August 3, 2006
A March for Borf
We had mentioned Borf's "video communique release and street party" a couple of times before, and even though it's been a few days, we thought we'd share DCist's experience at the event.
After waiting for about an hour at 11th and O NW on Saturday night, it seemed like the 100 people in attendance (plus a fair number of police officers) had been punk'd. However, there eventually was a brief video about depression, gentrification, and purple nurples, followed by a pretty orderly march to Dupont Circle.
The crowd started to form just before 9:30 p.m., with a couple of police cars and plainclothes officers hanging around conspicuosly. Eventually about 100 people gathered, many with bikes. Most appeared to be college age or younger and art school looking, and many seemed to know each other. Almost from the start some people wondered if the event was a joke, although the police obviously took it seriously, as MPD SUVs continued to show up and a helicopter even flew around, shining its spotlight on the crowd. Eventually someone turned on a projector in a parked car and the "video communique" began, projected against a wall.
Photo by Andrew Wiseman
Lasting about a minute, the video started with a clip of a young kid, easily recognizable as the face on Borf's graffiti. The Post reported last year that the kid pictured in Borf's graffiti was John Tsombikos' childhood friend, who committed suicide about three years ago. Then a group of people in terrorist garb (ski masks, etc) came on screen and a speaker, who sounded about 16, talked about depression and gentrification, among other things, using metaphors about twisting the nipple of America. The speaker said that the only response to depression and gentrification was to vandalize property, and later seemed to be affiliating the group with the youths in the 2005 Paris riots. Soon the video ended, somebody unfurled a banner reading "Your investments are our playgrounds", a black flag, the traditional anarchist symbol, and music started playing from a speaker on a bike. The people with the flag, banner and speaker started to head down the middle of 11th Street and most of the group went with them.
Yelling and clapping, the group marched onto N and up 14th, blocking traffic briefly and tossing some toilet paper rolls, but generally well-behaved. Perhaps surprisingly, the group didn't stop in front of Whole Foods (arguably the chief gentrifier of the neighborhood) and continued past the bemused diners along P Street. A few people directed the group to turn here or there and a few wore carnival masks, but there didn't seem to be much organization. The police followed the whole way in cars and didn't try to stop the march, besides pulling alongside for a bit on 14th Street and turning on the sirens a few times. When the group turned up narrow, one way Church Street going the wrong way, they walked around stopped cars and ran the banner over the them. There were a few honkers along the route, but most pedestrians and drivers seemed more curious or unimpressed. Eventually the group closed on Dupont Circle and the police tried to direct the march onto the sidewalk, but the marchers deferred and continued, briefly stopping traffic again. Once in the circle, the old school rap and funk continued and some people danced a bit until petering out by about midnight.
While pretty loosely organized, a graffiti artist calling himself Bronx Lee said the event was a success. He said the event was put on by "an anonymous group of Borf supporters" and that "Borf gets support from the graffiti community." A couple of 14-year-old DCPS students, who said they were graffiti artists themselves, agreed, calling the event "awesome." Tsombikos himself didn't make an appearance, but rumor in the circle had it that he was there, incognito. Probably a wise idea, since he still has about a year of probation.
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Weird...although I would have liked to been there to see.
Awesome. There is hope for this city yet. Wish I could have been there. Reminds me of the gentrification battles in SF in the late 90s. A little bit Critical Mass about it too.
The Paris Riots?
So Borf is really working for enfranchisement and job opportunities for young North African immigrants in France?
That should count for community service.
Exactly what DC needs...more grafitti! Heaven forbid successful people try and make a home in this city as opposed to the sub-human anti-social animals that destroyed this city in the past (Yes, I am talking about you Ward 8).
Down with anyone with an advanced degree! Up with low skilled make work jobs for criminal thugs! Death to all who have jobs and futures (throat slitting being the preferred method)!
Guess what folks. Gentrification WORKS! Gentrification rewards people with real talent and rewards those who work hard! Gentrification penalizes those who are lazy, or incompentent, or unable to live in a decent society.
Every day I am thankful for gentrification, for saving this city, and for making DC a decent place for people like me, successful people, winners, to live and work.
I always smirk when I see Critical Mass type events here, if only for the underwhelming level of participation and support. Places like Berkely and Chicago have monthly rides that sut streets and provoke large support or annoyance. In DC, it's usually like 10 people on bikes yelling some undecipherable screed against globalization.
for the love of god, dc1974, please stop talking about california. please please please please.
Um, I may be wrong here, but I think dcist is citing the wrong Paris riots. Since Borf's followers peddle themselves as "situationists", and halfasshed ones at that, they're probably referring to the 1968 Paris uprising.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1968
Ironically, these are the same priveleged booshwa suburban white folk who won't be able to afford Shaw once they graduate artschool, and will have to gentrify Northeast DC in another 10 years. But of course, they'll call it something else by then, and it will be TOTALLY different.
borfwhatajoke, your racism is showing...
BorfWhatAJoke...silly boi, gentrification is for bigots...
how about an inclusionary solution as opposed to an oppressive one...
...you smell stinky
...faux pas...should read "inclusive"
Monkeyrotica, you may be right, they weren't clear. They said something like "our brothers in Paris" and then said one sentence in French. I assumed it's the most recent riots since "our brothers" from 1968 would be out of date, but who knows.
To all anarchists: Feel free to move to Somalia and spray your graffiti there. Thanks.
These kids are hilarious. I don't even have to wish them lousy futures or anything, since the microbes from the food they dumpster-dive (you know, to be more street. sympathize with the oppressed peoples shackled down by the capitalist aggressor) will do that for me. Thanks for ensuring your short existence.
Ahhh, I love naively idealistic kids. Yes, ideally everyone can work/live together once the temporary housing boom cools, but some of these ideas are just so silly you can tell they have no economic basis other than "feel-good" economics. The best part of all is most people bashing "gentrifiers " in DC are actually themselves gentrifiers, college educated kids who just haven't sold their souls to corporate America... YET. Yes that’s you like it or not. Talk to me in 10 years when you grow up. And stop with the “anyone who disagrees with me is just racist”… what a weak closed-minded way of defending your ideas, maybe all these people should go work for the Bush administration... you agree with me or you are a terrorist!
Or we could just live in a city void of all retail and private investment, why not make it the murder capital/most violent city in America at the same time, but at least we won’t have white collar people in our city and we’ll have really cheap housing.
Where is Tsombokis from again, oh thats right, the suburbs... I could see someone fighting against gentrification and redevelopment in their own backyard, but its not like this kid has exactly been hurt by this. I am sure that the money for his paint and all of his transportation into and out of the city came from Mom and Dad who if living in this area, are either part of the gentrifiers themselves, or enabling them, as just about anyone living in the area with an internet connection is.
If Tsombokis were some poor kid from the city who was or had friends who were getting their houses bulldozed down, then maybe I would have some sympathy. But going out and defacing places like Dupont, a favorite of Borf's, and chocking it up to a fight against gentrification is such bunk; when's the last time that the places he Borf'd in Dupont were all that underdeveloped? So far as I know Connecticut and Mass Aves have been just as upity as they are now for the better part of 20 years.
Do these kids also understand all of the artsy venues going in in the 'gentrified' areas? Gallery after gallery all over logan displays work by locals and provides an outlet other than a garbage can or mailbox for artists to show there warez...
Join a real fight and fight against poverty and injustice, not economic development!
They're just kids. It's good to see that they're getting outside, even if it is for a non-cause like Borf. At least they aren't at home watching Access Hollywood.
Remind me again about how a kid from Great Falls has sympathy for those affected by gentrification? Not saying that he can't have it - but it seems quite naive considering he hasn't lived on the Earth for all that long! Also, how does defacing other people's property solve ANYTHING? Sounds like him and his followers could use that energy in a much more positive way!
Who Me? yep, that's me... i kicked some rich white guy out of his 3,000.00 dollar a month flat...just so i could be the 1st black guy in the building...albeit, i did start in shaw in and made my way west...i wonder where the displaced guy moved to...NOVA maybe (i hope his family is ok, but really i could careless)
Repeat after me:
borf is not news worthy.
borf is not news worthy.
borf is not news worthy.
please do not waste cyberspace on this anymore.
Thanks
I'm glad DC has something like Borf right now. Yell all you want about, "Oh, he'sjust a spoiled kid from Northern Va coming into the city and destroying our property," but the city needed SOMEONE to get some sort of underground, interesting, LOCALLY CULTURAL thing going on. I was at this rally, and it was kind of exciting to see 70 people walk down the middle of the street in protest of something local, not just the hot-button issue of the day on capitol hill. I just wish that if Borf was true to its supposed causes of revolting against corporations and government that it would focus its operations on places like K Street and Gallery Place (afterall, Verizon did do some of its own graffiti in an ad campaign) instead of random homes and buildings in Columbia Heights.
that event sounds about as climatic as a bout of flatulence.
what a bunch of idiots.
you know who I'm not sick of hearing about? yeah, borf.
"It's good to see that they're getting outside, even if it is for a non-cause like Borf. At least they aren't at home watching Access Hollywood." I'd rather they stay indoors and watch TV 24-7, or maybe get addicted to video games or something. Better that than blocking streets, spray painting graffiti, and causing mayhem in general. Spoiled, self-indulgent little punks - the city is not your playground.
"They're just kids. It's good to see that they're getting outside, even if it is for a non-cause like Borf. At least they aren't at home watching Access Hollywood."
Amen. Although I think the right response to kids like this is to point out to them where they're being silly. They probably won't listen to you, but the sooner they hear, for example, a reasoned argument why private property is not evil, the sooner they'll start developing more sophisticated positions, regardless of their conclusions. Simply poo-pooing them will only stoke their naive idealistic convictions. Also I think it's important to punish them for whatever damage they cause.
But yes, this is still much better than worrying about Tom Cruise's baby, which afflicts a disturbing amount people, particularly full-grown adults, sadly.
borf wins because you all talk about him all the tiime, negative or positive.
this is ridiculous, and exactly what this town needs. but he's no mark jenkins
also:
"but the city needed SOMEONE to get some sort of underground, interesting, LOCALLY CULTURAL thing going on."
You clearly don't pay enough attention to the civic society that DC is. There are countless community groups and organizations dedicated to local issues and fights. No they don't march very often, but that's because marching is not a particularly effective means to actually accomplish anything worthwhile. It expends a lot of manpower and its accomplishments are truly fleeting.
If you really want to see community engagement in action, join a community group, don't stand around K St. waiting for the revolution.
Here here vwllss! Now if only that local culture he is helping to spur on would create some kind of art or music scene in the district (like how we used to have about 25 years ago). You know, something with a little bit more substance to it than self satisfied mindless orating...we have enough of that going on as it is now.
