Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Graffiti is Being Invited Inside


Graffiti has a history of being an outlaw activity.  Its risky, criminal, and the last thing that any well respecting member of society would want on their walls.  Right?

Well, check out this ad for designer luxury furniture on La Brea.  There is a girl posed like she is singing to the dog, while the dog is looking uncomfortably away across the room.  But more importantly, behind the couch to the right is an old tagged up graffiti board.  It is done dirty style, with many different style and type tags randomly and chaotically filling the space.

The tag wall looks authentic, as if it developed on the street and is not a gallery piece.  There are even big tags that say 'Fuck Cops' and Fuck-something else.  Not sure if it was reproduced from a photograph? or an actual street piece from off the streets?

The Rapport International Furniture is an upscale location, so much so that the price tags in the window made us look twice and then wince.  Most folks couldn't afford to purchase the furniture here. And traditionally rich folks have wanted separation from the elements of the streets.  But here the graffiti from the streets is being invited inside.  Or rather, since there isn't much (if any) actual graffiti inside the store, the graffiti on the poster outside seems to be aimed at luring people into the store.

What do people think of this?  Is it a good thing?  A bad thing?  Does it change the nature of graffiti?  Or just interior design?










1 comment:

  1. for what it's worth I feel this is a good thing. Why? History shows that when something on the underground hits t-shirts at Target or in adverts like this? It's the final destination for that once "cool" movement.

    Why it's a good thing is because it is now time for something new.

    Graffiti as it was is tired.

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