Mission Mission

Mikey says:

While passing the magic starry window wall at 19th and San Carlos today I looked to the right and was startled to see the familiar sleeping ogre princes suddenly besieged by an attack squad of impish cat demons. Yes, they’re applying old spice. The start of a graffiti turf war I’m not eager to get tangled up in.

A closer look:

Thanks, Mikey! Lots more after the jump:

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This week on I Heart Street Art, SF Weekly pays me to show off a bunch of pictures from my trip to Spain:

I Heart Street Art: Valencia Trip

Found at the bus stop at 23rd and Mission. (Credit – Brittney Gilbert)

This building on 23rd and Capp is tagged constantly. Even so, should the city be paying for this service (especially when they don’t claim to offer it)?

UPDATE: A number of commenters have pointed out that the city will warn a property owner that they are required to paint over graffiti or else the DPW will do it and send them a bill.  However in this case, the owner (presumably) has been spotted painting over the graffiti a number of times but the building is just tagged again within a day or two.  It sounds like a way to scam property owners out of money.

"Better than pushing dirt."

unicorn.

Reader Brian Frank emails us this piece of bathroom art found at Maxfield’s at 17th and Dolores:

On the roof of the Wells Fargo bank on 22nd and Mission (sorry, about the point-n-shoot digital zoom)

No matter where you fall on the graffiti/street-art debate, you have to give these vandals some credit.  Any builderer can tell you that getting to the roof of the Wells Fargo bank isn’t the easiest ascent in the Mission and spraying down a bank with a paintball gun is just ballsy (with bonus points for the Christmas theme–I love presents).

UPDATE: Reader LibertyHiller points out that I’m completely unobservant and that the building was actually paintballed 10 years ago in an anti-gentrification riot.  Ant-gentrification riots = SWEET, not noticing the aftermath until last week = LASIK SURGERY TIME.

Spraying down U.S. Bank with paintballs

In last week’s I Heart Street Art, we heard from a street artist called Eddie with an interesting take on why he does what he does:

It’s a matter of public space. Whose space is it? That’s a big issue for me. You walk through the city and it’s more and more dominated by advertising. It’s getting to a point where there’s no blank space. You go to take a piss in a bar and there’s an ad. So you put a sticker on it. There’s a conversation going on out there. Most of it is talking at you; it’s not a dialogue. So whether I’m invited or not, I’m gonna participate in the conversation.

I’ve been thinking about that all week, so this week I talk more about the dialogue, and I make fun of Davis:

I Heart Street Art: Street Art Vs. Corporate Advertising

Thanks, Wade (for the photo and the title)! Link.

Previously:

Sorrowful Sewer Pipe at Ritual

Mission Mission and Ritual Roasters

This week on I Heart Street Art, I talk to Steve Rotman and Chris Brennan, two actual authorities on street art and graffiti in San Francisco. The crux of our talk was the following:

A few years ago, I could’ve pointed out things that were well over 10 years old. And they hadn’t been painted on. They hadn’t even been tagged on because there’s a respect level that it gets to. So one of the interesting things that buffing — especially on a regular basis like daily or weekly — does is ensure that only the worst stuff is up.

So that’s why graffiti’s been in the news lately. Newsom was going to be running for governor, so he wanted to clean up the city. They started buffing every day, all the good stuff disappeared, and we’re left with ugly stuff. So people notice it more, call it in more, etc. Vicious.

Read on: I Heart Street Art: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy