Canal/Bridge Graffiti

[RLWP]

Like I say unobtainable, 2 of them at least are dead.

 

 

Richard

[richardf]

The best graffiti I have seen on a canal bridge?

 

'Tired of life? Out of work? Tried fishing?'

 

There was a comedian on TV the other night who declared that fishing was like dogging, but without the sex!!!

[Tiny]

Years ago there was some quite clever original grafitti on canal bridges. Now its dumbed down to odd words and slogans.

 

A sample of the old stuff (this read in a toilet block by the road in Micheldever (that was well kept but they probably left the graffitti as being rude but clever) 'The romans came to micheldever in 54bc - F all has happened since'

 

One on a concrete canal bridge at Market Drayton was an addition - '2 gether + 4 ever + 2 love +1 another + 4 years = 13 kisses' One day after many years it got scrubbed by the 'we love bare concete' police who seemed to do a lot of these types of bridges that year.

[Josher]

 

Kidderminster canal tunnel transformed

 

Kidderminster Shuttle 7:40am Monday 26th April 2010

 

 

A GRAFFITI-covered canal tunnel has been transformed by an art project.

 

The tunnel underneath St Mary’s Ringway in Kidderminster has been given a makeover by artists and community volunteers.

 

Designed as part of the ReWyre regeneration project, the spray-painted mural depicts a boy as he journeys through the the last century.

 

A Wyre Forest District Council spokeswoman said: “The difference that this artwork has made to the tunnel is incredible. It has improved this key gateway into the town and made it an enjoyable experience.

 

“The art also symbolises that, through the ReWyre regeneration initiative, it is time to take a new look at Kidderminster and its future.”

 

The tunnel links the areas below St Mary’s Church to Weavers Wharf and is seen as a key gateway into the town.

 

Anecdotal evidence colelcted by the council showed the graffiti gave a bad impression to boaters entering Kidderminster.

 

Artists Peter Barber and Tony Donnelly from Urban Canvas were commissioned by the council to produce the artwork.

 

Mr Barber had already painted a mural of music icons opposite the Boar’s Head pub in Worcester Street.

 

The artists enlisted the help of 10 young people, using stencils inspired by carpet designs and music scores to create images on the canal tunnel walls.

 

Friends of Springfield Park also joined in the clean up and held their own tidy day to improve the appearance of the park. Volunteers collected rubbish including bicycles, tyres, a pushchair, scaffolding poles and several bags of litter.

 

The project has been undertaken by Wyre Forest District Council with support from British Waterways and the Community Housing Group.

[Natalie Graham]

Kids paint on canal bridge by themselves = Vandalism

 

Kids paint on canal bridge organised by local council = Artwork

 

[carlt]

Kids paint on canal bridge by themselves = Vandalism

 

Kids paint on canal bridge organised by local council = Artwork

 

Yes I often wonder why, on the one hand, tax payers' money is used to obliterate someone's hobby yet, on the other, the same tax payers are funding someone elses hobby (public funded art).

[bjornunda]

Oh and I used to live in here........

 

There doesn't appear to be an 'in here', it looks a bit draughty to me

[Chris Pink]

Kidderminster canal tunnel transformed

 

In my opinion this is anodyne and trite design.

 

It certainly doesn't have the vibrancy and impact of the better examples of graffiti street art.

[Keeping Up]

The town of Chemainus on Vancouver Island has "street art" on almost every house, which has become quite a tourist attraction in its own right.

 

Here are two superb examples:

 

 

[RLWP]

That stuff was quite popular in Belfast when I was there last

 

Richard

[Guest wanted]

There doesn't appear to be an 'in here', it looks a bit draughty to me

 

only picture U could find, it was pulled apart eventually, seen here as a bit of art rather than a home.

 

Rob

[Josher]

Plenty of blank walls where he is going ...

 

Two years’ prison for graffiti vandal

Isle of Wight County Press - Thursday, November 25, 2010

 

 

A PROLIFIC graffiti vandal from the Island, who caused more than £100,000 worth of damage across 13 London boroughs, has been jailed for 26 months. Sam Moore, 24, of Caesars Road, Newport, was also given a five-year anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) after being sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court on Thursday last week. It followed a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

 

The court heard Moore — who pleaded guilty to 25 counts of criminal damage — caused damage over a period of three years between March 2007 and July this year. He targeted trains, stations and infrastructure, as well as shops, across 13 London boroughs, as well as in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. The total damage caused by Moore was estimated as being in excess of £113,000. Moore was arrested on June 6 this year after being linked to graffiti damage caused near Hungerford Bridge in London. After attending and taking photographs of the damage and a known 'tag’, detectives from BTP’s Graffiti Unit checked the tag against a police graffiti database, linking it to Moore, as well as other locations where the tag had been daubed. Graffiti paraphernalia was found at Moore’s temporary address in south London.

 

But while Moore was on police bail, he continued to offend, daubing trains with graffiti at Ealing Broadway depot and Barking depot in July 2010. Det Sgt Jeremy Walley, of BTP’s Graffiti Unit, said: "Moore’s vandalism was nothing more than wanton damage that costs thousands of pounds to clean up." Among the most costly vandalism was £31,434 worth of damage at multiple locations at Kings Cross station, £7,500 at Regents Canal, £8,400 at Elephant and Castle shopping centre and £10,000 at Newington Causeway rail bridge.

[system 4-50]

The sentence is a start but is not sufficient. He should be sanded down and given a primer, two undercoats, and four gloss coats, all over.

[WJM]

My all time favourite waterway graffiti - from the River Lee in East London!

[drunkensailor]

My personal favourite is passing under the bridge before Wallingford on the Thames.

