Picture of the day: Illicit RVA
Photo by: Chronism
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Ross Catrow
Founder and publisher of RVANews.
So long, RVA!
Photo by: Chronism
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Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
I love street art, graffiti: whatever you choose to call it. I document it in every city or small town that I visit. I admit, I’m not a fan of the more generic tagging like this.
But what’s awful about this is that it’s done on nature. Don’t humans do enough environmental damage without having to add toxins like this paint? It’s enough to boycott the RVA sticker campaign if this is what it’s spawning.
I get that by RVA News codoning it by choosing it as a Picture of the Day will drive traffic first by the salacious photo title, and then by what will probably be a debate here in the comments section: but that also just shows me that perhaps RVA News doesn’t really care about the health of the environment or the city as a whole, but more about driving site traffic .
@anon – I can tell you one thing – the future of the JRPS won’t have much to do with you.
yeah the painting on the rocks is shitty – but compared to the past when the riverfront was a land fill – this is the least of our problems.
Please don’t start painting our f*cking rocks.
This is horrible and ugly and I don’t like seeing it celebrated in any way. Bad choice.
lol, i like everyones shock on here about this.
its like they’ve never been to the river in richmond before.
lol at people who don’t know what the word “shock” means.
I would like to apologize for my earlier comment in that I don’t really want RVANews.com to be hurt economically from this, but I do consider this post a very grave mistake. This is a crime and to celebrate it as ‘a picture of the day’ sends a really irresponsible message about our public parks.
Looks like new Park director Nathan Burrell is going to have his hands full. I wish him the best and I will volunteer where I can.
I am a James River Park volunteer and this particular spot is one of my least most troublesome to clean. Selfish cowards who graffiti rocks by the river should not be tolerated. A coat of granite colored paint will have to cover this, and I would prefer that since this has been published, at least the people reading these comments will take notice of all the negative comments. Volunteer to keep our public places clean and let right-minded, well-intentioned people run out the vandals. Celebrate nature.
I’m sorry to see this picture and sorry to see it reblogged all over Tumblr too as if defacing the James River park system is a great example of how to celebrate Richmond.
I don’t understand why everyone’s got their panties in a twist. So yeah the RVA tag is kinda generic, but at least it’s somewhat tasteful — would you rather it be a penis? I think a gray coat of paint covering it would look even worse, as well as invite retaliation — the next tag probably WOULD be a penis. There is graffiti everywhere along the river and railroad tracks, and it adds character to the city.
“Adds character?” Go draw all over your own house, Elizabeth. Better yet, post your address, so we can all come and decorate it with our own version of “tasteful.” And you’re right – a coat of gray paint *is* going to look crappy. I would vastly prefer the original, undefaced rock.
If I catch anyone painting shit like this at the river, they’re getting pistol whipped with a Colt .45. Fuck off.
http://youtu.be/Lv3AY1zTzaE
HI HAVE U HEARD OF A POWER WASHER
if i catch anyone doing this. im calling an ambulance
Without art like this and people that create it RVA wouldn’t be the place so many people love. Imperfections are what makes anything unique. It’s a wonderful example of the diverse population that make Richmond such a wonderful place and give it so much character.
Also, some people’s comments down there just… Wow. Way to be closed minded. Open up your eyes. Beauty is all around you and it isn’t always clean and pristine.
Sara, then you won’t mind if I tattoo a dog poop on your face.
Elizabeth & Sara: You’re missing the main point. Most people commenting aren’t objecting to street art/graffiti.
It’s that some idiot decided he had to mess with the environment, with nature.
I don’t care what tagging happens in an industrial area like train yards, abandoned buildings,etc. I enjoy the fluid canvas.
But leave nature alone.
As for using power washers: awesome, even more nasty chemicals on top of those already used to spray paint the rock in the first place.
Street Art Enthusiasts, you do realize that rail yards and abandoned buildings are still private property? So you thinks it “artistic” for some hipster to tag rail cars sitting on a CSX siding? I assume then you think it would be okay for CSX to send a couple of employees by your place to tag your car or moped so they too can create a “fluid canvas”.
