February 9, 2006
Borf to Spend Time in Jail
To all those who hated Borf and his many tags across the region, your wishes may have come true -- according to NBC 4, Borf was sentenced to one month in prison today.
Borf, born John Tsombikos of Great Falls, Virginia, was originally sentenced to 18 months in prison, but 17 of those were suspended. After he serves his sentence, he will have to complete 200 hours of community service, pay $12,000 in restitution, and stay away from art supplies during his three year probation.
Borf pleaded guilty to one count of destruction of property in November, but was caught tagging in New York shortly thereafter. Prosecutor Cynthia Wright defended the decision, saying, "He tagged so much property, public and private, and cost the citizens of this city so much money. It's the nation's capital and should be free from blight."
Is the sentence too much, or not enough?
>>DCist on Borf
Picture snapped by Rob Goodspeed.
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Not enough. Maybe two or three months in jail. Also, where did they come up with that money figure? Did DDOT or whoever say that was what he cost the city? Or did that come from some mandatory min. requirement?
Gosh. The poor kid should just move to San Francisco. There are at least two outstanding art schools there -- San Francisco Art Institute and the California College of the Arts -- and the police and the city tend to look the other way at graffiti. He'd get a superior art education. A fine arts community heavily influenced by street art and potentially stay out of trouble and jail. He's from Great Falls -- it's not like he couldn't afford it.
DC1974, I dunno. Although I understand tagger websites have kudos for Borf's style, as a member of his audience I always thought that Borf's fame was a matter of quantity rather than quality.
(I mean, hell, I remember the first time I saw a Borf tag, because I thought it was a pseudo-hip guerilla marketing campaign. It didn't seem like real graffiti to me. Come to think of it, after his suspension is up, some pseudo-hip guerilla marketing campaign should try and recruit him.)
CMINUS. I don't know if he's that great. Or that original. But I'm thinking if he was in an environment where this sort of thing is encouraged. He could blossom. And who knows he might make the jump more successfully into a gallery. Right now. He's got the notoriety down, and since he's being beaten down by the Man. He probably figures is doing it just right. If had some competition and support, his work could grow. That's all I'm thinking.
Not nearly enough. I think 3-4 months would be good.
one month in D.C. jail - that's nearly cruel and unusual punishment. He will be growing up damn fast!
3-4 months in jail? What an incredibly idiotic use of our public resources. Spend that money on something useful, like supervising his graffitti clean up.
the fact that the media has made such a stink about this is totally puzzling. who cares? almost all the kids i grew up with did graffiti in this area...and in retrospect, we were not "street artists"-- we were just big idiots. so take this for what it's worth: a big idiot paying for the sins of his dumb hobby.
The kid damage property and the imagine of neigbhoods by puting markings on things that didn't belong. You can call it making a big stink about things, but it is wrong and he needs to learn a lesson. I guess the first time he was caught, that lesson wasn't learned. A tougher penality like a month in jail doesn't seem cruel and unusual.
Although I understand some people don't care, others do. If you let this small stuff get out of hand then this city could have really serious problems. I was in New York in the 1970s when the city didn't do anything about its graffitti problems except for trying to clean it up. Without enforcement the graffitti just got worse and drugs, crime, and violance became the norm on the streets and subways. I dont' know for sure but I say the lack of enforcement on graffitti artists had a strong connection with other crimes (Rudy actually mentioned such a connection in his first campaign for mayor). It wasn't until the 90s that the "small" problems of graffitti was dealt with by the police and crime began to drop. Others might know more about the subject but my experience has been that with crime the little things matter alot.
Well, as dreary as our jails are, maybe Borf can liven them up with his artistic genius.
Thank you, gr... Why put this kid in prison? Having him scub his and others' graffiti is appropriate and sensible punishment. I don't want to pay for his food or lodging. Just steel wool and bleach.
A month in jail is fine, but I'd also like to see many hours of community service cleaning up each and every one of his "artworks" as a follow-up to the jail time. I disagree that he has much talent, btw. Just a vandal, no more or no less.
Maybe Borf can go by Marion Barrys house and paint on the side : I WILL NOT SMOKE ANY MORE CRACK. That would be a good community service task. Kill two birds with one stone.
One month and TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS for drawing on abandoned fences?? That's insane! Last time I checked, the police were around to protect DC's citizens, not its signposts.
We live in a city where McDonalds gets to paint our trains however it likes- don't even try to tell me kids growing up in DC shouldn't have public space of their own.
