His crime against society?
Dudes a fucking graff head.
Yep.
24 years in prison for graffiti.
I couldn't find any of his "vandalism" on the great interweb, but Jenn sent me a link to the story. Don't worry - the courtroom was packed with his victims when the prosecutor asked the judge to sentence him to prison time.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that graffiti is fucking awesome, for the most part I really could care less about it. I hate bad graffiti. If you don't know what the fuck you're doing please don't leave your shitty ass tag around town - I'm just going to laugh at you. It really is art, please attempt to be good at it.
Those who exist and execute their chosen "lifestyles" in the periphery are often persecuted for their actions until the mainstream can figure out a way to profit off of them. Even after the mainstream has figured out how to stack those bills, the bullshit continues (as evidenced by Ralph Mirabel). This kid has been sentenced to more years in prison than he's currently been alive. Please find the logic, because I am failing to.
Crackdown on a skateboarder:
Source^Making some money on a skateboarder:
Beautiful street art (that'll get you fined and arrested):
Make sure you're hip and you Do the Dew...cause they're cool and they get it.
Source^
Source^
Another interesting story I found when digging around about this. Read all about graffiti in the Iraq war.
4 comments:
i agree that 24 years in prison is absolutely insane, and that maybe dude should just be fined for all the property he defaced, but i can't help but agree that there should be some sort of way for him to make good with society. i like public art as much as the next person, but graffiti is vandalism, plain and simple. whether people think public or private property like train cars are boring or unimportant is irrelevant. it does not belong to them. period.
i am sure i won't make any friends this way, but to a degree, skateboarding is the same. public and private property are destroyed, often with no real consequences, at the expense of the community.
i don't think either thing should definitely be against the law, because they are art forms that should be recognized, but they should maybe be regulated better so that the irresponsible people who participate have something to answer to. not everyone is irresponsible, but they're the ones messing it up and then the courts feel the need to make an example. let's start something to turn neglected buildings into skate parks with graffiti art inside and out!
I dont' think you've made any enemies with that opinion, and I'm not saying that I disagree. If something is illegal, and you do it and are caught there are consequences. I think we need to re-evaluate the legitimacy of the illegality of many of these activities (stumbly sentence - sorry).
Interesting topic to say the least. I just feel bad for that kid. Give me a fucking break.
Oh, to cringe at skateboarding being called "art!"
I didn't call skateboarding art.
The "street art" was in reference to the graff dude.
The parallel I'm trying to draw is not that skateboarding is art, but that it is an activity that is marginalized and has been made illegal (much like graffiti) but that corporate america still profits from in advertising and brand positioning. I find that to be a particularaly annoying brand of hypocrisy.
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