I hope the culprit either has the courage to own up to his defacement of the park and face the consequences or at the very least goes out and cleans up his own mess. No one goes to the park and river to see what some high school kid thought would be cool to spray paint on a rock. People go to be in nature. On top of that, graffiti is forced on the public so it can’t be considered real “art”. Real artists submit their work through channels that allow their work to succeed or fail based on how well it connects with people. This is just defacement, plain and simple. Also, I hope RVANews will no longer display photographs depicting and encouraging defacement of property. Displaying this photo as picture of the day was in poor taste.
As my mother used to tell me: Fool’s names and fool’s faces are often found in public places. RVA looks like a fool to be advertising this!
Jesus christ, it’s a fucking rock in a public space. Chill out people.
Sean, your argument was compelling. I’m now convinced that bored kids trashing up the park with spray paint is just fine.
Jeff, you must had missed some of the fanatical messages from the opposers of this grafitti. Just sayin’ to calm down.
But if you did want some reasoning, here it is, but i’m guessing you don’t want to here it. Claiming this to be somehow defiling nature promotes the idea that things that we, humans, do function outside of nature. This is an arrogant point of view. The paint used, and the act and intent, are just as natural as the rock being there itself. Sorry to destroy your ego.
Don’t worry everyone – Jeff E. decided this guy didn’t go through the proper channels so it can’t be called art!
Seriously, would hate to see what he’d do to a street performer. How dare they play music without me asking! Fucking control freak.
Would be curious to know how many of these people who support the destruction of public property in the name of “art” are actually paying city property taxes, etc.
Sean: Can you seriously not see the difference between a street performer and someone spray painting a park? Now, if the street performer was a fire dancer on park property –then you might have a correlation. Otherwise: nope.
And using your logic : “Claiming this to be somehow defiling nature promotes the idea that things that we, humans, do function outside of nature. This is an arrogant point of view. The paint used, and the act and intent, are just as natural as the rock being there itself.”— then that would mean that Exxon and BP spilling oil into the water are also natural acts. Oil comes from the ground, it must be natural and ok, right? And some capitalists see it as their natural duty, their manifest destiny to control or conquer nature for their own ends.
The arrogance is that of the tagger thinking it’s ok to use toxins/chemicals in nature.
I’m betting there are a number of graffiti enthusiasts who think cities like Portland,OR are super cool in their embracing of the creative class and street art. Well I hate to burst your bubble, kids. Portland is also so environmentally friendly that shit like this tagged rock would not fly at all. Not only that: but you can’t even buy spray paint in Portland without showing your ID. And it’s been that way for years.
So keep tagging nature and slowly erode the efforts to improve the river front and piss off your neighbors: and you too will have a tougher time buying spray paint & you’ll start to see stiffer punishments for anyone who gets caught tagging and you’ll see the support for the amazing G4 murals & future similar projects start to erode too as the olds will start to associate that kind of street art with this kind of bullshit tagging of the natural world.
Nice going kids.
My point was simple… if someone wants to be an artist, get the courage to create something that has to be judged on its own merit. If your art sucks, as most graffiti does, it shouldn’t even make it to the public eye to begin with. Graffiti in a public park is akin to a proud parent sticking their 1st graders refrigerator doodlings on a wall in the VMFA.
I should qualify my statement… when I say graffiti I mean illegal tagging. The works that have been put up LEGALLY on the walls of various buildings in the Fan and downtown are awesome and add a lot of character to the City.
Street Art, i was merely using the street performer comparison to critique Jeff’s view that art should always be consensual. I see what your saying about challenging my “what is natural” logic, but the fact remains that i just can’t get all that bent out of shape about someone tagging a rock by the river, definitely not to the point of committing a violent act against the culprit(as suggested by a poster above). I really don’t think the intent was to destroy here. If something obscene was put there i might have a different view, but this just rings as pretty harmless to me.