"I'd rather they stay indoors and watch TV 24-7, or maybe get addicted to video games or something. Better that than blocking streets, spray painting graffiti, and causing mayhem in general. Spoiled, self-indulgent little punks - the city is not your playground."
how old is the average reader of dcist? 70? get off my lawn whippersnappers! go make yourselves useful, run down to the corner store, and get me some werther's originals and metamucil!
and yes, borf gets people talking, so thats one W in the books
"Here here vwllss! Now if only that local culture he is helping to spur on would create some kind of art or music scene in the district (like how we used to have about 25 years ago). You know, something with a little bit more substance to it than self satisfied mindless orating...we have enough of that going on as it is now."
I agree, and that has been my problem with the idea of borf from the beginning, that it wasn't really clear what the movement stood for. Now I guess they're moving it in some sort of "substantive" direction, but youth movements have a history of dying out, as, well, everyone eventually grows older.
But I mean, even if John was to say something from the get-go like "its meant to make you question your surroundings" or something, like legendary street artist Shepard Fairey did with the obeygiant street-art campaign, then I personally would feel more secure in support of the idea of borf.
it would be great if a sort of underground music/art scene built on this, because the most nationally notable music scene dc has going for it now are all leftovers from a bygone era (ie dischord). hopefully this is starting something.
The problem with BORF is that he has absolutely fuck-all to say. I can't knock him from coming from a decent to well-to-do suburban background because I'm cut from the same stock. What I can criticize him and a lot of his cohorts for making light of the struggles of truly opressed and downtrodden people.
These kids have no idea what was going in France in fall of 2005, let alone 1968. I lived and worked in the Parisian suburb of Evry, where some of the violence spilled over. Not only do African and Arab kids have to deal with outright racism, b ut also the fact that many of them (despite being born and raised in France) are still viewed as "foreigners." BORF and his cronies could never in their wildest dreams imagine what it's like to be rejected by an entire society on such harsh terms.
And while I'm at it, I'd like to say "Fuck Off" to any of the middle class American kid who is screaming for anarchism/communism internationally.
Your fathers (as well your cousins in Europe) imposed capitalism and market economics on the rest of the world.
As soon as any of us started making some money, you start screaming about collective farming and overthrow of government. Die slow, and please think about reading "Das Kapital" before you start misquoting the "Communist Manifesto."
PS BORF, you ain't no futura, so stop trying.
Actually, I'm willing to bet they were referring to the Paris Commune of 1871 which inspired all subsequent anarchist movements. I don't know how to html but here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Commune
No seriously, these kids are actively learning about media manipulation, instead of just being its targets. Granted, they have no substance behind their tactics, but if they could be turned on to some sort of substance, the tactical experience could be quite valuable. Given that they are vaguely interested in the issues of economic disparity and social justice, even if in a completely dysfunctional and tangential way, they are one important life experience (and a couple years of research and education) away from becoming positive community activists. They shouldn't be fought as though they are fully-matured partisans entirely representative of the views they espouse, they should have their energy directed towards realistically effective outlets, like law school, public office, congressional lobbying, and the like. The city needs teachers, public defenders, legal observers, watchdog agencies, police, and responsible developers and investors, and one day, when they're embarrassed to admit that they marched for Borf, they might still credit this trivial experience with starting them down the right path.
"...don't stand around K St. waiting for the revolution."
What if I bought one of those nifty "Stop Bitching and Start a Revolution" tee shirts while standing on K Street?
On some reflection, I instead prefer to think they were signalling their allegiance to Stravinsky's most outspoken critics.
Let their voices be heard if Steve Reich dares return to the Kennedy Center without tape loops.
Wish I could have been there....I would have stolen one of these bratty kids' bikes, because what's theirs is mine. Why becasue I said so, just like when they say our investmetns are their playgrounds.
my wife and i were out biking around dc saturday night when we stopped to rest at dupont circle. all of a sudden a large group of kids rolled up on bikes and started playing music and dancing.
they were accompanied by about 6 DC cop cars and probably 8-10 cops, watching from nearby. at first i thought it was one of those lame 'happenings' staged by mountain dew or something, and i kept looking for cameras, there were a few. then i suggested that perhaps it was a graduating class of privileged white kids from a dc highschool celebrating graduation, like senator's kids, because of all the cops watching. eventually we asked the cops and they told us it was a BORF rally, i then burst out laughing. later i thought it kind of sad that in the midst of a DC crime wave, the city had pulled these cops from more pressing duties to monitor a bunch of kids riding around the city.
I've gotta agree with vwllss. It's good for DC to have some underground something going on. Of course this group is ridiculous, but colorful characters make living in the city fun. If people don't want fringe lunatics marching on their streets, move to Rockville.
The only real downside to last night is that so many cops were needed to escort them - rather than protecting citizens during this crime emergency.
Not to be picky, BUT the "crime emergency" was sooooo July -- check the latest stats (crime numbers are way way down in August!)...
"Actually, I'm willing to bet they were referring to the Paris Commune of 1871 which inspired all subsequent anarchist movements."
My guess is that none of those kids have ever even heard of the Franco-Prussian War, let alone the Paris Commune of 1871. Perhaps they were inspired by the revolutions of 1848, or the Battle of Borodino, or Tsar Alexander II freeing the serfs... c'mon, they're just hooligans in need of a good, Singapore-style caning.
