May 3, 2007
The Next Borfs?
Despite a show of some kind coming up, we haven't heard much from the Borf folks or John Tsombikos in awhile. It's probably best for young Mr. Tsombikos, since he is still not allowed to handle art supplies according to his probation. The last time we heard his name, we watched a "video communique" projected on a wall on 12th Street, in which some kids dressed like Zapatistas claimed Tsombikos was "purged."
But while Borf's graffiti isn't popping up much anymore, we've seen a few names over and over. Most haven't done anything as large as Borf did, but we have seen some large tags on fences and on buildings in Northwest, like those on Flickr.
So who are the new taggers? We've seen a lot of Nehi, Inca, Rob, Pear, and Hoa around, but none seem to have the omnipresence of Borf. And there have been some rumors that Pear is in fact Borf, as one Wikipedian claimed. That anonymous Wikipedian claimed to be a member of a rival graffiti crew, and it's Wikipedia after all, so who knows how accurate the posting is. The Prince of Petworth isn't a big fan of Pear, whoever they may be. And another rumor on a Columbia Heights message board says some of the graffiti writers in that neighborhood were from Silver Spring.
And besides the more recognizable taggers, we've written about an increase in graffiti in general, especially in Logan and Shaw. So what do you think of graffiti around the city and these new taggers? Do you admire their gumption, wish they'd get a job, or hope they'll be dipped in a big vat of paint? Anybody miss Borf?
Photo by epmd
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I have noticed a million "Marvin" tags all the way from Logan Circle up to Petworth. Although I just posted my favorite one today which just says "Nature".
i like the grafitti. in fact, logan circle would be pretty boring without it.
I've seen a ton of Magic/Tragic
graffiti or "art" comparable to Matisse or whatever. . .if it's painted on public or private property without permission it's illegal - simply put.
graffiti is known to be a small indicator of disorder that spirals into large disorder and ultimately into serious crime beyond the initial defacing of property.
I think it would have been great if the public was allowed to spray paint graffiti on Borf's belongings. Yep, anybody who wants to just go over to his house and try tagging things like his clothes, stereo and car. His parents stuff are fair game too.
A lot of graffiti has popped up in Van Ness recently. Wonder if it has anything to do with this?
You like graffiti? I'm betting you must not own your house, then. It truly sucks to have your property tagged. Often it requires a fairly extensive repaint.
It's a selfish, childish act. But I will admit some of the designs are impressive.
I was on a red line train yesterday where this Nehi joker had decided to "tag" about 4 of the seats and part of the walls. I was enraged, not impressed. I hope Metro has some way to catch him and fine him for the cost of cleaning it up...or better yet, make him clean it up!
Thanks for clarifying Nehi is a person. I go by a Nehi tagging across near the Russian embassy every morning, and I've been convinced for at least two years that it was some sort of Slavophone profanity.
I don't suppose there's any chance that, if we ignored them, they'd go away? No? ...Sigh.
"graffiti is known to be a small indicator of disorder that spirals into large disorder and ultimately into serious crime beyond the initial defacing of property."
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Broken window theory is sooooo 1996 it only makes sense while listening to Jagged Little Pill.
Broken window theory may be 'so 1996' but it is responsible for making NYC a nice city again, as opposed to the hellhole it used to be.
If DC would follow NYC's lead we'd be a much more pleasant town.
brooklyn and the les have tons of grafitti. I see very little here comparatively.
"I was enraged, not impressed"
That's how I feel about the "Corporate Graffiti" advertising that defaces entire train car and bus exteriors.
Doesn't the "broken window theory" apply to that?
I'm surprised that you're comparing Borf to the likes of Nehi, Inca, and HOA. Borf's messages were witty and at times meaningful—like a Banksy Jr. In contrast, these taggers are just f'ing up people's property.
Borf was a total tool. Pathetic that he lives in his parents fancy house in the Virginia 'burbs, would come into DC to rail against The Man, and then go back to the 'burbs to his parent's house. Way to keep it real, jackass!
Graffiti is a crime. Plain and simple. And it's really f'ing annoying when it's done to someone's business, garage, or home. I say a simple solution is a baseball bat to the knees of the artist, followed by 5 or 6 kicks to the crotch.
And for the lame complaints about "corporate grafitti" - that's just stupid. If taggers want to pay Metro to place ads with their tags on them, that's fine with me since it's legal and Metro makes some money off of it. But when these losers to tag up a Metro train or bus, then Metro needs to pay for the repairs. And that means less money for more important things.
At least BORF had some wit and a message attached to what he was doing. This new graffiti is piss poor in comparison. It shows no skill or talent and really is just an eyesore.
I just saw a fresh BORF tag in Venice Italy, on a park bench at the Giardino. See for yourself:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghost-rider/483819664/
I'll take it down in a few days, it doesn't fit my interests, but I thought it would be interesting to BORFettes.
Wasn't borf 18 or younger when he did most of his work? Of course he lived in his parents house.
It saddens me to see DC's contemporary art scene, illegal or not, so suppressed by conformity.
the nehi graffiti is just plain stupid as it is so unartistic and the person just repeated NEHI like 30 times on the fence of this new condo development by U st. at least do something cool.
none of it looks good really. Why not legally get approval and then they can take their time make it look good, and it will last?
The broken window theory has long since been discredited as a legitimate analysis of the situation. No serious qualitative or quantitative study exists to back it up and it's now largely reviled within social science. The only people who still bust it out are those with a specific partisan axe to grind.
Even anecdotally, you can show that the idea is just silly.
As for people who are claiming the graffiti isn't amazing on the scale of fine art--it's just bombing/tagging for crissakes. People run around who praise Disco Dan's name to the skies and all the guy did was write COOL DISCO DAN over and over again. A large part of graffiti culture is a measurement of how much you can get your name up. It's part of the art, love it or hate it.
They write on your property because they want you to leave! Go raise your kids in North Bethesda, go to grad school somewhere else, please go back to Wichita. Your housing bubble will burst. Take your kickball team and leave. You idiots have ruined DC.
How can Borf's incessant tagging of anything and everything be considered witty? I can write my name all over everything too, and it doesn't take any brains, just a Sharpie.
Though I do have to agree, some of the new stuff is just plain stupid. I'm calling you out, Nehi and Inca. (Pwersonal message for Inca: when you tag your name with the "A" upside down, it looks like you're writing "Acni"---do you really want to associate yourself with bad skin?)
So, if all you do is write your name on a couple of mailboxes, that means you're cool and "keepin' it real?"
Man, DC is lamer than I thought...
Although, dcfist, what exactly are you yearning for? A return to the days of crack dens and multiple murders every day?
whether or not graffiti can be linked to crime and destruction a la broken window theory, i think it's important to draw a distinction between tagging and art/political graffiti. i think borf (usually) fell into the latter category, as does whoever put "where's the art" in the alley on 18th st, and "sorry about your wall" on columbia and belmont, but nehi and inca are an insidious blight on the neighborhood.
you should never have posted this borderline glorification of this trash.
There are many different reasons why graffiti writers do what they do. Jean-Michel Basquiat wrote SAMO ("Same old shit") on everything and was credited for it. Cool Disco Dan is one of the lasting graf writers from the late 70s, hence the "Disco" in his name. KRS ONE wrote graffiti aside from his music (this most likely helped advertise his name). Borf is a friend's name and if anyone cared enough to read into it, they would know exactly why this guy wrote this name.
It's everywhere in the media, too! John Meyer's "Waiting on the World To Change" video featured graf writers. Kanye West's (w/Rakim, Nas, KRS One & DJ Premier) "Classic" ALSO featured graf writers. Comedy Central and most of what is considered "edgy" design use graf elements for mass appeal. So why is it only acceptable here?
There are TONS of great graffiti writers out there doing AMAZING art. The tags are just the small part of what these writers can do.
If anyone would bother to educate themselves about the history of graffiti, then maybe people would appreciate and understand its artistic nature.
"Broken window theory may be 'so 1996' but it is responsible for making NYC a nice city again, as opposed to the hellhole it used to be.
If DC would follow NYC's lead we'd be a much more pleasant town."
Infrastrucures are going to collapse. There is nothing that the unsustainable science you idiot yupppies worhsip can do. The disinfnachised will be the one's that dictate wether you live or die. People will eat eachother in NYC. Doesn't anybody see where this fucking society is headed?
I am not reading any of your comments, all of the bitching back & fourth whether you like it or not. Is anyone else reading all of these comments? For the most part, I think MOST the graffiti we see is U-G-L-Y. If someone decided to tag up my property (If I could afford to own anything here) I would be pissed, especially if it was ugly. Though I probably couldn't "drop a tag" that was worth anything if I tried...
There should be a class action suit filed against Borf.
Graffiti is a crime, and most certainly is an indicator of crime and neighborhood shittiness in general. It should be eliminated from the city and hopefully from society in general. you want to make "art"? Then got to Pearl, buy some legit art supplies, and take a class at the Corcoran, and put it on canvas. Take your pseudo-deep anti-Western civilization "performance art" elsewhere. It's garbage. You have time to waste running around at 2 in the morning spray painting stuff people work hard to build, maintain and clean? You're pathetic. Get a job, take off that stupid hat, and pull up your pants, posers. Try being productive for a change, instead of a drag on society. Build something, do something, use that paint in volunteering to spruce up a DC public school if you want to help the "downtrodden."
No, I don't miss Borf.
People will eat each other in NYC?
How about DC? I've been eyeing this plump little rosy cheeked child down the street. How long before I can politely inquire as to how to fricasee this wee morsel?
Legba:
Broken windows theory has been discredited? Really? Do you have any verifiable proof of that?
Even if it doesn't lead to less serious crime (which it probably does), it still makes for a much more pleasant city. So in and of itself it's worthwhile.
And since I like the theory, what is my partisan political ax?
Yeah! Spread the cancer that is humanity! Manifest Destiny everything you can, who cares if this planet has a system fine tuned over billions of years! Were are human, we can do anything we want! Build something so it can collapse over time! Mandate laws that ensure braille on drive through ATMs, make more plastics cups than will ever be necessary, make millions of chemicals and make sure to not investigate their synergy. Your HUMAN!!! The Earth is yours !!!!!!
FUCK your white man's burden. The meek shall inherit the Earth, and I mean rats and roaches idiot. Open your eyes.
Guys, don't make me regulate. Your opinions are welcome; your threats of violence are not, and will be removed.
I have it on good authority that his fellow inmates loved him so much at the DC jail, that he was given more than one big black magic marker before he left.
"Broken windows theory has been discredited? Really? Do you have any verifiable proof of that?
"Even if it doesn't lead to less serious crime (which it probably does), it still makes for a much more pleasant city. So in and of itself it's worthwhile."
The argument that you don't like graffiti because you don't like graffiti is perfectly valid. But actually, the burden for demonstrating the validity of the broken windows theory is on someone who is trying to use it in an argument. Also, it is functionally impossible to conduct a study to demonstrate that it doesn't work. It's not something you can demonstrate through a null hypothesis. But as there has yet to be a replicated and thorough study demonstrating that graffiti and the like leads to the occurrence of other sorts of crime on their OWN account, one cannot conclude that broken windows theory is a valid theory. QED.
Seriously. A pretty quick search through google scholars shows that broken windows as a social theory has yet to prove itself. I'm not talking out of my ass here. A sample:
From one study:
"Patterns of "stop and frisk" activity by police across New York City neighborhoods reflect competing theories of aggressive policing. "Broken Windows" theory suggests that neighborhoods with greater concentrations of physical and social disorder should evidence higher stop and frisk activity, especially for "quality of life" crimes. However, while disorder theory informs quality of life policing strategies, observed patterns of stop and frisk activity suggest that neighborhood characteristics such as racial composition, poverty levels and the extent of social disorganization are stronger predictors of race- and crime-specific police stops than is the presence of "broken windows." Furthermore, stops of minority citizens more often failed to meet Terry standards of reasonable suspicion, suggesting the conflation of race with the strategic design of "order maintenance policing.""
Another study found a correlation between "broken windows" and an incidence of gonorrhea but the authors went on to very carefully state that they couldn't demonstrate that the sexual activity leading to gonorrhea transmission took place in that area, merely that people in that area had a high incidence of gonnorhea.
So again, it has proven virtually impossible to verify broken windows theory and therefore, it's a poor thing to toss about in arguments of this nature. If you don't like graffiti because you think it's fugly, that's totally okay and puts this argument where it should be--into an argument about aesthetics (along with an argument of whether or not condo developments are ugly) and whether graffiti qualifies as meaningful property destruction (and whether this bothers you). But not liking graffiti because it's going to lead to the downfall of civilization is absolutely unsupportable.
There's also a great little book called Illusion of Order: The False Promise of Broken Windows Policing some of you might want to take a look at.
Hey Legba, I'm leaving the house after mom gets home and I'll pick you up then.
Later,
Borf
Legba:
Your point is well taken about the burden of proof. But regardless it makes for a more pleasant city if it just stops quality of life nuisance issues.
But I'm curious as to what my political axe to grind is, as you said that anyone advances this theory has a political axe to grind.
Legba,
I subscribe to the Broken Windows theory, but that and you disagreeing with it are beside the point. Borf and the other taggers are trespassing on and messing up property that ISN'T THEIRS. If you want to see your name up on a wall, buy a wall, maintain it, and put whatever you like on it. Just don't vandalize mine, or anyone else's, or city or public property, because the vast majority of us agree it looks bad and that's that. Also, it costs money and takes time to clean up, which would be better spent on fixing up this city's schools rather than erasing your expression of youthful narcissism or alienation (for lack of a better definition). I would strongly suggest that it is a waste of your & Borf's time and energy as well. If you feel so alienated, see a therapist, cuz our whole society ain't gonna change to suit the needs of a few disgruntled slackers.
The partisan axe to grind statement was probably over the top on my part, but there usually is a very specific agenda--that being to advance "disorder maintenance policing" or "quality of life policing", i.e., aggressively going after quality of life and disorder crimes like graffiti, public urination, noise violations, jaywalking, i'm sure you get the drift.
On a national scale, many major metropolitan police departments have come out against such policies because they put a drain on resources needed for other police priorities. And such enforcement typically ends up targeting poor people of colour and creating a nasty us vs. them mentality between the haves and the have nots and whites and people of colour. Is that the argument we really want to have? Or would we rather be doing the real work of community building while focusing on having police deal with crimes a level above writing on a wall.
For some other people commenting: I love how the focus of so many comments is on the immaturity of those who write graffiti, while those comments are simultaneoulsy expressed in about the most immature manner possible.
Legba,
Write on your own wall (or your parent's wall), then nobody will have a beef with you, the police won't be distracted, and everyone will be satisfied, OK?
"They write on your property because they want you to leave! Go raise your kids in North Bethesda, go to grad school somewhere else, please go back to Wichita. Your housing bubble will burst. Take your kickball team and leave. You idiots have ruined DC."
Ohhh...Scarey....
Seriously, who's afraid of some pimple-assed whiner with a can of paint but no talent or clue? You want someone to leave? Cut the head off a rat and put it in their mailbox. Throw a brick through their window. Do something that does more than makes you look pathetic.
Legba:
Actually, I think we desperately need the very conversation we speak of.
By and large many poor people and minorities are just as sick of people pissing in their front yards as everyone else is. In fact, more often than not they bear the brunt of these types of nuisance crimes considerably more than the population at large.
I've always found it odd how so many (and I'm not aiming this at you) assume that because there is litter, public urination, etc. in poor neighborhoods that must mean the residents accept it. To me it more often means that the good citizens there see a lot more of it and there's only so much they as private citizens can do about it without a police force that's willing to help. And for decades here in DC they've been without such a police force.
Some of the most fastidious and well-kept yards belong to poor, elderly black women. Even after years of seeing their neighborhood become fairly hellish they are still out their cleaing the stoop. Yes, they are sometimes intimidated into not stopping the drug dealers on the corner. But I can't say I really blame them on that score.
But I do think there is an age factor involved. To put it bluntly, a lot of the young whippersnappers in these neighborhoods are little buttheads, throwing their waste on the ground, urinating wherever they want, having no regard for private property, etc.
That's not to say that middle class suburban kids aren't little snots as well. They just exhibit it in different ways (ironically, some apparently like to drive into urban areas and paint graffiti).
"Some of the most fastidious and well-kept yards belong to poor, elderly black women. Even after years of seeing their neighborhood become fairly hellish they are still out their cleaing the stoop. Yes, they are sometimes intimidated into not stopping the drug dealers on the corner. But I can't say I really blame them on that score."
All True. Going into the lost and forgotten places in DC, these stand out like islands in the desert. There's a very real heroism to it, especially knowing that they've lost friends, children, husbands- their entire neighborhood- to the violence that started in the 80's and continues through today. It's amazing.
why do principals at these schools which have awful murals and free wall space deny me to paint a michelangelo'ed replica of jesus and baby angels playing trumpets?
cause theres 9 kids at those schools who are anarchists and that is against thier beliefs.
so your going to have to live with those ugly letters that spell out peace and harmony at kenyon and 11th.
what about those ugly ass mosiacs on new york avenue ?
well those are kinda like etch bath used by graff writers and theres no way to take those mosiacs down .
it's funny how people try to discredit graffiti as a valid form of art; it's really easy to make claims such as this, but when you have artists like duchamp and other dadaists selling for millions it's almost impossible to rationalize them. so in order for someone to be a "real" artist they have to shell out cash for art supplies, courses, and then comes the act of attempting to get your art shown by pretentious gallery owners. I don't know about you guys but picking up a can and doing some pieces along the red line sounds allot more appealing to me.
check out Twist (Barry Mcgee), David Choe, Amaze, Revs, Espo, Felon, Rezist, 70's train murals, and tell me that isnt art.
