC to say this; but anyone who tags a playground for the physically disabled must be mentally disabled. You can't be right in the head and think that this is a good idea. It's plain retarded. I just had to say that - I don't know how else to put it.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Abandon cars, all ye who enter here

I did a ride with Baybug (the Canada Bay Bicycle User Group) on the weekend and couldn't help myself when I spotted two abandoned cars in Guildford (Holroyd Council). This one was being used to store a dozen or so wheels.


Neither car was showing rego plates, and we were moving too quickly for me to stop and check for rego stickers.


I emailed Holroyd Council this morning and have already had a response saying they will look into it.
"The RTA estimates there are around 65,000 unregistered and uninsured vehicles on NSW roads".
These two don't look like they have been driven for a while - they are just eyesores on public property.

Some might call it art

Once in a blue moon, I spot a bit of graffiti that is quite out of the ordinary.


99.99% of it is just mindless tagging - like this.

But very occasionally - and I mean very - something different comes along. It's quite mad. Not my thing, but quite arresting nonetheless.


Whoever did this even has a proper signature.

Graffiti can be art - but most of it isn't. To describe most graffiti as "art" is an insult to artists. Most of it is immature talentless worthless crap.

We build it, they break it

If you've ever done a lap of the Bay Run, you would have passed these cabinets. They're owned by Jemena, and I reported them this week for a cleanup. Jemena don't have a web page where you can report graffiti - I just happen to have the phone number of the manager responsible for them.


I got an email recently from PushOn stating that the Parramatta Valley Cycleway was finally open. I went out and had a look, and found that all the recently installed lights had been smashed, and every light pole vandalised.

I imagine that the cycleway must have been liberally coated with glass when all those lights were smashed. The glass has been removed, but none of the lights have been fixed. I've reported it to Parramatta Council.


The poles are nice looking "heritage" style poles too - graffiti doesn't make them look any better.


Further out along the cycleway is a bridge that has been named after Bill Brewer. The sign is a nice tribute to the man, and some knuckledraggers have defaced it.



Every bridge along the Parramatta River has graffiti on the supports. As these are all road bridges, I am assuming that the RTA is responsible for them - they've all been reported. Most look like they have not been cleaned up for some time.



I also found two sets of bike lockers that have been heavily vandalised. This set, outside a ferry wharf, were also unusable due to bags of rubbish that had been dumped in front of the locker doors. I reported these to the Ministry of Transport, and they passed the messages on to Sydney Ferries and RailCorp.



Another vandalised bridge support along the Parramatta River. I'll go back in a few weeks time and see if they have been cleaned up.