The Writing IS on the Wall!

This piece was written as a quick response to a request from the local newspaper for opinions about Graffiti and what to do about it (As an issue). The 'issue/phenomenon' of graffiti is a universal one and so is the response; an over-emotive, sanctimonious slather of ignorant, rhetoric with no conclusions.

(Above Graffiti by Banksy - UK)

The Writing IS on the Wall
As a life-long fan of 'real' graffiti art and with a career in community facilitation; I have seen both sides of the 'Spraypainted fence'. With the recent furore and discussion regarding graffiti in Wanganui, it is time to dispel some misconceptions and get realistic about this 'problem'.

The biggest misconception is that graffiti is a new phenomenon to be blamed on 'youth culture'. This suits those among us who delude themselves, that their generation and those before it were upstanding, disciplined and respectful and just didn't do that sort of thing.

Hip-Hop music and Hip-Hop graffiti are a relatively new cultural phenomenon yet graffiti is one of the oldest. Man's first recorded artistic expressions were daubed on the walls of caves and depicted the life and identity of the artist in a stylised way; no different from the 'real graffitti' of today.

Tagging is as old as cave-art and examples of it can be found all over the world. I have seen 2000 year old Roman monuments with epithets carved in Latin; the equivalent of 'Julius woz ere'. At school, the desks were engraved with scrawls, names and insults, going back before WW2. This is an age old societal issue and like others (prostitution, gambling, inebriation) , prohibition has never solved it.
Serious graffiti artists are highly-talented visual artists. They work for free in the public arena. It is essentially an altruistic pursuit. Taggers are the equivalent of a dog marking it's territory; alas the 2 can't be seperated due to the media-driven, ignorance of the public. The difference is simple; Real graffiti transforms ugly, negelected, urban spaces into something beautiful and tagging transforms pleasant, urban spaces into something ugly. Must we persecute all of it?

We cannot eradicate graffiti, however much money and hubris we expend on it. As has been demonstrated by the Castlecliffe project; it is only when we accept and understand graffiti as an essential part of human expression, that will we be able to transform this negative into a positive for the whole community.

Published - Wanganui Chronicle Sat 8th December 2007

To name names...

Tao rhymes with cow
and also with Chairman Mao.
This makes me wonder how
he came to pow(er)
as he obviously hadn't read it.

Refusal of the Call (a message to self)

Often in actual life and not infrequently in the myths and popular tales, we encounter the dull case of the call unanswered: for it is always possible to turn the ear to other interests. Refusal of the summons converts the adventure into it's negative. Walled in boredom, hard work, or "culture," the subject loses the power of significant affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved.

His flowering world becomes a wasteland of dry stones and his life feels meaningless - even though, like King Minos, he may through titanic effort succeed in building an empire of renown. Whatever house he builds, it will be house of death: a labyrinth of cyclopean walls to hide from his minotaur. All he can do is create new problems for himself and await the gradual approach of his disintegration...

The Hero With A Thousand Faces
Joseph Campbell
(First published 1949)

Under the Influence

For any artist in any media, the line between reference, influence, plagiarism and pastiche is a fine one. Even if one knows the line well, there is the issue of how to exclude or include them in your own work?

Being well versed in the history of art-form you are engaged in is a good thing; but when does it become a bad thing? Never before in the history of creativity have we had so much access to so much inspiration.

My house is overflowing with books, records and artefacts from the creative world. Although I am an artist I am also a consumer of creative product, a connoisseur, an expert or at least a dilletante possessed of a strong opinion. I relish in these documents of creativity and in some way define myself by them and by my association with them.

How often when asked to describe a new band or artist would you say "They are a bit like...or it reminds me of such and such". Only the truly innovative, as ever, define categorisation.

Sometimes a particular record or book will fire me up to engage in my own distinct and unique oeuvre of originality. This is often lessened by the awareness that I am 'copying' or 're-interpreting' what I have been so enthused by. Sometimes this realisation of influence kills all creative enthusiasm dead, spurring me to crack another beer and bemoan my own mediocrity.

This is reinforced by the evidence of retro-retro-retro-chic, pervading the media in fashion, music, film and literature. We living in an 'Apres-Garde' time. The regurgitation of previous cultural styles and interests is natural and can be rewarding. However the law of 'copying' states that with each reproduction a loss of quality occurrs. Imperceptible to those who see it for the first time but for those who have seen every decade since their birth repeated culturally at least once it is the law of diminishing returns.

