undefined | Better HN

0 pointsyongjik1y ago0 comments

I'm from a country where they once called up the fucking Interpol when someone vandalized a subway car and ran away. There are many things I complain about my country, but this isn't one of them.

You wouldn't admire it if you were in a coffee shop and someone decided to unload their artistic ejaculation on your MacBook. Public infrastructure belongs to the public, no single person is the owner, and you don't get to deface it just because you think it's pretty that way.

Cleanly maintained public infrastructure sends a message: that this is a place where people take these things seriously.

0 comments

doctor_eval1y ago

Are graffiti artists not part of the public?

What makes a billboard, for example, more legitimate than graffiti?

yongjikOP1y ago

> Are graffiti artists not part of the public?

In the same sense bike thieves are.

fragmede1y ago

consent. same as the difference between a shower and getting caught out in the rain

wolverine8761y ago

The kids painting street art have no power to consent or not consent to anything. If they had access to art supplies, a loft, and a gallery, they'd probably use them.

doctor_eval1y ago

I never consent to billboards.

3 more replies

wiseowise1y ago

What does have billboard to do with ugly graffiti? They're not defacing billboards, are they?

doctor_eval1y ago

Billboards are an ugly smear on the face of the urban environment, whose sole purpose is to enrich the owners of the billboard, and those that rent them.

The difference between billboards and graffiti is that one is “OK” and the other is not. But in neither case do we get a real choice.

I don’t think billboards have much political legitimacy at all, but there is lots of money behind them, so they’re probably here to stay.

cm21871y ago

Planning permission.

doctor_eval1y ago

Permission is not remotely the same as legitimacy.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsyongjik1y ago0 comments

I'm from a country where they once called up the fucking Interpol when someone vandalized a subway car and ran away. There are many things I complain about my country, but this isn't one of them.

Cleanly maintained public infrastructure sends a message: that this is a place where people take these things seriously.

0 comments

doctor_eval1y ago

Are graffiti artists not part of the public?

What makes a billboard, for example, more legitimate than graffiti?

yongjikOP1y ago

> Are graffiti artists not part of the public?

In the same sense bike thieves are.

fragmede1y ago

consent. same as the difference between a shower and getting caught out in the rain

wolverine8761y ago

The kids painting street art have no power to consent or not consent to anything. If they had access to art supplies, a loft, and a gallery, they'd probably use them.

doctor_eval1y ago

I never consent to billboards.

3 more replies

wiseowise1y ago

What does have billboard to do with ugly graffiti? They're not defacing billboards, are they?

doctor_eval1y ago

Billboards are an ugly smear on the face of the urban environment, whose sole purpose is to enrich the owners of the billboard, and those that rent them.

The difference between billboards and graffiti is that one is “OK” and the other is not. But in neither case do we get a real choice.

I don’t think billboards have much political legitimacy at all, but there is lots of money behind them, so they’re probably here to stay.

cm21871y ago

Planning permission.

doctor_eval1y ago

Permission is not remotely the same as legitimacy.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse