Further to my posting on 09/10, here is an update on the vandalized public artwork:

It seems that a well-intentioned but nonetheless overzealous group of mural painters has undertaken a project to paint a series of underpasses which run beneath the railway tracks north of Dupont Street. With the approval of a member of staff of the local City counsellor's office, this group, seemingly oblivious to the presence of the existing artwork, proceeded to paint over the artwork in what could only be called "art squatting".

Interestingly, apart from a few minor tags of the underpass walls, the underpass has remained relatively graffiti-free for the past 14 years. As soon as the mural was completed, the underpass has become a site for numours graffiti works, thus further compromising the context that the original artwork was intended to relate to.

Is this new mural an improvement to the underpass or an innapropriate wallpapering of heroic structures with pandering images?

This writer, for one, thinks that most of the City's infrastructure is better left as the heroic works of engineering which document the period of history in which they were created without the cloying images of flowers and other "pretty" pictures.

Your comments are welcome...

1. Your posting, which claims to be updated, is long on airy-fairy musings and short on specifics, like photos. What was the original state of this “artwork,” which you haven’t even described, and what did they do to it? (I see paint on a wall. Is that it?)

   Who did it, which city councillor supported it, and why haven’t you reported it through official channels yet?

   Get to the point.

   Also, the CAPTCHA you use on your comments page is ineffective at preventing spam and is inaccessible.

   Posted by Joe Clark  on  09/12  at  11:59 PM

2. Wow, you honestly think that murals done by unknown artists do no qualify as art or as a document in the history of the city. Why don’t you “get” with the times. You are clearly stuck in the delluded times of controlling the public space without having the first hand knowledge of what you are defending. Why the hell do you think Graffiti exsists to begin with? There is no where else to express, freely, our pretty pictures of so-called flowers and tress. People like you make me want to continue what I do…and that, is called street-art.

   Posted by J  on  09/15  at  12:51 AM

3. Wow J,

   Clearly you have no understanding of the moral rights of artists nor, from your comments, do you seem to have any respect for the work of other artists.

   Who said anything about the work of “unknown artists”? I am reporting on a city-sanctioned painting of an award-winning artwork that is admired by the local community and the general public.

   You might also notice that the murals in question are massive in size and, if they were graffiti or street art, would be removed by the same City officials which sanctioned the painting of these murals.

   The painting of the murals is the real controlling of public space.

   You whine about not being able to find places to do your work while suggesting that you should be able to do so wherever you please. Would you condone the painting of a historic memorial fluorescent orange and covering it with macaroni because that space was available? Is that what you mean by getting “with” the times.

   If I am one of those people that makes you want to continue what you do, I am happy to do so. I just don’t see the need to subtract other artworks when you do.

   Posted by Brad Golden / Lynne Eichenberg  on  09/15  at  07:22 AM

4. Fair enough, and you have a good point here. My apologies if I went off on you for misunderstanding your reporting. I think I was reacting harshly to a comment you made in your part one. Nevermind, and I’ll relay your lame and sarcastic macaroni bit next time I paint murals with my group- whereby we have been granted access by the owners of that building. Besides, the thing about street art is that writers are constantly “covering” over eachother’s work. It is ephemeral and is always changing. We give respect, when respect is due. In this case, obviously not. heh.

   Posted by J  on  09/15  at  12:02 PM

5. J,

   Apologies absolutely accepted. Thanks for being large about it. I am pleased to have this open public discussion and to hopefully generate ideas about the public realm.

   I understand the aspect of covering, I just don’t believe it is appropriate for all artworks. I think different projects have different degrees of permanence and should be allowed to exist on those terms while other, more ephemeral works are poetic in their transitory nature.

   By the way, I can’t take credit for the macaroni bit but feel free to use it if you like.

   Thanks again for the dialogue J.

   Posted by Brad Golden / Lynne Eichenberg  on  09/15  at  12:24 PM

6. Glad we ended on a good note. It’s always interesting, albeit a little frustrating to hear different perspectives on this issue, but we as street artists should take these points of view into consideration. Be on the look out for macaroni!!! :D

   Posted by J  on  09/15  at  12:57 PM

7. Me too J. You are obviously an intelligent guy with a distinct viewpoint and, frankly, much more courteous than it seemed from your intial comments.

   I’m not sure why many of these dialogues in these forums start so provocatively as they are open to all comments as we have seen today.

   If you’re interested, check out our website on the link given and if you like, perhaps we’ll continue our discussion over beer…

   ...And macaroni!

   Posted by Brad Golden / Lynne Eichenberg  on  09/15  at  03:08 PM

8. Yeah for sure let’s keep the dialogue going here. And just so you know, I’m a girl street artist….

   Posted by J  on  09/15  at  05:14 PM

9. You know J, as soon as I pressed the button to submit my last comment which addressed you as a “guy” I thought:

   What if J’s a woman (girl)?!

   Where can I see a piece of yours?

   Posted by Brad Golden / Lynne Eichenberg  on  09/15  at  05:18 PM

10. I’m about to email you guys some work.

    Posted by J  on  09/15  at  05:24 PM

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