The Best Graffiti That Wasn't
One of the central arguments against graffiti--that it contributes to a sense of neglect of an area thus leading to broken windows and eventually murder--is quickly fading in the face of talented, conceptually interesting and aesthetically rigorous graffiti artists like Banksy and, new to us, Moose. Banksy, about whom much has been written by us and others, recently had a gallery show in LA while Moose has worked for various commercial projects. About neither artist can it fairly be said they are vandalizing property. They are doing what artists do: create art in public space. This, however, could be equally dangerous to the hegemonic forces (the fuzz, the man, Disney.) Moose's work is particularly subversive, indeed subverts the notion of graffiti itself. The English artist uses a technique called "reverse graffiti" whereby a design or tag is created by selected scrubbing of a filthy area. As noted by Cool Hunting "authorities and bloggers alike have been unsure of how to react." And it is true, Moose's work does raise some interesting questions like, "If graffiti causes murder, does reverse graffiti save lives?"

Previously: Laughing All the Way to the Banksy, Barrio Bonito, Minimugging, Arofish's Warzone Stencils, Battle of Berlin: Anti-Ad Activists and the Companies Who Co-Opt Them, Origami: Some Real Street Shit, Where Street Art Thou?