No, Ted. I've met Borf and a bunch of his friends and some of them are pretty heavily into anarchist theory...hence my bet remains that the brothers in Paris to whom they referred were those involved in the Paris commune. Your knee-jerk negativity is awesome, though.
Yeah caning! Nothing changes minds, especially young ones, like a little violent retribution. I imagine they'd all go sign up for their realtor certification before the welts had even stopped throbbing! We need more innovative social scientists like Ted in the juvenile justice system. His particular brand of can-do (cane-do?! HA!) take-charge no-nonsense discipline would undoubtedly clean up those hooligans' acts quicker than a sandblaster on a vandalized storefront.
"...but the city needed SOMEONE to get some sort of underground, interesting, LOCALLY CULTURAL thing going on."
Yes. And just recently, the city got just that courtesy of Damian Sinclair and Julianne Brienza, who built the Capitol Fringe Festival from the ground up, filled DC with great performing arts and--wait for it--didn't end up breaking any laws OR touching off the usual worthless gentrification debate.
I could easily trade all the participants in Borfery for another pair of people like SInclair and Brienza. Hell, if I could snap my fingers and banish Tsombikos and every single one of the joyriding, art-BS, tourist ninnies that surf in his stank wake to a life of white slavery and daily beatings in the center of the Sun, I would have already done it.
These 'marchers' are spoiled little punks. The 'art' they spray on buildings is quite indiscriminate - I've seen Borf tags on the homes of poor elderly people in DC, and on the facades of struggling local businesses.
If I ever see one of these losers tagging something that's dear to me, whether I actually own it or not, I plan on kicking him in the nuts, really hard.
What's really stupid, though, is that they present absolutely no alternative to the society they claim to hate so much. We get rid of private property? Really? Yeah, that worked so well in every place it's been tried on a large scale in the history of mankind.
They are self-indulged, narcissistic little punks without a new, useful, or creative thought amongst the whole bunch.
Graffitti was last cool around 1979. These white posers like Borf are absolutel jackasses. Taggers: the joke's on you
In re: the brothers in Paris. After the race riots there were youth riots over labor laws. Those were most likely the ones referred to by our borfists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_labor_protests_in_France
In fact, I think you can still see a flyer pasted on a window around 14th & T, west side, advertising a punk-themed "solidarity rally" with the youth of France. I wonder how the turnout was for that.
I think it's perfectly OK for college kids to engage in this sort of thing, and be exposed to something besides business courses. After all, they need to do it now, because in 5 years they'll be wearing pinstripes and driving a minivan. Sorry, but that's how life works. Once you have a mortgage, all that idealistic stuff is the first thing to go.
Ezra, I think you've got the correct "brothers of Paris" tie-in.
Two identical groups of priveleged, white, upper-middle class perpetual students trying desperately to link their faux-anarchist lifestyle with truly oppressed minorities in order to validate their miserable, pampered lives.
And both tried to read Foucault for Dummies but only managed to get three pages into it before losing interest.
to everyone bringing up the fact of their upper-class, educated place in society, not to put more substance and meaning on what borf is doing than there really is, but how do you think a lot of revolutions through history got started? Are you familiar with Fidel Castro and Che Guevera's backgrounds? Simon Bolivar? Vladimir Lenin?
if you're down for the cause, you're down for the cause. if there's a problem in society, don't tell someone they don't have the right to try and right the wrong, just because YOU think they can't really sympathize with the problem.
"borf gets people talking, so thats one W in the books"
I must be missing something here...can someone explain to me what borf "wins" by having people engage in the debate over his message or merit? Last time I checked, Tsombokis was on parole after serving time in the DC jail, a status I hardly classify as that of a "winner." More like a loser.
"don't tell someone they don't have the right to try and right the wrong"
"Are you familiar with Fidel Castro and Che Guevera's backgrounds?"
I also don't get this level of denial directed at those criticizing the hypocrisy and meaningless of borf's message. If a social message is supposed to be worth something, shouldn't it apply to the entirety of society, not just a liberal urban enclave like Dupont Circle?
Comparing borf/Tsombokis to Castro, Lenin, et al is a complete joke, given that the little shit can't or won't try his self-styled revolution in his own more conservative and much less-tolerant-of-difference back yard.
If he and his "followers" are so committed to change, shouldn't their revolution begin at home?
It's not that people don't think they are allowed to be for a cause, it's that no one really believes they're ACTUALLY for the cause. That's why people make hay out of their backgrounds; because it's so very likely that they wouldn't really give up the benefits of that background to get what they say they want. They're catalog bohemians. Raising the fist because it gives them a sense of empowerment over their elders, but certainly not willing to step outside the zone of protection created by those elders.
And I don't know about others, but I'll mock anyone that is or claims to be an anarchist. No matter what their background.
vwllss - Now who's being naive Marge? These kids are down for the cause until being down means they have to give up their $800 bicycles and faux vintage Hollister clothes. Barf and his assclown posse vandalize people's homes and property because they know that there is no chance of them ending up in a place like Oak Hill if they get busted.
I'll drink to that!
Me too! Right on Reid!
I don't think its a joke at all to compare what borf is about to castro and them. I'm not saying what the Borf movement is doing is as important and on the same scale as these legendary revolutions, but in practice, it is very fair to compare them.
"I must be missing something here...can someone explain to me what borf "wins" by having people engage in the debate over his message or merit? Last time I checked, Tsombokis was on parole after serving time in the DC jail, a status I hardly classify as that of a "winner." More like a loser."
