Graffiti

I've been painting over the graffiti on the side of the house this morning. It was some kids drawings.
One of the old ladies said it was "disgusting".

I dunno, I think it's not so bad.
Something rude seems to be going on in the second picture, though I'm not sure what it is.
I like the armpit-seeking missile piercing the man by the umbrella.

Should I paint over it? It seems the right thing to do. It takes a few coats to cover, so there's a gradual fade over weeks rather than instant obliteration.

Graffiti has traditionally stopped on the other side of the main road, but keeps encroaching up this way. I find if you paint it off fairly quickly, no new stuff will appear for a while; but if you don't, it's quickly joined by more.

Does it matter? I think graffiti does make an area look run down and threatening. Tidier areas seem safer; you feel you're in a place where people care about their environment.
I think there's been some research done showing that graffitied areas have much more crime.

I know this train of thought leads to the manicured suburban lawn and Daily Mail, curtain-twitching paranoia. But, I don't know, it feels the right thing to do. And I'm just creating a new canvas for future work. After all, if the world was covered in graffiti there'd be nowhere left to write on.







I'd like to apologise for this blog being so sensible. I'm sure I'll return to normal soon.

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