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s that art'.’ I don’t knon. I'm not an art critic. hut I
can sure as hell tell >ou it‘s a crime.~ So sa_\s one
oi Neu York's cit) lathcrs in the groundhreaking doctttttetitat'}. Sir/e Him. made (net 2() _\ears ago in 1982 and recentl) re-rcleased on DVD.
It's hard to imagine a time helot'e spra} can gral‘liti \\ as a part ol urhan lil'c. helot'e nails and train tunnels \xcre cmet'cd \xith hright letters and councils \\ ere spending millions tr_\ing to rid their cities of the ‘scourge‘. 'l‘he iot‘ttt ol expression lusing death it} and rehellion horn on the suhna} s ol' Next York and rooted
FIERCE, a new play set in the world of the graffiti artist, is set to open this month. Meanwhile, Glasgow and Edinburgh’s councils have launched initiatives aiming to help clean
likeininded l'olk. \muld help the cops trace them.
:\nd _\cs. the marker pen scraxt ls aeioss hus shelters aren't prett}; ~\ou don't lime to he an art critic to sa) that. But there‘s a lot ol' good. creatne stul‘l‘ going on \xhich linds itsell‘ outside the current Ian. l‘he urge to make a mark. push houndaries. experiment and \xork together iii a sell rel'erential communit) ol‘ gral‘l‘iti artists is there. drnen on h} the min passions ol' at‘tisti'} and dissent that continue to pio\ ide a ct‘catixe spark.
Al the end (ii. Sit/e Hit/ix. the ittltitttt‘ilic‘s t‘L‘spl'u} the
up this illegal practice. Isn’t it time for a rethink? Ruth Hedges — and over the page, Steve Cramer — check out the artistic side of spray can art.
in hip hop has changed the lace oi our cities l'orexer. Despite ha\ing long been hrought into the mainstream ol‘ art gallery \xalls. of cult hooks and arhertising. it is still considered a menace anti social and threatening. Paisley council has just hrought out a he“ gral‘l‘iti stripping liquid based on orange peel extract. and more intensne crackdottns in iidinhurgh and (iIasgou ha\e occurred til late. 'l'herc‘s ex en an urhan m_\th ahout the police allegedl) tagging some “all art \tith a mohilc phone ntnnher uhich. it. real grailiti artists rang in the hope ol getting in touch nith
gral‘litireo\ered trains. dulhng doun the colour to a mudd} hroun. l'hc lines are protected h_\ a douhle harhed \tirc l‘enec. patrolled in the middle h} gtiaid dogs and the urhan landscape lecls drcar) and more threatening. It's clear that high qualit). colourlul lettering and designs can he an enhancement to the post indttstrial aesthetic ol‘conerctc and metal.
Non there is the additional phenomenon ol stenciling. Duncan ('umming. a photographer and docttmcntet‘ Hi. Seotland\ gl'tti'iili scene. “hose \tchsite nun.duneancumming.co.uk is a