My architect friend Frank Stoks sent me a news clip of an emerging graff war in Melbourne. Frank is a well-known CPTED expert in New Zealand. Back in the 1980s questions from his PhD thesis comprised the basis for the Toronto's Women's Safety Audit - now the United Nations Safety Audit.
Melbourne Australia is a remarkable city of culture and walkability. Our SafeGrowth teams continue their exceptional work in 4 neighborhoods, recently highlighted at a recent Australian criminology conference. Melbourne is also known for its vast array of street art and graffiti, particularly in laneways, much of it under city supervision mentioned in an earlier blog, Eyes Wide Open, Magnificent Melbourne.
Now, according to this news clip, a graff war has broken out between the street artists commissioned by the city to create the murals and some culture jamming taggers who are not. Says one street artist: "The council is commissioning the work to stop tagging and not including the guys who have come from the graffiti background, so they're alienating the scene."
Check it out here.
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Actually there is no evidence for this war just a bit of media hype by an artist. The top photo on your post is actually a collaboration between two artists and my photo, the lower one was taken several years ago when the AWOL crews work was being defaced by a rabid anti-graffiti person. Melbourne is still as safe as it ever was for public art (legal or illegal).
Thanks for the update. With so many passionate folks on either side it is always difficult to know whether the media gets it right or distorts the truth.
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