Urban Art Association

IS The writing on the wall?, by ejvaze on Oct 26, 2007 21:35:15 GMT 1, Is The writing on the wall
Melbourne, Tower Hamlets, Hackney!!


First we have Melbourne:
Banksy's words were ringing in my ears this morning.
arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1738453,00.html

"The biggest loser of the Commonwealth games, says graffiti artist Banksy, is Melbourne's street art scene - and London could be next for the whitewash"

Then Tower Hamlets who seem hell bent on white washing Banksy and co off their streets
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7057766.stm

NOW THIS
I went over to POW this morning to collect my Titifreak and after leaving them,
got accosted by a pesky reporter from the Hackney Gazette just as I was getting into my car.
"What did I think about Hackney Council getting rid of Banksys work?"

Well you can Imagen what I said, they got my 1st name as Dora had written it in big letters on the tube I was carrying, no photos of me just the person I was with as I made my getaway.

What is it with these Local Councils full of brainless twats who cannot see a good thing even if it is right under their nose. I am fed up with the attitude that we should all live in bland conformity in a sanitized world with streets full of large bill boards which insult my intelligence and streets cluttered with street furniture.

Yet another clutch of signs appears in my leafy North London Street four new 20mph street signs two at each of the road to go along with all the street humps and other signs telling me what and what not to do.

The local Banksys well they are either cared for ie the Camden Maid at the Round House or white washed over by some gormless foreign builder ie the Rat holding a placard with an anarchy sign along Ornan Rd Belsize Park lost to the dismay of the locals.

Vandalism whats that if it's not vandalism.

What I am worried about is what Banksy predicted back in 2006 in the guardian article

Quote] The precedent set by Melbourne does not bode well for London in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics. The games will be set in east London, where Hackney is one of the few remaining parts of the city where affordable studio space for artists still exists. After the warehouses have been flattened by compulsory purchase orders, the pots of grey paint will be opened and an area rich in street culture and frontier spirit will disappear. Factory doors whose flaked layers of Hammerite reveal history like the rings in a tree stump will be thrown on the fire. Disused cranes perched on top of foundries like skeletal crows will be torn down. Everything will be replaced by a cardboard-partitioned village perched on a pile of cheap laminate flooring. And if you think the graffiti will be removed so it can be replaced by vistas of clean urban space, think again. Every meaningful spot will be clogged with giant billboards by the likes of McDonald's encouraging you to get fit by staying at home and watching the games on TV. ] Un Quote

I don't want to live in a city with no hart or sole.

Thank goodness Bristol has seen the light.