Sean, do you mind if I tag some of your personal property with some”harmless” spray painted arwtork? I am sure you would consider it “harmless” if you were to wake up tomorrow morning and I may have tagged your car, or the side of your moped, or your skateboard with some nice RVA grafitti……..
it would look better without the date on there. Bad choice by the artist so overall i give it thumbs down
Yes Brian, i would mind. But this rock is not my personal property. Apples and oranges.
But i’m sorry i said anything at all, carry on being mad.
Sean wins for the most ignorant comments on this very entertaining thread. For the record, I object to the selfish act of vandalism shown here and throughout the City.
Besides sean’s poor use of the english language (hear not here, you’re not your), his ignorant arguments (it is an act of nature so it is ok), and silly comparisons (street performer)….his latest comments show his true, ignorant, and childish view….sean says that no, he would not like someone painting his personal property…but that is “apples and oranges” …wait for it….because the rock is not his personal property!
Genious here, folks. Lets all have a laugh at Sean’s expense. Ha, ha, HA.
Sean is spelled with a capital “S” Mike. And i’m not the only one who didn’t give a shit about this pic being posted, look up. Apparently the owners of this site(that you’re posting on) don’t give a shit either.
Rail cars are personal property, owned by a business. Do you support tagging of rail equipment? So you dont want anybody tagging your stuff, but tagging stuff that belongs to all of us, should as huge rocks in public parks, is okay? are the 2 sides of your brain not connected?
Don’t believe i ever said it should be common place, just that it’s not as big a deal as some people are making it out to be and i choose not to be mad about it. There’s a big difference TO ME between someone tagging SOMEONE ELSES rail car and someone tagging MY CAR. It’s called being self centered Brian, deal with it. I totally see where you all are coming from, you pay taxes, taxes clean parks, someone defaced your park. I get it. I’m not a brain dead vegetable, i just don’t feel strongly about this particular case. Nuff said, carry on.
Well, then. Props to Sean-with-a-capital-S for being straightforward about his position, anyway. I hope the rvanews staff has noted his lunchtime comment.
Golly! People here on RVAnews.com sure are a bunch of nuts!
Would you rather have the river turned into a manicured Disneyland where drinking a beer would land you in jail? Would you rather live in a city where the rent is jacked up so high artists, the poor, and the young are forced to leave? The vitriol directed at the people, such as Sean, who only claim that this is not THE END OF THE WORLD is simply bizarre.
The rants and raves expressed in this thread are second only to the backyard-barnyard coalition bent on praising chickens as the savior to our city’s woes!
I’ve heard nothing crazier in my life.
Heavens! Somebody wrote something on a rock!
What is happening to our SOCIETY?!?!?
woo, what a bunch of kooky comments in here.
Ya’ll need a life. Funny how none of these people are probably ever down there.
@James: I’m not sure why you assume that those of us who don’t want nature used as someone’s cheap canvas aren’t “ever down there” but yeah, I’m “down there” at the river a few times a week.
@RiverRat: I’ll guess that the same people who don’t want yet another arrogant human destroying nature would also be against the river becoming a manicured Disneyland, since that’s also a product of arrogant humans not giving a shit about the environment. Guess what: NYC, San Francisco, and most major cities are also have graffiti, and the rent there isn’t so cheap for artists either. The difference is: the graffiti usually is limited to property: not nature. So kiss your logic goodbye if you think graffiti = a city with lower rent for artists. Also,artists are always the first wave of gentification and higher rent. Look at urban histories througout the US. The artists and musicians are the first wave who go in to poorer neighborhoods for the cheap rent that more mainstream people fear. And then once the artists/musicians settle in and the neighborhood seems safer or the crime goes down: then the same area looks more appealing to mainstreamers and the rent goes up & bye bye youth/artists/musicians. It’ll happen in Richmond just like it did in Brooklyn, the LES of NYC, Portland, San Francisco, etc etc etc.
Again: if you all don’t give a shit about painting on a rock: then stop recycling or doing whatever else you might do to give yourself Brownie points for caring about the environment. You care more about your own ego than anything else.