Jon took one for the team. Castro went to jail when they first tried to revolt in 53. but when he was released, the movement grew, just as Borf is doing now, and you see that its more than just tsombikos. It's growing. whether or not ALL of the people at the rally on saturday really believed in the cause or were just stopping by, its unknown. But like Castro and them hiding in the sierra maestra for a few years, people started talking and their profile grew.
"Comparing borf/Tsombokis to Castro, Lenin, et al is a complete joke, given that the little shit can't or won't try his self-styled revolution in his own more conservative and much less-tolerant-of-difference back yard."
okay, i guess you might not be really familiar with these revolutionaries' backgrounds, and more importantly, the point i'm trying to make. Where was Che from? Oh, that's right. Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he lived comfortably with his Dr. Dad. What about Castro? Oh, he went to law school? That's cool. The point is, and talk about being naive, is that if you are down (as stated, whether these kids really are or not is debatable), it doesn't matter what class in society you're from. To be a spectator, like everyone is on dcist, and cast off this borf movement based on its members social standing is pretty elementary.
However, the point that Hill Rat made might have some validity to it, but really, its making generalizations about kids we don't know personally. Are they really down for the cause? We don't know. But Judging them on Tsombikos' background and how he dealt with Borf when he was caught is flawed. What did he do when he went to court? Showed up in a paint covered coat, didn't show much remorse for what he did, and while he did have a personal lawyer, that couldn't get him completely off the hook as Tsombikos' wasn't trying very hard, and he ultimately went to jail for a month among other things. Now, we can all presume that his parents may cover the $$$ he has to pay, but that's an assumption. Has anyone here talked to Mr. and Mrs. Tsombikos recently? Anyone in here their accountant? Did he write a check to the dc gov. recently? you don't know? that's what i thought.
Borf is a toy.
Art students need to read the whole assignment, not just the first few paragraphs.
these are just frightened little children...
Let Borf spray his graffiti in Great Falls where he lives, not in my city.
vwllss' lengthy post does raise some interesting questions. One in particular is: "Do they give out a Nobel Prize for self-delusion?"
vwllssL
Castro, Che and other revolutionaries were rebelling against a corrupt authoritarian structure. What is Borf's cause? He doesn't like work? He doesn't like property ownership? He opposes anti-graffiti laws? He's not fighting against Batista or Duvallier or Pinochet here - and frankly, to posit that the current DC administration (as opposed to the head of the national government) is somehow like Batista or Pinochet is a ludicrous overstatement. And that comes from someone who opposed the crime emergency bill.
In addition, Borf's own statements to the Post and coverage in the City Paper encouraged my belief that he didn't see jail as a "deprivation" - he welcomed his sentence with sullen arrogance because he thought it made him a martyr for the cause. That's not giving anything up for his beliefs, like Castro taking to the hills or Mao taking to the caves.
And let's be realistic: he wasn't a political prisoner. He wasn't put in jail because of his beliefs. He was put in jail because he couldn't think of any way to get those beliefs across without defacing someone else's property. I don't need to know his financial situation to know that what he did wasn't necessary - he had many alternatives to the form of speech he chose to impose on the District of Columbia.
Finally, I think you undermine your own argument by invoking Castro. He's a better example of hypocrisy than Borf.
I understand where your sympathies lie, I think - and I don't think you're wrong. I just think it's going to be difficult to muster support in D.C. for any cause when Borf is the figurehead.
Now if only that local culture he is helping to spur on would create some kind of art or music scene in the district (like how we used to have about 25 years ago).
Har. There's plenty of live and local music available to anyone who wants to go see it here in DC. There's a whole "scene" of young bands that tour and live the low budget rock & roll dream and that's in addition to the ubiquitous Chuck Brown and pretty much every go-go band on the face of the planet. Slightly more established scenesters can be found at the Black Cat before they totally sell out and open for immortal GWAR on their yearly stop at the 9:30 Club.
But enough about the music, DC has a thriving theater community as well. I'm not an artsy guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I've still managed to see a half dozen different plays put on by various local theater companies over the last ten years.
The idea that DC has no art or music scene is ludicrous. Does it have a homogenized, centralized, sanitized 'Arts District' complete with parking? No, but there are plenty of real, professional, hard working actors and musicians putting out all over this city.
Ditto what Jim said.
The idea that borf's "movement" stands for or takes actions as significant as anything that communist revolutionaries did is utter, self-delusional lunacy.
Here are some fundamental questions: Do borf-ies pay rent? Do they purchase groceries and consumer products to survive? Do they shop anywhere that sells imported goods?
If the answer to any of these is "yes" than they're obviously not "down" for their cause, whatever it may be. Last time I checked, Tsombokis was living with mommy and daddy, and I'm sure they were footing his legal bills, as well (representation like he had in court does not work in trade for third-rate art). I'd say it's not much of a stretch to assume that the other banner-carriers haven't rejected the capitalist system either, no matter how loudly they whine about its repressions.
If they don't like private property rights or they're anarchists or they're sticking it to "the man," then they should squat in property they don't own and steal what they need to survive. Until they do, let's forget arguing about whether they have a cause and are making a serious commitment to it.
Petty vandalism, sophomoric slogans and silly dance parties aren't changing diddly. If their goal is simply to annoy people, then horray for them for succeeding.
