Grafitti. Tagging. Street art. Call it what you will, but it exists in Spokane in a variety of ways. From the chaotic script left by a Sharpie, to the more time consuming stencil boldly sprayed on the sidewalk in front of Sterling Savings, we've seen a lot of it. Some of it in plain sight, but blending in just enough as not to be noticed.
Recently we've been seeing more and more stencils making their way out of the alleys and into bolder locations well into the view of much of the public. One particular artist (?) seems to be making the rounds. We've noticed a similar style in some of his/her work. One stencil was an extremely creative knockoff of the 'Spokane Hotzone' logo stenciled on street corners throughout downtown. They didn't last long though. For this reason, when we see it, we make sure and snap a pic of it.
Not that we condone the work, or always condemn it for that matter, rather we just view it as something else happening downtown. Does it signal Spokane becoming more urban? Nah, this could easily happen in the suburbs. A growing creative element? Maybe. We feel it's a little bit of both. Increasing activity downtown means a bigger audience and the likelihood that someone will pause momentarily, consider their work, and either be disgusted at the vandalism or walk away with a smirk.
Some stencils we've spotted all over the city...
Awesome, I love it. As an artist in Spokane I will say there is a definate increase in creative happenings all over Spokane (except the Valley, yuck). From the music scene to visual art it's starting to get a lot more interesting.
Posted by: MK | September 01, 2006 at 07:12 AM
I think it's important to differenciate between tagging and graffiti.
A tag is really just a quick signature that anybody can put down. I'm guessing our police department see it as a sign of gang war or something, though my guess is that it's mostly from bored South Hill teenagers who are "rebelling" against their parents. Tags are, in my opinion, pretty much always a blemish.
Now some of the more intricate stuff, like the Hotzone knock-off, that's actually pretty decent, and not as much of an eye-sore. Condoning it is probably a bit of a slippery slope, but the work has at least been done by somebody who has a clue. And that counts for something.
Posted by: Remi | September 01, 2006 at 07:19 AM
Remi-
Couldn't agree with you more. The Hotzone knock-off was great, and there is a huge difference between tagging and the more skilled stencil-work. They're so good that people likely confuse them for some public arts project.
Posted by: METROSPOKANE | September 01, 2006 at 08:23 AM