VIRTUALLY BUFFED

The wooster collective is getting closed down for supporting illegal activity.

More info here http://www.woostercollective.com

oh well,they'll start sumthin else up

that's too bad.

now toys from the world over have no place to show their new stencils and wheatpastes.

now there will be nobody to take yuppies on bike tours in nyc and show them all the really hip places where those darned kids write graffiti. "here's another sweet wheatpaste over decades of classic graffiti, guys, take a picture!"

and who will perpetuate the myth that "street art" is some kind of acceptable behavior, while real graffiti is illicit and dangerous?

RIP wooster, you served the "community" so well.

</sarcasm>

aw, dude, it's not even getting shut down. some retard in england got mad that he can't look at pictures of illegal activities when he should be working. read between the lines.

^ hahaha your first post was great...i too was disappointed that they weren't really shut down.

talk about misleading.

FALSE ALARM

on a side note, the site is pretty well done, I just never visit..prefer brick slayers and metal heads..guess I'm just stuck in my ways..

blech

When the man comes around..

a hundred million angels singin

Originally posted by fr8lover@Jun 15 2005, 01:46 PM

that's too bad.

 

now toys from the world over have no place to show their new stencils and wheatpastes.

 

now there will be nobody to take yuppies on bike tours in nyc and show them all the really hip places where those darned kids write graffiti. "here's another sweet wheatpaste over decades of classic graffiti, guys, take a picture!"

 

and who will perpetuate the myth that "street art" is some kind of acceptable behavior, while real graffiti is illicit and dangerous?

 

RIP wooster, you served the "community" so well.

 

</sarcasm>

Quoted post

I fully support this post. 10 out of a possible 10.

Yeah, its really fucking gay that they lead free walking tours to point out pieces by Twist, Revs, Os Gemeos, Espo, Verbs, Space Invader, and the like.

PIECES by Space Invader?!?!

Twist Revs OsGemos and Espo apply paint to a surface,

Space Invader does tile mosaics..

.they are in many places, and they're respectable from a "public art" point of view but

PLEASE don't put them in the same categories as actual painted pieces...

and you know what,

Space Invader alreadt gives free maps of where all his shit is located , right on his website.

I (theoretically) support The Wooster Collective,

anything to give light to (graffiti and plain "public") artists doing there thing is great..

helps them gain recognition and hence get hired work.

I don't like when general public art is categorized as "graffiti" to appease the ignorants and trend jumps.

If it really was/is shut down,

they could just use an off-shores server and continue with another domain name..

and if while we're talking

someone please acknowledge the originators and not the sheep!

COST REVS

Originally posted by fr8lover@Jun 15 2005, 07:46 PM

that's too bad. 

 

now toys from the world over have no place to show their new stencils and wheatpastes. 

 

now there will be nobody to take yuppies on bike tours in nyc and show them all the really hip places where those darned kids write graffiti.  "here's another sweet wheatpaste over decades of classic graffiti, guys, take a picture!"

 

and who will perpetuate the myth that "street art" is some kind of acceptable behavior, while real graffiti is illicit and dangerous?

 

RIP wooster, you served the "community" so well.

 

</sarcasm>

Quoted post

Damn, exactly what I was going o post. Where are suburban kids how made one stencil and sparayed it behind a shed someplace going to show off their work now?? Trouble is that place blurred graffiti WRITING with street art and as we all know they are 2 completely seperate things.

there are many retarded stencils lately. its nice that all the emo kids are getting into this in my area. really its great.

Just to clear things up, I agree that there are a lot of people with too little talent and originality putting art in the streets. I have definitely seen enough images of Crispin Glover, Che Gueverra, Tattoo the midget, and George W. Bush to last a lifetime. However, I just don't understand "graffiti writers" who refuse to acknowledge that these "street artists" are doing pretty much the same thing as they are. Yes, Espo applies paint to a wall, and so did Revs... sometimes. Other times, he pasted up posters in doorways and on 'Don't Walk' signs. Now he makes metal sculptures in a workshop somewhere, then welds them to sidewalks and iron gates. Is that graffiti? Is it different than a Space Invader? What about an Andre the Giant poster? And do you think that Revs and Espo would answer these questions the same way that you would?