Tell me honestly how many tags you have seen on people's homes? No one wants there home defaced, writers included. Writers tend toward the blank and boring items/walls scattering the city. That's not to say everyone follows these unspoken rules, but the real graffiti artists aren't out to make people's lives misrible. Graffiti has been around since hobos hopping freight trains during the great depression and its here to say. As long as there are walls and trains there will be writers. And as far as borf is concerned...his message aside, I find his stuff fairly dull. There are some damn good writers up in D.C that are being ignored.
I'll be writing on trains until the day I die :)
and dont try and track me down...my name and address are fake.
Yeah, I think there is a tendency to play up the "destruction of private property" angle far above the actual incidence of graffiti on private property other than industrial buildings and abandoned buildings (in the former case, it's not exactly beautiful and in the latter, abandoned buildings are their own set of social problems in a city, as much as I like standing around them).
It's understandable that people get really worried about graffiti on their homes--that would suck. But it happens so rarely and I've yet to see a Nehi tag on a private residence that is occupied or in decent repair. And I've been checking. I've also never met a writer over the age of like 12 who seriously thinks it's acceptable to write on someone's home. It does happen, but let's not overplay it.
There's also the fundamental problem of pragmatism at work--it would make more sense to figure out a way to live with graffiti and socialize writers (as they do in a good portion of Europe) for the simple fact that there's no real way to stop it. You might arrest someone now and again, but it's become such a cultural force that there's no way to keep it down. NYC put millions upon millions of dollars into an anti-graf task force with no results. Ed Koch once proclaimed that it was clear it was a useless effort and other options should be explored.
Someone tagged the front wall of my apartment building in Mt. Pleasant (built in 1926, so debates over whether new condos are aesthetically pleasing are sort of irrelevant) last spring, throwing up their name pretty haphazardly in bright blue paint. They also tagged a business across the street and a school down the block. None were abandoned, all are in good condition. Even after the tags got blasted off, my building still looks worse than it did before.
Not sure who it was, so obviously I don't know whether they were over 12. I don't remember the tag (it wasn't Nehi or Inca or any of the tags I've seen around lately). And I don't necessarily mind tags on abandoned buildings or industrial property in areas where no one lives.
But I've seen enough graffiti on residential buildings near me -- currently occupied, long-standing buildings -- that it's hard for me to buy the idea that anti-graffiti sentiment is overblown.
And I'd put graffiti on mailboxes, street signs, and other public property on the list of crappy behavior as well. We all know it sometimes takes the DC and fed govt years to get rid of a tagged mailbox, street sign, etc. And like it or not people perceive a neighborhood with lots of public space graffiti as being dangerous. So these losers do a lot of real damage to a neighborhood even if they don't tag private property.
I'm not making the argument that graffiti doesn't occur on private property (nor am I arguing that it isn't a shitty thing to do or have happen to one's home)--but when you're looking at this from a position of public policy, you have to look at it in the aggregate. Proportionally, not a lot of it really crops up on private residences.
And as I mentioned, there's the simple issue of efficacy in public policy--anti-graffiti campaigns involving police action are by and large complete and utter failures.
Borf a.k.a. Pear is having Storker do his entire new show for him without paying him any tribute because he's too lazy to do it himself.
i spy, really? Please email me! awiseman (at) gmail (dot) com.
Nehi believe it or not is a chick. she's definitely got balls, but you'd think she'd have more creativity.
Nehi believe it or not is a chick. she's definitely got balls, but you'd think she'd have more creativity.
Yuppies. go back to your suburbs.
re-partake in the white flight of the 1950's
If DC follows NY's lead we'd have subways that would take blacks, latinos, and anyone else for a reasonable rate on a large set of routes 24hrs a day.
DC/NOVA/MD are all racist oppressive white societies long past their prime. Only the recent grotesque gentrification and real estate reselling, have began to recapture interest in what would otherwise be run down white owned property, rented to low income families students and young professionals.
you want to file a class action lawsuit? file it against all the negligent landlords in DC.
File it against Suzy and Tommy Suburb who buy houses and re-sell them driving real estate through the roof.
take your materialistic lives and shove it as far as you can up your ass. You douche bags own EVERYTHING.
Give us walls to paint, gives us public forum, give us the endless millions of miles of concrete drainage, sewage, train and highway wall that your jerks have built for the sake of riding 1 person to a fucking car, dumping your shit in our rivers, and running the most overpriced and under servicing metro in the history of man.
you people make me sick.
Yuppies Go HOME.
well said diceone.
ps- who the hell cares if Nehi's a chick? there has always been female writers EVERYWHERE who writes better than she does.