Is Graffiti Art, Or Vandalism?
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"i folks e-newsletter #elcome to the August 2019 edition of Concept. August 2019 Sadly) Peter *llis has had to relin+uish the role of oncept editor. #e thank Peter ,ery much for all his work with oncept which is a In this issue … bi-monthly issue bringing as up-to-date information as possible and as available. Is graffiti art, or vandalism? . was concerned that we would lose oncept in the absence of anyone stepping forward following Peter/s appeal for someone to Introducing your Committee take o,er as editor) and so . have offered to undertake the role. Howard isher "#$% ,alue oncept ,ery much as a supplement to our excellent +uarterly Journal. Both have a vital role in keeping ontemporary ellowshi& %uccess !roup members informed. Anna Stevenson #$% . do appeal to the regional group leaders to send me reports of their meetings) where possible with images) as well as notices of AG( and Chris Steele-$erkins forthcoming meetings. .n addition) oncept will use articles from members which are not of a type used in the 0ournal. $ny rom the #egions information from !roup members about e,ents and exhibitions *ast rele,ant to our Group would be very much appreciated by me. +orth 2ne article in this issue is by Patrick Foster on the sub3ect of how #$S *vents we ,iew graffiti. #e also have an article by $nna Ste,enson who is not a member of the ontemporary !roup but who has kindly written an item about how she worked for and gained a +on #$S *vents Fellowship of the Society in the onceptual and ontemporary category. Anna has given permission for us to reproduce some of ujifilm warning the images from her submission. #e congratulate $nna on her success. #encontre de la $hotogra&hie, Arles, 2019 ontinuing the series on members of your committee . felt it only fair to introduce myself to you) in connection with oncept) as $aul Ashley "#$% Secretary to the !roup and co-ordinator of ontemporary *ast Note: The copyright of photographs and text in this issue belongs to Midlands sub-group. the author of the article of which they form part unless otherwise indicated. 2ur $!5 looms and we hope many of you will attend) to contribute to the !roup in he $!5 discussions and ,otes) and to attend the afternoon session with hris Steele-Perkins and) Find us on Facebook maybe) out of curiosity to see what RPS "ouse looks like. Members may bring work to be displayed in the room before and RPS ontemporary !roup after the meetings. RPS Photobooks $n ad,ance notice is a session in ardiff with 6avid "urn "on. Format for submissions to FRPS. 0ackie and . will certainly be booking for this e,ent and) Concept: likely) spending a weekend in ardiff) a city we haven’t ,isited Images as jpegs (approx 1Mb) since retirement some years ago. Text as Word files *njoy this issue and . look forward to receiving a flood of contributions8 Please send to !o"ard Fis#er: #andjaf$%irginmedia&com "oward Fisher Concept Editor Is graffiti art, or vandalism? From an ex#ibition b' Patric( Foster called )rban Problem at *e'ond t#e Image #otograp#ers+ ,allery .s !raf4ti $rt or 9andalism a +uestion asked and in museums) galleries) caf:s) uni,ersities and many other places of creati,ity. 1ut the most rele,ant place where this +uestion is asked) is on the street. $lthough graf4ti has been around since prehistoric times e.g. ca,e painting) if we look at graf4ti as a much more recent phenomenon) then in that context, the debate is about 4fty years old. $s a response to modernism and social exclusion) graf4ti became the means of communication and identity for young people in New York ity in the '(<&s. The N; subway graf4ti culture and the almost twenty-year-long struggle of the subway to eradicate it, represents the starting point of the dialogue. .n '(=> an experiment was carried out to combat the increase of graf4ti) then a criminal offence on the subway) they painted %?@ of the cars with a special white graf4ti- resistant paint) but all that did was gi,e the graf4ti artists a blank can,as to work with. *,entually the city employed Da,id A !unn) a transportation system administrator who had headed se,eral signi4cant railroads and transit systems in North $merica. !unn almost eliminated graf4ti from New York subway trains. $nd within three years) he had cut graf4ti by more than =?