Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Graffiti or Art?

What do you think?



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31 comments:

  1. ADRIAN5 February 2014 at 07:00

    Art, I can tell because I like it. It improves an ugly cable box. It isn't a moronic Tag. Definitely Art.
    The roof they popped on it is the icing on the cake.

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    1. ADRIAN5 February 2014 at 08:02

      PS. I never use to have to do p&ses. Kiwi Phone should pay this artist. Perhaps if you find yourself with half a day free you could give then a ring and suggest it.

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    2. GB5 February 2014 at 11:30

      Adrian I'm not sure whether it's a phone or traffic light control box (there's another at the side) but I think the clue lies in the fact that on at the top of the side on the first photo is the word 'Napier'. I cannot read what it says underneath although I meant to look today because it's right by where I park for the gym. I'm pretty sure that it's officially sanctioned but I'm not sure exactly who put it on the box.

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  2. Spesh 15 February 2014 at 07:06

    Adrian and I agree - wow. I like it - it covers a very ugly box. It has been very well drawn too - but what do I know! I do like most f the art work you have in your house. Does that say something about me?

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    1. ADRIAN5 February 2014 at 08:04

      Whilst I'm here. Yes it probably does. He's as mad as a box of frogs.

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    2. GB5 February 2014 at 11:32

      Thanks Pat. I like that art in my house too, of course. So I think you have very good taste. Adrian may well be right about me being mad as a box of frogs. It takes one to know one is, I believe, the appropriate saying.

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  3. DawnTreader5 February 2014 at 07:20

    Definitely art! :)

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  4. Bas.5 February 2014 at 08:04

    dat is heel mooi gedaan.

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  5. Mark5 February 2014 at 08:22

    I guess if they had permission it's art, if not it's graffiti. Either way it definitely improves the cable box.

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    1. ADRIAN5 February 2014 at 08:55

      And the true art is in the box Mark. I could not make head nor tail of the wiring if I were to live to two hundred.

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    2. GB5 February 2014 at 11:35

      On that definition Mark I think it's art. As for the wiring in theses boxes I agree absolutely with Adrian. They are something to behold when they are opened up.

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  6. Mersad5 February 2014 at 08:35

    Well, Graffiti is a form of art. ;) I think this looks quite nice.

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    1. GB5 February 2014 at 16:40

      It can be Mersad I agree. I read a blog post this morning (I wish I could recall which one) where someone had commissioned a famous painter to paint a whale on his building. The local council insisted that it be painted over because it was not in keeping with the rest of the town: which I think relies on the whales for it's tourism industry.

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  7. Canadian Chickadee5 February 2014 at 08:43

    I think it's art. It's well crafted and well thought out.

    But the powers-that-be don't always agree. There's a fabulous artist named Wyland (Robert Wyland) who paints beautiful murals of whales and other sea life. He's world renowned and has started a foundation for education and science to help preserve the oceans.

    He painted a mural on the side of a building in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii of breaching whales. It was beautiful, and he had the building owner's permission to paint it. But because it faced the street, the city council made them paint over it because they considered it graffiti and said it didn't match the council's vision of what the image of the city of Lahaina should be!

    What a wasted opportunity! Here's a world famous artist painting a mural which would be seen by thousands of people every year, but the council deemed it self-promotion and made the building owner paint it out. Seems such a shame, since one of the main reasons people go to Maui (apart from the fabulous weather and beaches) is to whale watch.

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    1. GB5 February 2014 at 16:52

      Ah Carol. How embarrassing is that? I remembered reading your comment when I went through my emails at crack of dawn this morning (all 53 of them) but I could only remember the bare bones (knowing at the time, of course, that I'd read it again on the blog). Hence the comment above in response to Mersad. I had even remembered that it was Hawaii but, lacking confidence, deleted that from the comment.

      Local government often has its reasons but can be very short-sighted and inflexible.

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  8. Carol5 February 2014 at 08:46

    We have them here too ~ not of dancers though. Ours have frogs and cassowaries and the like.

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    1. GB5 February 2014 at 16:53

      That's good Carol. I think they are quite jolly.

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  9. Pauline5 February 2014 at 09:11

    Imagine all those ugly boxes throughout the country adorned with similar artistic images. Could be the start of a whole new industry, boost the unemployment levels, maybe work for the dole, or even community service for the toerags caught tagging. There would have to be a panel to approve all submissions (I can't see that working in our area), supervisors, processes for purchasing paint.
    Trust Adrian to notice the roof added to the second shot!

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    1. GB5 February 2014 at 16:54

      Pauline there could be a whole new mindset if this really caught on.

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  10. Red5 February 2014 at 14:51

    I really like this stuff. The only problem I have with it is that they put it in the wrong place.

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    1. GB5 February 2014 at 16:55

      You have a point there Red but these boxes tend to be where the cables are which tends to be under the pavements (side-walks) or the road.

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  11. Librarian5 February 2014 at 19:36

    Art. It is beautifully done and does not "soil" the cable box but makes it look better.

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  12. VirginiaC6 February 2014 at 03:52

    Artafitti???? Whatever it is, I love it.

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  13. Frances Garrood6 February 2014 at 04:46

    Art, definitely. And very good art, at that.

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    1. GB6 February 2014 at 10:32

      I think that's the general consensus Frances - in addition to the fact that it seems to have been 'official'.

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  14. DawnTreader6 February 2014 at 08:08

    In some towns here in Sweden, they've done this in the form of a competition. (Perhaps it's the same in NZ?) I.e. they decide a number of cable boxes like that to be artistically decorated, and then invite artists to hand in suggestions. The sketches (or a selection perhaps) are published online so that people can vote, and those who win each get to decorate a box (and win a prize in the form of some money too, I suppose). An old friend of mine who is an artist has participated in such projects. Link (hope that works)

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    1. GB6 February 2014 at 10:33

      I shall try and find out a bit more about this Monica.

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