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A new face and heart
05/12/2009 6:27 AM by John M
The stunning burl on a sycamore on T Street (between 22nd & 23rd) has recently been made surreal with the addition of a painted face and heart.
TOTALLY AWESOME!! I LOVE stuff like this! 🙂 🙂
I wish I knew who the artist is.
But… Hmmm… Now that I’m typing I wonder… Is this really all that different from graffiti? One man’s art & all that. Interesting.
I like it, in any case. 🙂
If he had permission or owned the tree and it’s on private property it’s art.
If not, graffiti.
I think it is great! I wondered about the graffitti aspect also. But I think that the thought and talent that went into this makes it an offering of community art, rather than a thoughtless, talentless posting of someone’s initials or nickname. Graffitti is done for the same reasons and takes about as much thought and talent as a dog pissing on a fire hydrant.
Nicely done! I wouldn’t even think of removing it, I’d like to see how it changes as it weathers and grows
Speaking of graffitti removal – I emailed a request to the city to remove a pretty unusual statement from a fence in the alley on our block – “forgasm” visit urban dictionary for the definition. It was NOT art.
http://www.richmondgov.com/departments/publicworks/graffiti.aspx
IMHO, there seems to be a lot of creative talent, but they need to find another avenue to showcase it. Though very talented, if done on public property, appears to cheapen a neighborhood.
There’s no argument here, it’s clearly folk art. Love it.
Bob,
I do understand your point. It appears to have been done to elicit a smile and not, as Brad pointed out, to mark territory. I appreciate the whimsy of it, and yes, it did make me smile.
I used to look at that tree when I was little… that’s neat.
I understand that the tree will be a topic in the wric8 news@6 this evening (if it hasn’t already).
Most graffiti vandals consider themselves “folk and cutting” edge artists.
I’m sure breaking glass and keying cars is also “art”.
This is very cool any way you look at it. One size rules don’t fit everything. Illegal, probably, cool public art absolutly. Let’s vote. Who want to keep it?
Not all graffiti is some hoodlum tagging their initials with spray paint. I’ve seen what some would legally consider graffiti that has taken my breath away – what I would rather consider a “mural” – done to elicit thought and emotion, not to mark territory. And also probably an outlet that is an alternative to breaking glass and keying cars.
I thinks it’s rather cool. Whether it’s art or graffiti is in the eye of the beholder, and this beholder see’s a creative expression of art!
Peace, Light and Love. . .C.
It’s terrific.