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The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal

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Graffiti Removal: the process of erasing[br]graffiti by painting over it.

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Subconscious art: a product of artistic[br]merit that was created without conscious

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artistic intentions.

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Graffiti removal has become one of the[br]more intriguing and important art

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movements of the early 21st century

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with roots in abstract expressionism

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minimalism and russian constructivism.

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Graffiti removal is both a progressive[br]continuation of these movements

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and an important step in[br]the future of modern art.

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What makes graffiti removal[br]particularly intriguing though, is that

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the artists creating it are unconscious[br]of their artistic achievements.

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(Music)

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This unconscious or subconscious[br]production is nothing new

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and examples can be identified[br]at any urban landscape,

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in mediums ranging from sculpture[br]to design to performance.

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Stemming from a basic natural instinct[br]to be artistic and creative

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human beings create subconscious[br]art on a daily basis.

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Of course as is the case with many[br]conscious artists, much of the work

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has little artistic merit and fits more[br]accurately into the category of exercise.

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But occasionally an individual or group

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subconsciously create a work[br]of true artistic genius

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(Music)

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When compared to the works of[br]the great abstract artists

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such as Rothko, Rauschenberg[br]and Malevich's,

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graffiti removal can be seen as the[br]culmination of many of the important

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movements of modern art

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while maintaining its own distinctive[br]traits and qualities.

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Examples of successful [br]graffiti removal pieces,

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also known as ‘buffs’

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will often free a balanced composition[br]of densely layered floating shapes,

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and areas of colour, and often fall[br]into one of three stylistic forms:

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symmetrical, in which a recognisable[br]geometric order of layered squares

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and rectangles can be identified.

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Ghosting, in which the remover follows the[br]lines of the graffiti piece it is covering

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so that the general form and shape[br]of the original tag is emphasised.

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And radical,

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in which the remover uses neither geometry[br]nor the original tag as guidelines

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for their painting.

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Often called an outside the lines remove.

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But regardless of its stylistic form

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graffiti removal will always make a [br]decisive rejection of recognizable imagery

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and in fact repress[br]communication entirely.

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(Music)

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Graffiti removal is a layered[br]and complex art form

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and what makes the removal movement

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so significant? Its that is unconscious,[br]accidental and collaborative.

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Removal pieces may take[br]many months to complete

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and can be a collaboration of[br]several taggers and removers.

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Graffiti removers are not schooled artists

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but government employees who possess[br]the qualifications of responsibility

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and dedication

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They are trained to operate machinery, [br]drive city vehicles and are versed in

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anti-graffiti legislation.

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They are equipped with brushes,[br]rollers and a palette

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that includes colors such as[br]halation, dove, and red.

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Although graffiti removers are[br]making aesthetic choices

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about color and technique[br]in their daily routine,

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they don’t set out to create public art

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but rather to uphold anti-graffiti[br]laws and deter civil disobedience

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halation should be down there with those.

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Well, could be this one

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Well, obviously it’s this one. [br]Well, this is halation right here

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Is that right here, I pulled it out. [br]You pulled it out?

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I thought that was snow.

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The streets of Portland Oregon’s[br]southeast industrial district

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have become a hot spot in[br]the graffiti removal movement

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creating the first official [br]graffiti-free zone

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city legislators have passed[br]laws mandating the daily patrol

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and immediate removal of all tags in[br]graffiti within this two square mile area

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Portland is becoming known as[br]a very unfriendly for taggers

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in a nutshell a graffiti-free zone is[br]where you go in and you clean

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the graffiti up each day,

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it’s you go in and start in the same[br]place and clean it up day after day

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the goal being that the taggers[br]will quit marking the territory

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in terms of the rectangles that you're[br]talking about in terms of when we

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clean it up

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but what we do with rectangles it’s just[br]better, It's easier on the eye if you

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do a square as opposed

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to just you basically have an outline[br]of the tag if you just cover the tag

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the goal is not to have[br]rectangles the goal is really

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to match the building as close as we [br]can and not have it stand out, but

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occasionally you have different people out[br]there doing it they they clean it up

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differently and you end up with a result[br]in different patchwork looks out there

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sometimes.

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Well, it's oftentimes difficult[br]to get politicians and government

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officials to share their[br]artistic motivations.

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Closer examination of the interview[br]video tapes reveal the more accurate

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and repressed subliminal intentions[br]that are at work.

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In terms

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of the rectangles that you're talking[br]about in terms of when we clean it up.

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Beauty and art is the intended goal that[br]we have when we go out and clean up

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it is no coincidence that funding for[br]anti-graffiti campaigns often outweighs

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funding for the arts while not being a [br]conscious decision on the part

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of the ruling class,

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the declared war on graffiti plays[br]an important role in the

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furthering of the art form.

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The unconscious artistic desires

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of even the most conservative[br]members of the ruling

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system leak out in this[br]subconscious conspiracy

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to find and promote creative endeavors.

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It is a complex set of circumstances that[br]fuel subconscious art production,

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human beings have a natural[br]instinct to be creative and artistic,

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but conflict arises when society favors[br]material wealth over creative expression.

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When individuals are encouraged to repress[br]their natural instincts in order to pursue

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the accumulation

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of commodities, a dangerous buildup of[br]repressed artistic desire is generated.

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Graffiti removal and other subconscious[br]art forms are the natural

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eruption of these desires and[br]their ubiquitous forms speak

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to the passions and dreams within us all.

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(Music)