Graffiti: Urban Scrawl or Artistic Freedom? Discuss Amongst Yourselves.
We visited the Commonwealth Club for their most recent session of Inforum, a division of the Club that aims to “inspire debate around civic issues” for people in their 20’s and 30’s. Moderated by conceptual artist and local gadfly Jonathon Keats, Graffiti: Urban Scrawl or Artistic Freedom? featured a debate (er, discussion) between the following individuals: APEX is San Francisco native and former street artist; Michaela Hocter is the Deputy City Attorney, San Francisco City Attorney’s Office; Ben Morgan is the director of Quality of Life, a film highlighting the work in SF’s Mission district; Mohammed Nuru is the Director of Operations for San Francisco’s Graffiti Advisory Board; John Doffing is the founder of START SOMA + START MOBILE art galleries.
The evening kicked off with a slide presentation by James Prigoff, photographer, graffiti impresario, and co-author (with legend Henry Chalfant) of Spraycan Art, the seminal book on street graffiti. Prigoff gave a brief overview of graffiti’s cultural development, beginning with historical examples and working up to New York-style tags, pieces, and throw-ups—the most contemporary example of “graffiti art.” Bringing it home to his San Francisco audience, he highlighted the old-school work of Barry McGee (a.k.a. “Twist”) whose pieces, once stolen frequently from the street, now hang in major galleries and museum collections worldwide.
For the kickoff, moderator Keats lobbed a few easy ones to the panel, positing a volley of pro/con questions that quickly drew a line in the sand between those favoring graffiti art (Apex, Morgen, and Doffing) and those opposing its proliferation (Nuru and Hocter). Unfortunately, the discussion broke little new ground, instead following the ages-old black-and-white template for street art debate: It’s artistic freedom of expression! No, it’s vandalism, destruction of public property!
The SFist Award for Passionate Debate goes to Mohammed Nuru (We will prosecute anyone who destructs private property!) and John Doffing (Street art is better than anything found in a gallery!). Though from opposing parties, both Nuru and Doffing spoke with a real hard-line conviction for their respective viewpoints.
Attorney Michaela Hochter gets the Qualification Award for being able to support her statements with legal facts, while we grant Apex the Sleeper Agent Award for keeping it cool in the line of fire, refusing to divulge any clues that might lead ye olde Graffiti Task Force to other street artists.
Hands down, Ben Morgan deserves the Visionary Award, as he was the only panelist who truly pushed the envelope, pressing the others to consider the web of social issues that surround the graffiti debate, while speaking out against the law’s tendency to lump street art in with gang, drug, and prostitution activity. His calm, well-executed arguments brought a little heat into an otherwise lukewarm discussion.
Being the professionals that we are, we kept our mouths shut throughout the entire evening, squelching an urge to break out all kinds of stored-up facts, figures, and anecdotes in support of Team Graffiti. We love to fire ourselves up over the arts! The brief Q&A session ended with a group hug (kidding!), before Prigoff signed books in the lobby while panelists shook hands politely over wine and cheese. A few of the younger ones slinked off straight away, and we couldn’t help but wonder how many new pieces popped up around San Francisco that night.