Y'all are fascists.
Now MS, lets be realistic, I don't think it was the grafitti that caused drug and crime problems. Grafitti is just often a given a ride a long because there are more serious crimes being committed. Borf brightened my day, and personally, I hope that he or someone like him shows up again.
In many parts of Europe there is plenty of grafitti without much crime. Whether it is good or bad is merely a question of perspective. Personally I think it adds to the city.
Ever seen the Space Invaders in Paris? Technically it's vandalism, but even the Louve sells art books about them.
Also, when companies do guerilla marketing, illegally plastering sidewalks and public space with ads, nothing happens to them. We should all get our space in the public view. Grafitti and great jokes like "mort pour rien" are truly great public statements against the status quo.
cover the city with grafitti.
One month and TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS
What's a month when you're young? And what's $12,000 when your parents are millionaires?
for drawing on abandoned fences??
And people's houses. And street signs. And commercial buildings. All of which have to be cleaned, which costs a poor city a lot of money.
We live in a city where McDonalds gets to paint our trains however it likes
Correction. Where McDonald's pays large amounts of money to paint the trains, and pay for its removal.
don't even try to tell me kids growing up in DC shouldn't have public space of their own.
I could say this is a moot point since HE'S AN OVERPRIVLEDGED WHITE KID FROM THE SUBURBS. But instead I'll point out that kids in DC do have public spaces, and legal graf walls can and do exist. your little idol simply had no interest in these, as is evidenced by the incredibly white, yuppie areas he chose to post his doodles in.
Y'all are fascists.
You really have no idea what fascism is, do you?
I wrote quite a bit about John's grafitti when it was all going down and I am fine with most of the punishment. However, something that no one has mentioned yet is the 3 years he isn't supposed to touch art supplies. What exactly does that mean? No spray paint? No oil paint? No pens or pencils? How in the world is that even enforced?
I think what he did was wrong but after he serves his time I'd like for him to be able to pursue legal forms of artmaking.
I was gonna mention the massive ammounts of corporate advertisements cluttering the streets but Tones beat me to it; graffiti isnt all too different from advertisements except for the fact that graffiti isnt trying to coax you into buying shit. as far as borf being an artistic genius... well i agree with the earlier comment of "quantity over quality".
For me, graffitti is like the broken window theory. Basically, if you fail to fix a broken window and other related problems in your community, you invite bigger problems to come in. Its a slippy slope argument that has been used to discribe situations that may not have seemed "that bad", but given time they turn into something no one expected. Remember simple vandals and stupid kids have been the early foot soldiers for far greater crime to come.
graffiti isnt all too different from advertisements
Except that communities can pass laws to prevent advertisements from happening whenever/where ever they don't want them to be; graffiti bypasses these democratic processes to force the creators' ideas of what public space should be like, without any outside input from other community members.
"But instead I'll point out that kids in DC do have public spaces, and legal graf walls can and do exist."
…As long as you express yourself in a politically-correct way, passing trough a puritan censorship.
I agree with aster: mostly, he made me smile: the sense of someone daring. Destruction of property implies wanting to make it unusable…small line between mischief and destruction: depends on who is judging.
Worst of all on a much to harsh sentence: stay away from art supplies? Tell the poet not to write, and the singer what to sing. Tell the painter where and what to paint, …they write science fiction on those type of societies… but it’s just fiction…
It's incredibly easy to justify vandalism when it is on someone else's property, particularly 'public' property. But that space does not sit in the ether just waiting for someone to put their mark on it. That property has an owner, whether it be the city or your next door neighbor, and that owner is forced to expend resources to clean up that 'art.' Would his artwork still make you smile if it was on your office building? What about the side of your house? The humor you take from the situation does not detract from the act's illegality. A defaced street sign seems like a harmless crime but there are consequences and you need to grow up and realize it.
As long as you express yourself in a politically-correct way, passing trough a puritan censorship
What? Policitally-correct? What are you, Rush Limbaugh complaining about those damn liberals wanting to have community input on how spaces look? As for censorship, where do you even get this crap from? Do you just make it up as you go along? Did you go listen to some Against Me! to calm yourself down before eating your dumpstered freevegan dinner?
So he tagged in DC around HU, Manhattan, Boston...why never in McLean? Why never at the VA Courthouse or Clarendon Pottery Barn?
It's art until he tags your neighborhood.
Let him tag, let him graffiti - in his own city: Great Falls. We'll see how long they think he's some cool underground artist vs. spoiled brat.
