A city panel will answer a question that has eluded art critics for a century
Toronto’s so-called “war on graffiti” has taken a turn for the philosophical, with more talk of what constitutes art and fewer photo ops with power washers. Come September, the city will have a newly minted Graffiti Panel, consisting of three or more city bureaucrats who will judge pictures of markings on walls. They’ll have the final say on whether a given work is in fact art (and can stay) or graffiti vandalism (and will have to go, at the cost of the property owners). A bunch of bureaucrats deciding what art is via committee doesn’t sound very art-friendly, but the city’s manager of beautiful streets—could that be Toronto’s best job title?—Dave Twaddle insists panel members will have urban design or public art chops. [National Post]
This war on graffiti in Toronto is becoming really ridiculous. On the one hand, there is the mayor´s idea to use a paid iPhone app to fight against graffiti in the city, on the other hand this nonsensical panel, which will, in fact, decide which owners have to pay for the graffiti on their buildings. I am dying to see the criteria this panel is going to apply.
If Charlie Chaplin were alive, he would certainly turn it into a great movie.