"The idea that borf's "movement" stands for or takes actions as significant as anything that communist revolutionaries did is utter, self-delusional lunacy."
wow, i know this is a DC blog now. taking things out of context of the original statement, or just plain ignoring parts of statements, and twisting them around is nature in this city. does everyone who reads this site work for the Bush administration or something? to quote myself:
"I'm not saying what the Borf movement is doing is as important and on the same scale as these legendary revolutions, but in practice, it is very fair to compare them."
Dude - I reiterate: he wasn't put in jail for the content of his speech, but for the method of delivery. He wasn't sentenced to DC jail because he espoused a belief in the relative unimportance of the 9-5 workday.
That's where your comparison is not particularly apt - he didn't deface buildings because it was the only way to achieve his methods, which is (arguably) true for Castro's attempts to overthrow Batista. He spray-painted private property because it was the easiest way for him to put up his message. He's Turk 182, not Kemal Ataturk.
I will also assert, as I have said elsewhere, that the content of his graffiti is on the level of Sark, "Dance Naked In the Moonlight." He's not exactly bringing revolutionary thought to the masses with "grown ups are obsolete." And most of his tags were more along the self-aggrandizing lines of "Borf is good for your lungs" or "Borf writes letters to your children."
I would also reiterate, consider the comparison to Castro. Shall we, 50 years from now, see the spray paint can handed over to Raul Borf?
Wow, good for you, vwlls. You can quote yourself. What an accomplishment. About as meaningful as scribbling "borf" on every inanimate object in a 1 mile radius around dupont circle.
Look, you can't have it both ways. Either stand up for the comparison you're making (borf= start of a great revolution) or admit that these kids are just acting out some adolescent angst in the same silly ways as other teenagers have been doing for time immemorial.
BTW, here's another of your quotes:
So what are you really trying to say?
Since you're one of the borf-ies, that's probably asking for too much of a commitment on your part. Have fun mindlessly repeating your like some kind of wind-up chairman mao automaton.
"
Um, I may be wrong here, but I think dcist is citing the wrong Paris riots. Since Borf's followers peddle themselves as "situationists", and halfasshed ones at that, they're probably referring to the 1968 Paris uprising.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1968"
No, he was specifically referencing the more recent uprisings in France. The combination of the Banlieue Rebellion in 2005 and the General Strike from this past Spring. A lot of people have obviously drawn continuity between May 68 and the recent events in France, but judging by the references to precarity made in the video (labor precarity being a major battle issue in the current events), the collective that put together the video was referencing the current struggle.
For more on what I'm talking about, I'd recommend checking out www.libcom.org/blog
It's a blog that did first hand english language documentation of the university and high-school strike that eventually turned into a General Strike. The major issue at stake was, for those that don't remember, the introduction of the Contrat Première Embauche, which would have made it easier to fire anyone under the age of 26--a big deal to Europeans, especially the young. The whole came out of the 2005 Banlieue Rebellion.
Something that does really concern me about a lot of the comments here:
(1) Clearly, a significant amount of teenagers were involved in the production of this video. Expecting someone in that to have the political acumen of a fully-fledged Karl Marx is absurd.
(2) Simply dismissing the views of someone because they come from a priveleged background and therefore, in your mind, are incapable of speaking against gentrification is simply absurd.
(3) One guy on here called him "self-aggrandizing" for writing "Borf writes letters" to your children. I'm thinking the point of a lot of that graffiti was to invoke childishness and playfulness. It misses the point a bit. This clearly wasn't supposed to be a serious enterprise or a be-all, end-all, summation, ultimate solution to the problem of gentrification. It was a kid with a marker and some paint fucking around doing graf who hit upon a really brilliant viral agit-prop campaign.
There was a guy in the video wearing a big foam hand (like the kind you get a sporting events) over his head with the fingers cut down just to the middle one. And a guy in a gorrilla mask. And a guy holding an accordian.
I'm thinking there might have been a joke at work here.
But whatever. As someone who had to do time for political graffiti, I salute the whole project. And I had a great time that night.
Hey, I don't think I missed the point of "Borf writes letters to your children," or of the large phallic graffiti that accompanied "Borf is good for your lungs." It was self-aggrandizing, and at the same time childish. (Maybe you meant "child-like"). I don't think he had a particularly strong "political" motivation for writing it at the time - I think he is in a state of delayed adolescence and denial about what's happening in the world around him, and he has an overly simplistic idea of how to deal with problems, is what I think.
You may be right that he hit on some brilliant viral agit-prop idea. But the political motivations being ascribed to him at this point don't seem to bear much relationship to what he actually wrote during his 15 minutes.
And if you did time for "political" graffiti, how much of that sentence do you think was due to the politics, and how much to the graffiti? Was there really no other way to get your message across? Did you only put your message on the property of relevant state actors, so as to minimize damage to private citizens who might possibly be sympathetic to your cause? Did you have adequate representation for trial? Did you plead guilty? Do you think you received any preferential treatment as opposed to other first-time offenders in the same court system (D.C. or wherever)?
I did two months time for spray-painting STOP RAPE on various walls at Virginia Tech (and VODKA IS NOT A LUBRICANT) in 2002, after a series of rapes occured on campus and under the auspices of the school's Greek system and football team (the story of Michael Vick's brother being a wonderful example of the situation that occurs in universities).
I can say with a decent amount of authority that I got sent up (it was a group of people involved although I got the only jail time) because of the politics. The school was attempting to shut down a burgeoning radical political sentiment among its students and, probably of more concern to them, their professors. Those involved were also related to a growing anti-student debt movement and the year before the campus exploded when the school police arrested a black professor in his own classroom at the insistence of a random white professor. The year AFTER I got kicked out, the school exploded again when the administration attempted to rewrite its policies to deny a position to a female professor with a female partner. And then recently there was something about them trying to kill affirmative action. and so on and so forth. So yeah, it was about politics.