Thanks, CDtrave, for pointing out the obvious to the supporters of lame-o "art." BORF's anti-social behavior, whatever you might call it, is certainly not "art," nor is not something the vast majority of the neighborhood I live in enjoyed.
My Adams Morgan apartment building was tagged by BORF. Our condo association had to spend several $1000's to clean it up.
Also, my neighborhood changed pretty quickly from a relatively clean area to one where nearly all of the street signs, cable boxes, bus stops, newspaper boxes, sidewalks, and any other surface had BORF's sophomoric philosophy scrawled on it. Classy, huh?
BORF's crimes were not victimless, and his sentence was far too light. He did the crime; he should do the time.
And before anybody accuses me of being some johny-come-lately gentrifier with no "cred," I've lived in my place for 12 years, long before Mr. BORF was even potty trained.
BORF was a menace, pure and simple. My neighborhood was nicer before he showed up, and I hope it will be nicer now that he's in the slammer.
Whatever, i like taggers, i like public art in all its forms, and it's silly for anyone here to be categorizing 'what is art' unless we want to get into some serious theory-laden discussions which have been going on elsewhere since DADA. But regardless, this kid is an idiot and his self-proclaimed anarchist status is probably pretty easy for a kid from great falls. I am a huge fan of the sentencing judge; everything she said was right on mark. Keep your suburbs out of my city!
"it's silly for anyone here to be categorizing 'what is art'"
Most people against Borf were not complaining that it was bad graffitti, but rather that he had put the markings up at all. It damages someone's property and that person has to pay money to get it removed. If anyone wants to be "edgy" or "outside the mainstream", they better be willing to pay the price. Breaking laws and hurting your fellow citizens is a great way to go to jail. Express yourself legally and democratically. Protest, write letters, or vote. Writing BORF everywhere makes no point and its just plain wrong.
the issue has NOTHING to do with:
1. his race
2. whether or not his work was art
3. his social class
4. where he is from
5. his talent
6. public art
7. his age
8. what neighborhood he tagged
9. his image
it has EVERYTHING to do with:
1. destruction of personal property
2. the laws of the district of columbia
Oh but race, social class, his home address vs the addresses he tagged just makes the conversation more interesting. The laws of DC and the crime committed determines the city's right (one of the few considering we have no representation in Congress) to punish him regardless of his fans might think. I LOVED what the sentencing judge said, right on!
Sean, I'm not 100% sure about 2, 5 or 6. The guy who faithfully executed a Mondrian reproduction on the walls of a Southwest DC underpass (can't find a link, sorry) just doesn't seem to fall into the same category as Borf.
To me, it's a moot point, since I don't think Borf gets points for style, art or talent, but I think they can be mitigating factors.
Sean, exactly, it has everything to do with destruction of personal property. Despite what graffiti apologists claim, taggers DO vandalize people's homes (as one of the above posters testified). More importantly, graffiti DOES give the impression to criminals that they're in a neighborhood where people don't care. I lived off of North Capitol St; the area was covered in graffiti and in general looked like a slum. Not surprisingly, people treated it like a slum.
To the people who believe that he got a light sentence, don't worry, there's no way this kid is going to stop tagging. He clearly grew up in a home where his misbehavior was "cute" and it would be a surprise if a month in jail will prevent him from violating his probation and ending up serving his full sentence. But then again, the DC Jail is supposed to be absolutely frightening, so maybe Borf will be "rehabilitated."
I saw footage of his bizarre behavior outside the courthouse on TV; I sincerely believe he is mentally ill and needs treatment.
I think the jail time is excessive, but this part of his punishment is spot on:
"And he must pay $12,000 in restitution, money that better not come out of his parents' bank accounts, the judge said. 'In other words,' she said, 'not the bogus jobs that your father gives you in New York . . . a real job, going to work like the people you demean, earning it with paychecks and the sweat of your own brow.'"
Now THAT is justice. This overprivileged kid from Virginia might finally understand how hard most people in the District have to work to earn the amount of money it costs to clean up the remnants of his boredom. We'll see how put-upon by society he feels then.
Also, will somebody please venture to the suburbs and explain to these kids what anarchism actually is?? I bet if you polled everyone who has spray painted a circle A on a street sign / utility box / etc., less than 5% of them would be able to explain the philosophy in a coherent manner without using the term "The Man".
