I 100% agree that it's completely uninformed and total BS. And I can't think of a situation where swearing is more warranted than this one. Though I find in discussions swearing rarely has a positive effect - hence my suggestion. That said, I'm sure if I was you I'd be calling Rene a f**king c**t.

The problem is that for people that have never really experienced disability (whether personally or through friends/loved ones), it's incredibly difficult to understand. It's easy to think and say that you'd rather be dead. And no doubt some people feel that way. The fact is though that it's completely the wrong message to convey and he should rightly be taken to task on this piece. I truly hope he takes your email into account and removes the piece, as well as posting something about how wrong he was.

Ripper

I'm a tetraplegic for 11yrs so agree with your sentiments.

But struggle with your conception that this piece is so outrageous, it's very raw and presumptious I agree. But I'm sure many soldiers left severly disabled in the recent farce wars that may be feeling this way.

I'm sure anyone who has lost a loved one to a suicide bomber would instantly find Rene's classic image offensive even though they would be misguided.

Have you never had that thought once, not even in the early days?? If not I raise a glass to you

I would argue that the bomber piece is different in that it's him and not a suicide bomber - thus making it more of a culture jam rather than the message that not to be physically perfect is a fate worse than death.

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but I think it's interesting that Rene Gagnon is the name of one of the GI's involved in the famous raising of the flag at Iwo Jima during the 2nd world war. There's a bit about him on Wikipedia.

Apparently the original Gagnon enjoyed minor celeb status for a short time after the war. Though in the end this came to very little - he worked at menial jobs, but was fired from most of them. He soon became very disillusioned with the system and the government that had sent him to war and promised so much. He ended up turning to alcohol. According to wikipedia he died in 1978, at the young age of 54, of a heart attack.

Nu - is Rene actually related to and named after the Rene Gagnon? Wasn't sure if he'd just taken on the name because of the back story.

yes I'd also noticed that his name is the same as one of the Iwo Jima flag raisers.

alright people hold on I'll gladly respond about the piece, i am aware of how powerful the image is and that it was possible this sort of thing would happen, albeit it's not a clear cut answer. i had toyed with not including the text, actually there are a couple more of these without the text on the street. first and foremost the original phrase was "sometimes I think being dead would be better" it was a direct quote from a soldier who was injured in Iraq, I think its clear in the piece that its related to US military soldiers and not everyone confined to a wheel chair. i.e. army camo, military stencil font, and the flag on the tshirt of the wheel chair bound vet. so.. i was reading about this one young soldiers experience in Iraq, he had lost both his legs and had metal stuck in his head, and also lost an eye, he described his day to day life in a most shocking way, he spoke of this searing constant pain he is in day in and day out, like being shocked with electricity in the side of his head, and no drugs could help his sort of pain, and like i mentioned earlier i quoted him, this in particular soldier wish he had died, and I'm positive he isn't the only one out of the 1000's injured. so hence the piece. now i will agree that the concept works with and without the text, but i feel the text makes it more powerful. i understand that it may be construed to encompass all people in wheelchairs, but it wasn't the intent, it also says "sometimes" not all the time dead is better. now if this serves in any way to make any sense then so be it, if not, well all i can say is something i wrote in my sketchbook years ago,"if i knew why i did it, maybe i wouldn't do it." and I'm comfortable living by that.

lets not forget that to create anything that has an impact, opens discussion and leads to maybe changing some opinions or understanding has got to be one of the main reasons for creating art in the first place...
whether we like/dislike , agree or disagree at least we are thinking and talking so thats good in my book
Personally i agree with Ripper as to how this piece could be taken in the wrong way , but with the information from Rene i feel that the work is justified and should not be condemned.
Peace out

I'm sorry but I still see this as intolerant. Reading your explanation I don’t believe that was your intent but that is the way it comes across.

You are assuming that people who see this have access to your explanation which they don’t. The main issue is that the text is not presented as a quote so the message is not attributed to the man in the chair but projected on him and his disability.

Getting too heavy for me, I've given my view on it from the angle of someone with a disability.

One thing I do know, live for the day and we're a fucking longtime dead.

As for the wheelchair it can indeed be a positive tool.

1. Stealing from B & Q etc
2. Getting to a packed bar
3. Good Very good parking everywhere
4. The best pitch at pretty much every gig or concert.

Shall I go on? I'll tell you something else for nothing MOST Gallery access Is shockingly shite.

I'm out. Let the serious stuff resume

I hope so.. but maybe it'd now be wise to either remove the text or use the original text with quotation marks... "sometimes I feel i'd be better off dead". Whatever, it's a delicate issue, but one that needs tio be tackled, it's perfect for the medium of stencil art to. The maiming and horrific injuries that are happening on a daily basis in Iraq to 18 and 19 year old kids is a far more powerful message that needs to be got out there rather than the usual sterile "another 2 dead"...statistic.

LOL, spot on !

How could you leave drunk girls needing a place to sit down from that list?

A certain member on here has just come up trumps big time on a Gagnon.

You know who you are - i owe you one

J