It is often perceived also that the quality of the influence informs the perception of originality. If I utilise junk-mail in my work, that could be seen as ironic, playful and acceptable. If however I utilise the paintings of Pablo Picasso in some way, I am more likely to be judged as a plagiarist or lacking in imagination. This is because of the percieved creative value of the respective source materials not the level of original thought required to interpret them.

When recently in a discussion about plagiarism regarding graphic design, I opined that there was no-one who could realistically claim, completely original work. An opinion for which I was criticised. Though I believe the statement to be true, it was definitely not an insult or a reassurance about my own mediocrity. It was a statement of fact and acknowledgement that the first artist, did not create something entirely original, they interpreted their environment and it is the nuance and quality of that interpretation that we value as art.

outlook for thursday

elevation©burgseye06

Unrelenting National Dream

©burgseye 1996

this smug sporting nation
whose one dimensional dream
blurs the line between passion and unhealthy obsession
is prepared for anything but losing
and when it does, the collective consciousness
is anything but sporting

SPLORE Encore

Kia ora,
Yes the Splore 08 Music and Art Festival is only four months away. If you have never been this is an opportunity to experience the best festival New Zealand has to offer. With a spectacular setting, great music from New Zeland and abroad, art, activity and lots more, Splore is the event of the summer. Where else can you groove hard whilst swimming in the Hauraki Gulf?!
For more information goto: http://www.splore.net/
P.S This event may or may not feature the reverend Y El Presidente?

another roadside attraction

meals on wheels©burgseye07

spirits

spirits©burgseye07

i live in a road once called view, now kohu or mist. both true. today though the latter is apt. the swirling fog of precipitation blankets the forest top. it's said there are fairy folk or terehu who emerge in such conditions. tricks of light play light tricks on the mind. the recesses of the bush are alive. the spirit of whenua never subdued, no matter how much concrete we pour on the tracks.

blue rider

blue rider©burgseye07

Tokens from the Game

Tokens from the Game – Take Two
By Peter Lange

Photo: 'highanddry'©burgseye07

Another day another dollar

windowshoppers©burgseye07

slow motion punters
in shopping mall
foodcourts
collecting thoughts
and plans of attack
of what to shop for
next
and where
feed themselves
larger
no matter
what the cost
another day
another dollar
for who knows
how long
modern family outing
in retail theme parks
filling the gaps
between graft
and imagination
no hell below
above us only sky
albeit a mural.

Birdness for all

Tony Johnston's Diary Window©burgseye2007

Kaiaua artist Tony Johnston paints on and from the frontier coastline of the Firth of Thames, the Seabird Coast, southeast of Auckland.
He has been a longtime associate and friend of DIG appearing in DIGzine#1 and at the DIG multi media events at Corban Estate Arts Centre.
There is a growing list of of high profile private collectors with a Johnston to their name but he is equally well known for his public works in the NZ Parliamentary collection, at the Manukau City Council Chambers and his iconic Oyster Catcher sculpture, now the symbol of the Seabird Coast.
Tony is currently showing his new works and the assemblages of fellow artist and collector Warwick Brown at Kaiaua's Penguin Studio.
http://www.penguinstudio.co.nz

Godhead

godhead©burgseye2007

Staedler and Waldorf bust out of the box!

Dangerously, dynamic duo Staedler and Waldorf are pleased to announce their signing to Aardvark Records. Their first single and album is due for release in mid-november 2007.

The Cardiff based duo met through The Reverend and the course of musical history has never been the same since!

Their unique mix of funk, beats, dancehall, trance and more has been wowing the public for some time including 2 legendary appearances on the Glade stage at Glastonbury.

Check out the Stadler and Waldorf Myspace page for news, tunes and more. A big DIG congratulations to the boys and girl.
Kia ora

state to be in

The Tree of Dig

25/04/07 (Anzac Day)

NZ Heroes on Parade

The Reverends recent NZ Hero series was reproduced on canvas for the recent Whanganui Artists open Studio Weekend. Here are the works on canvas...

guilded

he was here

ee knew what the world was cummings to

when god decided to invent
everything he took one
breath bigger than a circustent
and everything began

when man determined to destroy
himself he picked the was
of shall and finding only why
smashed it into because

DIGmedia - New works in the works, so lets work it!

DIGmedia is commencing on a project to create DigIconGreetings. A series of greetings cards/postcards referencing and celebrating iconic New Zealand and International subject matter. The initial run of 20 images will feature 10 by El Presidente and 10 by The Reverend.

In advance of well anything! Here is the Reverend's NZhero series.


Baxter, Batten and McCahon images courtesy and copyright of The Reverend / DIGmedia 2007