Animal's Bucky Turco has talked about his 9/11 story before, and today he's also posted video to go along with it. He recalls, "it was 8:45 p.m. or so, the night of 9/11, and Diane Sawyer taps me on the shoulder. I’m standing in front of Pace University, and I guess she saw the shitty camcorder I’m holding. Diane asks me to join her film crew; there’s evidently a 'media blackout' around Ground Zero, and they need some guerrilla camera work. They give me a paper towel roll to conceal the camera, and I tuck it under my arm and basically shoot from the hip." She tells her unofficial cameraman: “Do your best. I’m walking away to distract attention from you. Just keep shooting everything you can shoot.” more ›

Thanks to YouTube, more people can see tagging in action. The Post looks at the YouTubing of graffiti vandals/artists at work in the subways.

The vandals declined to be interviewed, but said that the trend began with graffiti writers who took to photographing their work because of the MTA's practice of painting over cars as soon as they're tagged. more ›

Yow. Reaction to graffiti artist-vandal-user-whathaveyou Kiko's sentence (6 months and a $25,000 fine) for tagging various Queens locations was pretty straightforward - graffiti hating City Councilman Peter Vallone was upset Kiko didn't get more time with street art enthusiasts were sorry about it. ANIMAL New York wrote a post noting that Vallone's used graffiti as a "personal soapbox":

Although we do think KIKO should be punished in some form or another, specifically public service, we don’t think that any graffiti writer should ever have to serve jail time. In the long run this hurts the community more than any tag could. If anybody wants to do any peaceful renovations demonstrations, we suggest they travel to the belly of the beast. Here is Peter Vallone's home address, 21-46 19th St. as provided by his own district office and press hack, Andrew something or other. So stop by, check out the lovely views of the Triborough Bridge and the massive Con Ed power plant, plus exercise your 1st Amendment writes.

Yesterday, we were reading follow-up from other news organizations to the Post's cover story on the crazy Street Christmas display in front of an East 18th Street townhouse. And wouldn't you know it, Animal magazine's Bucky Turco was on the scene for an AP story, quoted as saying, "This is brilliant." He sent us a link to his photographs of the grisly yuletide display, and Gothamist is quite taken by this naked Barbie in a tree display, because it doesn't look too far off from how our Barbies looked after we played with them (strip 'em down, cut their hair off, throw 'em in a box!). But if this display was truly a protest against the overcommercialization of Christmas, where are the Bratz dolls? more ›

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Yesterday's gorgeous day was the perfect setting for Marc Ecko's graffiti street party to celebrate the release of his video game, Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. However, the party became a minor First Amendment cause celebre as City Councilman Peter Vallone successfully started a wave to get the party permit revoked, only to have a judge rule the party must go on. Newsday called it a throwback to the '80s with boomboxes, breakdancing and graffiti, and Ecko told reporters, "It's about art but they used an old tool of fear-mongering, a political thing, trying to lean on family values, using graffiti as a negative when it's really just a bunch of young people getting together to express themselves." more ›

Right now, the legal party for Marc Ecko's Getting Up video game is getting underway on West 22nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. Animal magazine's Bucky Turco sent a photograph that shows the subway car replicas up ready to be vandalized...just kidding, City Government alarmists - the subway car facades are ready to be decorated by many graffiti artists. We're sending someone to check out the scene, but if you happen to head there, let us know what it's like. more ›

After the city has decided to revoke the permit for the launch party of his new graffiti video game, designer Marc Ecko is doing the next best thing: Suing the city. And the NYCLU is getting involved, joining Ecko in a press conference yesterday asking the mayor to reinstate the permit. Animal Magazine publisher and graffiti enthusiast Bucky Turco was at the press conference gave us his report, with including Ecko's invitation for the Mayor:

His lawyer, Daniel M. Perez stated, "Mark Ecko will be filing a lawsuit in NY Federal Court." They have enlisted the help of the NYCLU who wrote and sent a letter to the Mayor today. Arthur Eisenberg, the legal director, cites a Supreme Court Case, Brandenburg v. Ohio, that set a precedent to protect the exhibit Ecko is hosting. The Ecko people have also determined that If they can't get the permit they plan on canceling the event. Mark Ecko mentioned "I don't condone illegal graffiti, but I don't condone censorship either." more ›

City Councilman Peter Vallone, who seems to have unofficially tagged (hee) himself the anti-graffiti Council member, wants the city to stop a permit for graffiti artists to tag subway car replicas, according to the NY Post. The party is for Atari's new game, Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, and people associated with the event tell the Post that Vallone is hypocritical, since one of the artists, Lady Pink, participating had been commissioned by Vallone to create a mural. There's also a quote from Animal magazine's Bucky Turco, who has been keeping an eye on Vallone's anti-graf remarks: "To actually try to stop the event is paramount to censorship, which is worse than graffiti. I really think this guy is using graffiti as a soapbox. I don't think he can get into the press for anything else." more ›

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