@ by hiring %)&&& maintenance workers to scrub the trains clean %B hours a day) < days a week. Since then graf4ti or street/urban art has spread) there is not a city in the world today that does not ha,e graf4ti) some of it is legal and some isn/t. This is because there will always be a few people who do not want to follow the rules and use graf4ti as a way of de4ning themsel,es and defying authority. .s graf4ti illegal in the DEF .n the DE graf4ti can be considered an act of criminal damage. Dnder the riminal Damage $ct '(<') anyone caught doing graf4ti can face a prison sentence of up to ten years or 4ned if the damage costs more than G?)&&&. "owe,er, because it is unlikely that graf4ti will cause more than G?)&&& of damage unless it is on a historic building or monument, lesser sentences are much more common. .f the damage caused is less than G?)&&&) an offender could face three months in prison or a 4ne of G%)?&&. 2ffenders can also be prosecuted under the $nti-Social 1eha,iour $ct %&&>. .t gi,es local councils the power to dish out on-the-spot 4nes of G?& to anyone caught doing graf4ti on public property. Spray paint was also made illegal to under-1Hs. $ny shopkeeper who sells it to an under-1H can be 4ned up to G%)?&&. ontinuing the series about ommittee 5embers "oward Fisher 5$) LRPS . had my 4rst camera when . was 'B) a folding Eodak with > shutter speeds and apertures. From it . learned the relationship between aperture and shutter speed. The 4lm was de,eloped and printed at the local chemist. 5y parents didn/t take family photos but two great aunts who brought-up my dad after his mother died shortly after he was born) took many family pictures using a box 1rownie. guess . learned to lo,e photographs from them. ha,e many of those photographs in our family archi,e. 5y 4rst >?mm camera was an $gfa Silette which . still ha,e) and whose aperture ring still grates from dropping it in sand on 1ridlington beach8 $fter that . had Praktika and Ienit 1 before mo,ing onto anon. $ great friend was a rep for Silbers and then anon and so . had access to the latest bodies and lenses to try. "owe,er, family and work issues pre,ented me from being ,ery acti,e for some time) and when . returned to serious photography) . went down the Nikon route) though . ha,e also had a few Leicas. Now . use 2lympus 5FT because ner,e damage in a hand means weight is a serious consideration. ha,e been a member of se,eral photo clubs as . mo,ed around with work and am nowadays still a member of a local club though not ,ery acti,e in the competition sphere. ha,e held the LRPS for ,ery many years) together with the PA!1) but ha,e not worked up enthusiasm to pursue subse+uent distinctions. guess ./m not dri,en to pro,e anything in that way. am a member of a monochrome exhibiting group) together with my wife Jackie) where we hold two or three exhibitions each year and that together with my membership of the RPS ontemporary and Documentary groups gi,es me the greatest pleasure. $lthough my work was in accident in,estigation) one of my passions is history and my academic +uali4cations are in medie,al history and an 5$ in local and regional history. ha,e 4,e published books to my name) all local history sub3ects. For se,eral years . edited our county historical society/s +uarterly magaJine and now . edit our local D>$ monthly e-News and next year am due to became hair of our D>$ for the following three years. Together with my wife) . lead a D>$ $rchaeology) $rchitecture and "istory group which meets monthly. presently also lead an *ast 5idlands sub-group of the RPS which is a combination of ontemporary and Documentary !roup members. This works well with much work we see being a cross-o,er between the two genres. .n photography) which is a dri,en passion) . mainly work in monochrome) pursuing pro3ects and themes which follow my interest and concerns. ha,e a particular interest in the industrial aspects of ri,ers and associated infrastructures either on them or ad3acent to them) to re7ect how society has de,eloped and changed o,er the years) with accelerating change in recent times from an industrial society to a service industry orientated country. also am a modest maker and collector of photobooks. 5iddlesbrough Transporter 1ridge Redcar redundant steel works Fellowship success in onceptual and ontemporary #e congratulate $nna Ste,enson who was successful in gaining the FRPS at the 5ay %&'( assessment. $nna has kindly pro,ided us with her comments in preparing the application and allows us to reproduce a selection of the images used. The full panel can be ,iewed on $nna/s web site along with her other work www.annaste,ensonphotography.com $nna/s comments:- 1ut ./m not a ontemporary photographer! 5y main photography bias is ,isual art, but my statement of intent is the key to my ontemporary Fellowship panel.