Graffiti

Monday 07 January 2013 – I was thinking about graffiti this morning. After breakfast as the Scars played Romance by Mail, I went for a quick stroll. I was hoping some fresh air would re-activate my creative juices dormant since the festivities. At the bottom of the street someone had sprayed a pointless piece of graffiti on a garden wall. It was such a crappy bit of scribble that didn’t warrant a photograph taking, but did make me think about a few weeks ago when I did spot an interesting piece of graffiti.

In Britain people have a different attitude to graffiti than the Italians do. An earlier blog entry of mine mentions this click the link to read it:

 http://intheflatfieldidogetbored.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/who-is-getting-better-deal.html

I see graffiti as street art. It doesn’t have to be as skilled as the work of Banksy, but should at least be well executed. I know there’s argument for the destruction of property and I understand this argument and agree it’s viable, but from the point of view of just looking at graffiti I do think some can be pleasing to the eye. I took a photo in Napoli back in 2009 of a train and every carriage was adorned with artwork. None of the Italian travellers on the platform batted an eyelid, in fact they ignored it. A couple of English tourists sucked their teeth in dismay. This laid back attitude means that no one is rushing around spending money to remove it like the rail networks in the UK would. The Italian’s know it’ll just come back if they do, so don’t waste the energy, they conserve it and apply it to la bella figura.

There’s another piece of street art that I drive past regularly. One day I must make the effort to stop the car and get a photograph to share here.