And yes, I did mean childish, not child-like. Occassionally, dumb, silly, immature, wanker crap is what's needed. And judging by the Washington Post interview with Tsomblikos AND the fact that a decent number of the people who showed up at the march are people that I recognize as having been seriously involved in various activist work to fight what they see as destructive political policy (to varying degrees of effectiveness. I'm not here to get into an argument about whether the projects activists pick up always work).
And since he started doing this work when he was 16, Borf WAS an adolescent so saying he is in a state of delayed adolescence doesn't make any sense. He was 18 when he got arrested. Not 30. (also, it should be noted that this appears to not have been coordinated by the initial Borf but by a group of sympathizers)
And again, the video communique featured a kid whearing a foam hand for a hat and another kid wearing a gorilla mask. None of that was supposed to be cogent, serious, coherent, totalizing political movement-making. It was MCing to a crowd of like-minded radicals and people who were just generally curious. And anyone who gets offended by that kind of antics needs to go read some comic books for a bit and relax.
I mean, come on, think about this:
Would you rather listen to annoying whiny ass radicals who take themselves ENTIRELY too seriously (something I've done) and engage in propaganda that has less entertainment value than your average door-to-door Christian tract distribution nut OR would you rather see people wearing gorilla masks make tongue-in-cheek "terrorist" videos and painting some really rather high-quality stencils around the city?
I totally wrote a sentence so long that I left off the ending.
The one that starts "And juding by..." was meant to end ", I'm thinking that there is a fairly decent level of political intelligence behind this."
tee hee. la la.
Legba:
Well, given the choice, I'd rather see people with better art chops wearing gorilla masks making art, and not just crappy stencils. Honestly, I'd rather read a Chick tract than read any more about Borf.
You're right that adolescence is an inapt word to use here; I really, honest-to-god meant delayed "pubescence." Take the mistake as you wish.
And if you mean, at least partially, this Washington Post article, then I have to say I think Borf's political views are as half-assed as his artistic manifestos are. He doesn't like corporate culture, or the ownership of property, or capitalism. That's a little too diffuse to see as an actual political belief. It is not the "serious political work" that some of his supporters have engaged in, by your account - unless that work is just going to protest marches (I assume that's not what you meant). But that goes back to what I said earlier - the people using Borf as a rallying cry now are rallying for causes that he was only marginally active in when he was "Borfing." There's probably a better figurehead than a confused 19-year-old.
I can't speak to your experiences in Virginia, but you make a better case here for "political" punishment for graffiti than Borf ever has.
hey i was at the borf rally and i was quoted saying "awsome". The borf rallly is a sign of hope for us teenagers we dont get many chances to express ourselves like we did that night and that is the reason why we do street art. Most people wont understand because they have there own negative perception of street art and there minds wont be CHANGED unfourtantly. They think we are all little criminals that want to hurt them or the community, if anything we want to better it. So i am sorry if you dont understand but at the very least people support the concept of CHANGE. CHANGE and FCM coming soon to the DC area keep a look out for us.-Change
The borf rallly is a sign of hope for us teenagers we dont get many chances to express ourselves like we did that night and that is the reason why we do street art.
I call ca-ca. I don't think it's a case of us geriatric urban unhipsters "not getting it." We get it, and we STILL think you suck. Soiling yourselves in impotent rage over percieved injustices changes NOTHING. If you'd actually read your Mao, you'd know that political change grows from the barrel of a gun, not from graffiti or petty vandalism or goddamned puppets. You might as well try and change the world through macrame or scrimshaw.
When you have nothing coherent or constructive to say, expression is pretty irrelevant, no? You keep pushing CHANGE, but CHANGE to what? Back to the ghetto? Back to the 'burbs? Is Shaw not multiculti enough for you? Don't all of these options suck?
Get back to us when you figure out what your endgame is. Until then, all you leave us with with are fools reading their hospital charts and calling it poetry.
art is art,like it or dont like it
our form of expression is our cause
we're out doing what WE believe is our best form of expression.Paper just doesnt cut it. We want to be noticed and appreciated. Tell me have you ever been so compelled to do something it just bothers you, i think not, you sit at home all day watching free clips from adult sites.
We want to be noticed and we want the effect, the effect of someone thinking "hey, thats pretty cool, i wonder how they did that"
At school or at your job, have you expressed yourself; enough for someone to notice and remember your face?
Answer this at least for me:
Is art a crime?