 

"Welcome to Waitrose on Thames". Even the graffiti in Oxfordshire is middle class.

 

As to imposing your tastes on someone else, I'm sure there's lots of people who live in modern canalside properties that think narrowboats are spoiling the view.

[blueprince]

While I agree everyone under thirty should be locked up (except the pretty girls), I don't belive national service is the answer, "you want to teach them WHAT?"

[starman]

I still wonder what happened to 'DOCKER THE GRASS 06' and 'Terry Stephens THE POLICE INFORMER' fingered by spraycans on a a canalside wall on the edge of Liverpool.

Don't approve of course but some of the graffiti public information adverts can be diverting.

[Terence]

maybe if they were painting 50ft roses and castle's you'd be happier!

 

I would.

 

I would also be very happy to learn how they could do this with spray cans. Artistic tallent comes in all mediums. I think it would be more in keeping with our canal systems as apposed to scribble (not the artwork, or in some cases tagging).

 

Terence

[carlt]

I would.

I think it would be more in keeping with our canal systems as apposed to scribble (not the artwork, or in some cases tagging).

 

I think Roses and Castles, on a 1970s concrete road bridge would be far more out of place than a bit of graffiti that reflects the soullessness of the surroundings.

 

I see "public" art, whatever its genre, as vandalism (whether it is to my taste or not).

 

To dismiss "art" that is liked by some, but not by oneself, is snobbishness and the most appropriate use of money used to fund "public art" is to spend it on removing all existing examples, including grafitti.

[Terence]

scribble (not the artwork).

 

 

 

I think Roses and Castles, on a 1970s concrete road bridge would be far more out of place than a bit of graffiti that reflects the soullessness of the surroundings.

 

I see "public" art, whatever its genre, as vandalism (whether it is to my taste or not).

 

To dismiss "art" that is liked by some, but not by oneself, is snobbishness and the most appropriate use of money used to fund "public art" is to spend it on removing all existing examples, including grafitti.

 

The 1970's bridge I agree, hence my comment Artwork not scribble (scribble being "Sally fancies Jonny"...who may well be married by now ). I myself would prefer to see the bridge for what it is, a bridge.

"Public Art" and "Graffiti" I see as two different things. But both taking my taxes in a different ways (one putting it on and the other taking it off). I do however quite like some of both.

I've passed the boards mounted under the bridges in Rugby many times Showing Rugby. I assume liked by some and not by others. In keeping, I suppose, much more than Sally and Jonny. My personal opinion I would rather just see the Bridge.

[RupertG]

At the behest of my then-girlfriend, I spent a long weekend in Bruges. Which I loathed instantly, instinctively and intensely (subsequently discovering that it was largely fake explained this reaction somewhat). There were only two aspects of it which cheered me up - one, that there was a chocolate shop near a bridge over a canal, and at that precise place there was a strong, pervasive and persistent smell of poo; and two, I discovered Bruges' Only Graffiti in a backstreet. It was in English, and said: "Postie, postie, don't be slow. Take a gram and go, go, go."

 

I like graffiti, when it's witty, pretty, awesome, well-placed and in keeping with the surroundings. As I like the squalid excess of big towns, this is often the case...

[debbifiggy]

At the behest of my then-girlfriend, I spent a long weekend in Bruges. Which I loathed instantly, instinctively and intensely (subsequently discovering that it was largely fake explained this reaction somewhat). There were only two aspects of it which cheered me up - one, that there was a chocolate shop near a bridge over a canal, and at that precise place there was a strong, pervasive and persistent smell of poo; and two, I discovered Bruges' Only Graffiti in a backstreet. It was in English, and said: "Postie, postie, don't be slow. Take a gram and go, go, go."

 

I like graffiti, when it's witty, pretty, awesome, well-placed and in keeping with the surroundings. As I like the squalid excess of big towns, this is often the case...

 

I need to work out how to post a picture. On the way back from our maiin holiday cruise this year we spotted some wonderful, witty and obscene anti-fishing graffiti in Leighton Buzzard. It was so good I took a few pics before the obscenities got painted out. Sometimes it makes you smile and admire but most of the time it is mindless vandalism devoid of intelligence or artistry.

 

Anyone notice that Robbo has been painting over any Banksy original he can find in London. Bit of a shame as the replacement images lack the wit and imagination of the originals.

 

D

[sueb]

My motorhome was graffitied. It was an improvement, I think, but the comments were in Polish so I couldn't understand them

Sue

[Neil TNC]

I need to work out how to post a picture. On the way back from our maiin holiday cruise this year we spotted some wonderful, witty and obscene anti-fishing graffiti in Leighton Buzzard. It was so good I took a few pics before the obscenities got painted out. Sometimes it makes you smile and admire but most of the time it is mindless vandalism devoid of intelligence or artistry.

 

Anyone notice that Robbo has been painting over any Banksy original he can find in London. Bit of a shame as the replacement images lack the wit and imagination of the originals.

 

D

 

May I post it for you me dear?

[Guest User]

I think Roses and Castles, on a 1970s concrete road bridge would be far more out of place than a bit of graffiti that reflects the soullessness of the surroundings.

 

I see "public" art, whatever its genre, as vandalism (whether it is to my taste or not).

 

To dismiss "art" that is liked by some, but not by oneself, is snobbishness and the most appropriate use of money used to fund "public art" is to spend it on removing all existing examples, including grafitti.

 

Well, there's this bridge on the GU ...

 

with this painted inside the parapets, it started as community art roses and castles (i.e. kid's paintings) but is being overtaken by the tags ...

 

 

It's all starting to look a mess now (in my opinion), I reckon it would be better just left white, but then that would still be a blank canvas for the arsehole aerosol "artists".