But is it art?

 

 

 

I have decided I want to have a conversation with Peckham council. Though not in the normal sense of the word. More of an argument on the street about what is art and what is graffiti. So far they seem to disagree with me that my work is art.

A few weeks back, I pasted an A3 size poster of an old family holiday snap I had blown up. The photo is rather garish in its colours and contrasts, giving it a nostalgic ‘family holiday’ feel (well at least I think so). It feels both personal and universal. I wonder what people think as they pass it. Does it trigger something in their memory of their own family holidays and do they know its art? The placing of the poster was important for me. I chose this wall partly because it was white but also because it had been graffitied on before. All of the layers of white paint can be clearly seen. Even some of the old graffiti shows through. This little wall looks run down except for the part that has been painted. It’s interesting to see that the wall is not worth improving but painting random patches of white to cover up graffiti is. This feels a little obsolete.  

Anyway as you might have guessed, they took down my image a few weeks later. Instead of being disappointed I was fascinated by what they might have thought when they first saw it. Did they dwell on it at all? Did they just assume it was rubbish? I wondered what would happen if I decided to repast the image but this time do it bigger. Every time they pull it down it will be double the size! Assuming I don’t get arrested, this is my plan. I have only managed to do it once more. But as the image gets bigger, doing it in broad daylight seems a bit silly, as it takes some time. All I need to buy now is a luminous jacket and a hard hat. Oh and maybe some dutch courage! Keep your eyes peeled in Peckham!

 

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

css.php