You see my good friend beast is right art is art and we are out there doing what WE want to do, and this is where we come to a controversy, your probly sayin "who cares if its what you want to do it, its not YOUR property" Very true but on the other hand most of our art is not done on your house its done on mostly things that the government owns and you know how much it cost to clean it up every year???? Over 8 billion dollars that could be going to schools and inner city kids education. Now ask yourself why does the government spend so much money on graffiti they say its because it creates havoc in a community if the see graff all over the place, we say its because there scared to see what will happen if people start exspressing themselves in ways that will hurt the government and make them become less rich. If you start really saying what you feel and you get it out there u might really see some CHANGE in the community instead of all this BS "no child left behind act" when kids in the inner city are getting shot and selling drugs all u gotta do is give them some real options instead of just going to play basketball at the rec or the park. Now im only a fourteen year old and even I know all this and one way i learned all this was from exspressing myself in the form of graffiti, now ask yourself monkeyerotica do you call all this "ca-ca" so once again please people support the concept of CHANGE
You see my good friend beast is right art is art and we are out there doing what WE want to do, and this is where we come to a controversy, your probly sayin "who cares if its what you want to do it, its not YOUR property" Very true but on the other hand most of our art is not done on your house its done on mostly things that the government owns and you know how much it cost to clean it up every year???? Over 8 billion dollars that could be going to schools and inner city kids education. Now ask yourself why does the government spend so much money on graffiti they say its because it creates havoc in a community if the see graff all over the place, we say its because there scared to see what will happen if people start exspressing themselves in ways that will hurt the government and make them become less rich. If you start really saying what you feel and you get it out there u might really see some CHANGE in the community instead of all this BS "no child left behind act" when kids in the inner city are getting shot and selling drugs all u gotta do is give them some real options instead of just going to play basketball at the rec or the park. Now im only a fourteen year old and even I know all this and one way i learned all this was from exspressing myself in the form of graffiti, now ask yourself monkeyerotica do you call all this "ca-ca" so once again please people support the concept of CHANGE
"Is art a crime?"
It is when it's graffiti.
If Borf or anyone else truly believes that defacing the property of others for one's own amusement is the best form of expression, Borf and his cronies are far less creative then they seem to picture themselves.
If Borf's "art" is art, then crime is art; if crime is art, I'd like to make a Pollock of the artist.
You see my good friend beast is right art is art and we are out there doing what WE want to do, and this is where we come to a controversy, your probly sayin "who cares if its what you want to do it, its not YOUR property" Very true but on the other hand most of our art is not done on your house its done on mostly things that the government owns and you know how much it cost to clean it up every year???? Over 8 billion dollars that could be going to schools and inner city kids education. Now ask yourself why does the government spend so much money on graffiti they say its because it creates havoc in a community if the see graff all over the place, we say its because there scared to see what will happen if people start exspressing themselves in ways that will hurt the government and make them become less rich. If you start really saying what you feel and you get it out there u might really see some CHANGE in the community instead of all this BS "no child left behind act" when kids in the inner city are getting shot and selling drugs all u gotta do is give them some real options instead of just going to play basketball at the rec or the park. Now im only a fourteen year old and even I know all this and one way i learned all this was from exspressing myself in the form of graffiti, now ask yourself monkeyerotica do you call all this "ca-ca" so once again please people support the concept of CHANGE
You see my good friend beast is right art is art and we are out there doing what WE want to do, and this is where we come to a controversy, your probly sayin "who cares if its what you want to do it, its not YOUR property" Very true but on the other hand most of our art is not done on your house its done on mostly things that the government owns and you know how much it cost to clean it up every year???? Over 8 billion dollars that could be going to schools and inner city kids education. Now ask yourself why does the government spend so much money on graffiti they say its because it creates havoc in a community if the see graff all over the place, we say its because there scared to see what will happen if people start exspressing themselves in ways that will hurt the government and make them become less rich. If you start really saying what you feel and you get it out there u might really see some CHANGE in the community instead of all this BS "no child left behind act" when kids in the inner city are getting shot and selling drugs all u gotta do is give them some real options instead of just going to play basketball at the rec or the park. Now im only a fourteen year old and even I know all this and one way i learned all this was from exspressing myself in the form of graffiti, now ask yourself monkeyerotica do you call all this "ca-ca" so once again please people support the concept of CHANGE
I call ca-ca. I don't think it's a case of us geriatric urban unhipsters "not getting it." We get it, and we STILL think you suck. Soiling yourselves in impotent rage over percieved injustices changes NOTHING. If you'd actually read your Mao, you'd know that political change grows from the barrel of a gun, not from graffiti or petty vandalism or goddamned puppets. You might as well try and change the world through macrame or scrimshaw.
When you have nothing coherent or constructive to say, expression is pretty irrelevant, no? You keep pushing CHANGE, but CHANGE to what? Back to the ghetto? Back to the 'burbs? Is Shaw not multiculti enough for you? Don't all of these options suck?
Get back to us when you figure out what your endgame is. Until then, all you leave us with with are fools reading their hospital charts and calling it poetry.
DAMN!! Change: he read you like he wrote you, and then turned the page.
If it was really all just about the art, then why not seek out places to tag where the owners like your work? Or is that not "real" enough for you?
whine whine you don't get it whine whine bougesie blah blah situationists whine whine days of love nights of way blah blah chomsky blah blah nazis whine whine legalize it
You really think it easy to find a place where owneres will let u tag?that only comes around like once a year for most people at best
Man, it's sweet when 14-year-olds lecture you, isn't it? He's all dewy-eyed, and has lots of big ideas.
Couple tips: "If you start really saying what you feel and you get it out there" - I've heard people "really say what they feel," and in general it's not a helpful or constructive concept.
"Over 8 billion dollars that could be going to schools and inner city kids education" - so you admit that you, and your peers, are responsible for $8 billion (sources?) of waste?
Well Jim u might have a point but you see graffiti will never be stopped so why dosnt the government just stop cleaning up all of it maybe just the little tags but not all the pieces and such or maybe create a legal wall in a public place and granted that won't stop graffiti but it might help
Another thing maybe just maybe if we had a legal wall in a public place people would see our work and say hey that's pretty good and some people might start excepting our graff as art