Gothamist: Brooklyn Has A Lot Of Backfat

Chris

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 12:30:52 -0500

There are a decent number of these tags on road barriers and backs of stop signs in Williamsburg, north of the Lorimer L stop, too.

t

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:18:28 -0500

Backfat was busted on the night of the 16th, great reporting!

pb

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 09:55:11 -0500

There's no artistic merit here. I live in the area. It's some thug spray-painting his tag over everything (the library signs, sidewalk, subway station, mailboxes, people's homes). It's pure vandalism, it's ugly and it's going to cost taxpayers a lot to cover this mess.

Vinny

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 09:45:47 -0500

I would argue that sometimes the artistic merit of the art outweighs the vandalism done. That's my point though. Unless it's commissioned, it's vandalism, and isn't vandalism (ie: defacing or destroying other's property) always bad?

nick

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 01:48:45 -0500

can we see more photos on streetsy or bluejake?? PLZ SAY YES.

Brightliner

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:47:02 -0500

Boy, you guys are rough on Jake. And he called me pugnacious! Personally, I think a good penalty for graffiti vandals would be they get the tool they use shoved up where the sun don't shine. The spray paint cans would be bad enough, but the acid etch writers would really have fun. Heh heh.

anomalous

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:11:54 -0500

One's response to street art is very subjective. It's clear that you have a very low tolerance for it. That's fine. I would argue that sometimes the artistic merit of the art outweighs the vandalism done. I'll probably never convince you of that just as you will never convince me that it is always harmful.

Vinny

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:58:54 -0500

Okay so really there is nothing that differentiates street art from vandalism except for how much Gothamist pimps it. ;-)

hellhammer

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:31:37 -0500

shit is funny. BACKFAT HIV POSITIVE. that shit is subversive. and pissing people off igenerally is a good thing. I'm going to write on a library right now.

anomalous

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:34:04 -0500

No, this isn't street art, it's someone writing backfat a zillion times. All writing on someone else's property is vandalism and illegal. There is a subset of that vandalism that has artistic or aesthetic intentions and merit. That's the portion known as "street art". Like any art, most street art is dreck, but a small portion is high quality work. The appeal of any piece of street art depends on an individual's taste in art. One's appreciation of street art diminishes rapidly when it is applied to your property.

Crooklyn

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 17:26:48 -0500

Brooklyn definitely has a lot of backfat. It's called Queens...

Vinny

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:48:21 -0500

You mean it isn't Street Art? Okay, now I'm confused...

sayin'

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:20:50 -0500

well it certainly isn't "News"

anomalous

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:10:18 -0500

who is claiming this is street art?

Vinny

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:51:29 -0500

Yay for street art! YAY!!!!

fatties

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:40:36 -0500

What's more offensive, written back fat or actual back fat?

eyeroll

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:36:15 -0500

This vandal sounds like a prime candidate for some good old-fashioned sidewalk dermabrasion.

jroze

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:24:46 -0500

I have seen this alot lately... most recently on spring st. just west of varick, and just the other day right by ground zero.

Kojak

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:00:16 -0500

"...it's called a muffin top :-)" Ugh.. i'll never touch muffins of any kind again.

Don

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 14:42:40 -0500

C'mon, Dobkin. We're waiting for one of your insightful "graffiti is art" lectures.....

irina

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 14:40:27 -0500

kojak, it's called a muffin top :-)

joe mamma

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 14:38:41 -0500

It looks like neckface to me, using one of his other tags...

Kojak

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 14:34:17 -0500

I hate it when women show their backfat in public and think they still look good. It’s disgusting. This tagger is obviously a Hero for bringing this to our attention.

point/counterpoint

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 14:32:12 -0500

Dobkin, you have the floor. And don't tag it.