Graffiato

street art by Banksy

Graffiato

“Art begins with resistance--at the point

where resistance is overcome.”--Andre Gide

For a good time call Kathy at FU2-666, 

scratched with a pocket knife while someone 

was taking a crap in a latrine stall 

in the bus station in 1958,

mixed in with copious pornographic cryptic messages

and crude drawings of sexual organs,

I love to suck dick & 

I take it up the ass;

this was my introduction to graffiti 

as my 12 year old hormones began

to rage & my mind reeled.

Graff has been with us since the cave glyphs.

They have found figure drawings & inscriptions

on Turkish temples, synagogues, ancient sepulchers,

on tombs, ruins, in the Catacombs of Rome,

and magma-scorched onto the stones of Pompeii;

disappointed lovers scribbling,

“I want to break Venus’s ribs with a club

and deform her hips.”--

a huge phallus with accompanying words,

“Mansueta Tene”--handle with care,

the young Michelangelo and Raphael were taggers,

painting their names with others in the ruins

of Nero’s Domus Aurea;

heart shapes and handprints connotated 

the proximity of a brothel,

Love For Sale.

The Mayans & Aztecs did it.

The Vikings did it.

The Crusaders did it.

The Mongol hordes did it.

American soldiers did it

on foreign city walls

and on the sides of their bombers,

tanks, and jeeps.

Street Art has developed rapidly

as a complex art form, whose validity

or value is contested highly & reviled by many,

while being appreciated, respected, 

& cherished by others.

Too often it is done without permission,

done hurriedly, breaking the law, done

defiantly, brazenly on buildings, in alleys,

on railroad box cars, subways,

& under bridges,

moving from scatological roots

to declarations of love, of territory,

political slogans, famous literary quotes,

various forms of protestation, 

sometimes with DC & Marvel comic book

or Hollywood movie themes,

“Dick Nixon before he dicks you.”

The new artists have monikers like

Skeme, Dondi, MinOne, Zephr,

Blek Le Rat, & Mr. Brainwash,

using spray paint cans & marking pens

to perform the Pissing of pigment,

done with refillable fire extinguishers,

Throw Ups and Bombing

where garish images are painted quickly,

Rolling or Blockbusters

as huge paintings prevent other artists

from sharing the space,

and the complex Wildstyling,

where letters & images interlock;

and of course Stenciling,

like the popular Banksy art.

Personally I prefer the work done lovingly,

with the permission of the property owner,

vast beautiful murals that fully manage

to enhance the quality of our lives;

let’s have less besmirching, belittling, bullying,

braggadocio, degrading or impugning;

for God’s sake let us celebrate life,

not glorify chaos or violence. 

Glenn Buttkus

February 2013 

Posted over on dVerse Poets MTB

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