The Writing On The Wall

bristol | media and culture | opinion/analysis Wednesday August 05, 2009 11:28 by Marius Goubert - Guide2Bristol

The curious politics of the Bristol graffiti scene.

Marius Goubert takes a humorous look at the happenings in the world of Bristol street art.

In a dispute which was almost like something out of Monty Python's Life of Brian, a group known as the PRSC (Peoples Republic of Stokes Croft) took up the cause of freedom and asked liberty lovers everywhere to join them in condemning the tyrannical behaviour of Bristol City Council. This came after the latest episode in an ongoing feud between the council and Bristol's prolific graffiti scene, which has gained international notoriety after the huge commercial success of the artist Banksy.

Things came to a head when a piece produced by two graffiti artists called Cheo and 3Dom was controversially erased by the council, even though the artists were given permission to create the work by the property's owner. This resulted in the council inadvertently breaking one of their own laws regarding graffiti removal, as it states quite clearly in their policy that: ‘The Council is responsible for removing graffiti from council owned properties, parks and highways.' So in a strange reversion, it actually became the council who took a rather militant step - sneaking in like Monty Python's Brian with his pot of red paint - and officially graffitiing the graffiti.

Needless to say, all of this seems quite bizarre, and leaves one wondering what happened to the good old days of politically conscious balaclava - wearing youths, running up to spray-paint some anti - establishment slogan on the walls of the town hall? What happened to the idea of rebellion, anarchy, sticking your finger up at the system? Everything seems to have turned on its head like some mad version of Nineteen Eighty-Four. The public no longer make a fuss about a piece of graffiti going up, and it is left to council to step into the role of rebels and illegally remove it. Then you have members of PRSC poring over council legislation and debating property rights like a bunch of government bureaucrats...

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