I am writing about the surplus of articles in Athens newspapers that have recently blazed the artists that have been tagging walls around our town. Tagging. Graffiti.
Have you ever tried to write your name in spray paint? It's not easy. Have you ever tried to make a figure or design? It looks like a product of a four-year-old and his first box of crayons. My point is that these figures around town are put on display for us by very talented artists! I love the graffiti here and there ' what student doesn't love to walk under the art building arch to see what has been added to the tagged wall at the top of the steps? And if you don't think that graffiti takes artistic talent, I challenge you to create something with lines as interesting, colors as vibrant and shapes and designs as unique as the Athens graffiti artists create. Remember, people thought the art of Van Gogh, Monet, Manet and Picasso was a public nuisance in their time too.
However, I do understand that the medium through which these artists work includes vandalizing public or private property. The article in the Friday edition of The Post states that the Athens police plan on having weekly patrols to paint over the graffiti. They want to repaint the city of Athens weekly? Instigating this war on tagging will cost a lot of time and money. To redundantly paint over the same walls is impractical and senseless. Instead, why not designate a few areas around town that permit tagging? The graffiti around town is rarely offensive or inappropriate ' just interesting. So give these artists a few walls here and there where they can display their tags for awhile, until someone else uses that same wall for his or her work. I would think that knowing their artwork can be safely displayed on these designated walls, artists would be inclined to tag these walls instead of a random areas that will soon be painted over.
Some of us really appreciate the graffiti around town. It does not degrade the city of Athens; rather, it gives it character. After all, the uniqueness and character of Athens is the appeal which draws in so many students each year. This issue may need compromise, but it certainly does not need a war on tagging ' that's just an irresponsible use of taxpayer's money.
Unless, of course, there's extra money lying around ' and in that case, can we maybe negotiate a few outstanding parking tickets?
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Letter to the Editor
