EMBRACING THE BUFF

"The Buff": the act of removing graffiti by painting over, symbolizing the contradictory nature of graffiti as both art and vandalism.

"The Buff"

 

The City of Los Angeles spends $7 million a year to buy paint and staff and materials to support "the buff".  

"The buff" removes over 30 million square feet of Los Angeles graffiti a year.

How much did Graffiti Artists in LA spend on the work before "the buff"?  Somewhere between $2million and $8million (cans range from $1.00 to $10.00 and pieces can use from 5 to 30 cans per piece).

Are municipal efforts to erase graffiti

Artist: Mark Rothko

giving birth to a new movement in modern art stemming from the repressed artistic desires of city workers?  Director Mark McCormick produced an award winning experimental documentary called The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal.

The theme of the video, according to blogger and illustrator Ward Jenkins, “makes the observation that the process of destroying one art form unwittingly creates another”.  The video compares the result of "the Buff" to the work of famous contemporary artist "Mark Rothko" (right).

Sidenote:

Blogger and Illustrator Ward Jenkins is also rumored to be a Graffiti artist himself.

Artist: Canon

His work (painted on walls around Atlanta) under the pseudonym "Canon" (left) is reminiscent of Picasso in his blue period.  

As a fan of Guernica and Portaits of Sylvette, Ward/Canon's art holds appeal.  

Sadly, most have been painted over (the downside of "the buff") but are recorded in his photo journal.