Judge Leibovitz hit the nail on the head! Perfect! Absolutely perfect!
love live COOL DISCO DAN!
DUH
lets try:
LONG LIVE COOL DISCO DAN
I would love for John to learn from his time in the DC Jail, but I predict the only thing he'll learn is that he'll then have the street cred of an ex-con. If we thought it was hillarious to see a great falls teen complain about wealth, how annoying will he be when he can claim some jail time?
I'm not saying he shouldn't be sent there, I'm just pretty sure it'll do no good.
I agree with DC 1974, send him to some other city where they tolerate his crap (or more likely, where he'll learn that public art is more than just ambitious tags).
That judge should forcibly removed from the bench. the kid tagged property, boo hoo. now he gets the chance to be assraped in one of the worst jails in the US by serious criminals for 30 days and nights. I don't see how the punishment fits the crime.
The kid got jailtime for violating terms of the plea agreement that originally kept him out of jail. The kid is a recidivist, so his punishment is being increased.
That judge should forcibly removed from the bench
For some reason this reminded me of a joke:
Q: How many anarchists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Anarchists can't change anything.
whatsfunny is that jake dobkin who runs gothamist of which dcist is an offshoot also runs streetsty.com--a pro-street art site. you'll see click through ads on it here from time to time. and while all of you are making your grand points about how bad graf/street art is, he's out there taking pics of street art in NYC and in DC when he comes to town--just cuz he likes too. so in the end you guys are the clowns. now get back to your stupid desk job and quit wasting company time.
whatsfunny -
The post, written by a DCist writer, does not pass judgment either way. The comments do and they do not reflect anything about DCist or Gothamist. In fact, none of the above comments are written by DCist writers. Your stupidity and those who you likely support was made perfectly clear by your comments and lack of understanding. Get a clue bro!
hey bro whatsfunnyisanidiot,
like i said facts are facts and is all i said. i actually like this writers non-snarky piece--a first for DCist on commenting about Borf's art. and the name-calling on your part is a bit immature to say the least. are you a pro street-art dcist staff who felt attacked? if so you misread my comments completely. why dont you let jake guest write a piece on borf. i for one would love it. much better than godspeed, and the rest of you who have taken turns writing on this.
-mark
Bro Mark Whatsfunnyisanidiot,
Perhaps you should write more clearly. Here's what you wrote broken down:
1) jake dobkin who runs gothamist of which dcist is an offshoot
2) while all of you are making your grand points about how bad graf/street art is
3) he's out there taking pics of street art in NYC and in DC when he comes to town--just cuz he likes too
4) you guys are the clowns. now get back to your stupid desk job and quit wasting company time
So you are referring to:
1) Jake/Gothamist/DCist
2) Non-DCist writers who are commenting
3) Jake/Gothamist/DCist
4) Non-DCist writers who are commenting
If I am correct in breaking down your writing, then obviously it is very well written and easily understood.
While I'm at it, I believe you threw out the first name-calling when you called SOMEONE a "clown" and said that SOMEONE's job was "stupid," whoever SOMEONE is.
Stick to the streets kid, they are suited for you.
Mark/Whats funny-
Do you live at home w/ Mommy in Great Falls, too? Because you probably wouldn't be so defensive of Borf if you owned property in the expensive city we DC residents call home!!!
Hey go easy on Mark. Don't you see he's too poor even to afford capital letters at the start of each sentence?
According to this article, the judge stipulated that Borf was neither to carry art supplies between his home and school nor to be in the District for any purposes other than to go to school. But this restriction only held until his sentencing (yesterday). The artist is now free to carry whatever he likes and take things wherever he pleases, once he's served his sentence, of course.
whatsfunny - After you've (1) worked hard to fix up a house that you can barely afford so your children have a nice place to live, and (2) you've particpated in community safety meetings so you and your neighbors will not have to be as worried about violence, then you can advocate for graffiti being a good thing. Until then, go away and thank your parents for paying your rent. Grow up, child.
Borf is an artist. And what he's done should be recognized as what it is -- art. The artistic intregity is undoubtable, the only question is where the said art was placed. Borf is grown up. Borf knows the consequences. Don't you think that it's admirable to be admired by all for daring stunts like climbing on a cat walk above cars speeding by, getting his name and image known to a ridiculous extent among people everywhere-- I live in the bay area and see Borf tags every week or so on a very consistent basis. The fact is, Borf should be admired, not admonished, for being smart enough and prolific enough to recognize what he does best. And he does it very well.