What about Verbs? I've seen some dope pieces that he has painted in tough, high profile spots. Some said Verbs, and were traditional spray painted throw ups or huge roller pieces, which I could relate to as a writer. Others said his name on street signs, telephone booth light covers, and even a sign from inside a subway station, all of which he must have taken down, painted, and put back up. These still appeal to the writers, 'cuz its ballsy, and more important, he's getting over, but they also appeal to some of the random people on the street in a way that a tag or even a burner won't anymore, because its something new and different. I've also seen huge roller pieces by him that didn't say his tag, but were clearly paint applied to a wall illegaly in a high profile spot. There was one on a rooftop right next to the Manhattan bridge that said "Clone Jesus" and had a DNA strand that looked like a Jesus fish, and another next to the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway that said "Honk if you love graffiti". Again, as a writer, I loved that shit, but it made it much cooler that I would hear old motherfuckers with zero interest in or knowledge of graffiti talking about it at work or on the train. The same goes for characters by Os Gemeos, or the Monster project, or Kaws' older stuff, or the guy doing crazy detailed reach down rollers that say "Read More Books"--and its what made the Cost Revs campaign so dope in the early 90's. It's a statement that is heard and acknowledged by the majority of the population, whether they like it or not, rather than a couple more tags or throws that will be overlooked by everyone but the occasional nerd who is actually out looking for that stuff.

So what makes something graffiti and not street art? Does it have to be done with spray paint? Does it have to say a name? Do you have to be listening to hip hop and wearing Jnco pants when you paint it? Does it have to be painted by an angry young black guy from the ghetto? I'm not trying to start any fights here, I'm just trying to point out that there is a lot of overlap and a lot of gray area in the worlds of graffiti and street art, and a lot of people have been spoonfed a lot of media bullshit that they now take for granted.

Sorry for the long rant.

i think people are more critical of the sterrotypical stencil artist / hipster over people like revs and cost who built a rep. on illegal graff in the "traditional" sense - trains, tags etc.

as opposed to the gay-in-it-for-the-fashion cred-stencils of bush/bombs-art studen-mulleted-twat who thinks stencils are "the way to express myself and how i dislike the capitalist system" bollocks which tends to be the common stereotype of stencilers.

Well yes, those guys are douchebags. I'll certainly give you that. But a lot of street art comes from the same motivations as bombing... it just comes at it from a slightly different angle, not unlike a traditional artist choosing, say, figure sculpting over painting landscapes with oils, or silkscreened pop art, or stained glass. I think its cool that if somebody has the motivation and the balls to put unsanctioned art in a public place, they can, regardless of what their medium is. Yeah, it sucks when you have to look at a thousand shitty stencils, but thats how most of the public feels about having to look at a billion tags and throw ups and etched windows... if they even notice it anymore.

Also, street art that appeals to the general public can be a bridge over the gap between the common misconceptions of graffiti, and the reality of it. A message or image that Joe Public can relate to is much less scary than the coded, nonsensical, and menacing gang signs that they think make up 90% of the graffiti they see (most of them assume that this is painted by the unemployed and ignorant lower class, and the other 10% is done by little kids. Seriously, ask them.) It could be argued that, if anything, "traditional" hip hop graffiti is ruining the centuries-old tradition of street art, not the other way around. Because of kids running around etching storefront windows and painting freeway signs and shit, police and judges and mayors are cracking down, giving out jail time, and now its not worth the risk for most people to go out and write a political slogan on a wall or paint "save Ferris" on their local water tower. But this would be a stupid place to try to argue that point.

Oh please can we have another discussion on the merits of non-spraypaint graffiti?

The difference between writers and artfags is attitude and intent.

why do people keep writing such long posts when 'fuck art' is really so much simpler?

ive never even been to wooster, but i know all those little homos in the sticker threads jock the place like it was mecca...plenty enough reason for me to pray on it's downfall.

yea man, FUCK ART!