Snow wrote:

(All in all, the industry over there is luckier than they know, at least they don't find Roman ruins while digging for the foundations of nearly every new building they try to build... )

Well, we do end up finding architectural sites under a lot of planned building locations.  It's just that most of the time, no one cares, because respect for the indigenous cultures of North America is thin on the ground.

Yasha, the pictures you've captured are amazing, it's a real shame things turned out the way they did.  Painting it over in the night without waiting for the legal battle to be over seems like a really underhanded tactic.

Snow wrote:

From what I see, your images are not crooked at all! I would kill for a steady hand like that

That, babe, is all post production.

Snow wrote:

I don't understand how they could be so insensitive. This is obviously a site of great importance and sentimental value to a lot of people, they could have at least asked for their suggestions and opinions. Something like a double wall could be made (weirder things are done in architecture today). And not to mention that they want people to live here, yet at the same time they are killing the spirit of the place-people don't like that, they want to identify with their habitat somehow, and here is an example of the industry destroying a pre-existent identity of the place (that was practically handed to them, and could actually be used as a major selling point), leaving itself with the incredibly hard task of having to make an artificial identity in it's stead.

It's fairly safe to assume that the buildings going up will attract more wealthy people to the area. Gentrification for the win! This is especially so because 5Pointz is literally on the same block as the subway line, and literally the first stop in Queens after you leave Manhattan. Prime real estate.

But improving the overall wealth of the area is going to do nothing to encourage the artists to come back to the now false venue for their work. It's noble enough I guess that they will set aside space for people to burn, but with that kind of falseness and legitimacy, it's safe to assume it will be curated from outside the community, safe, inoffensive, and never the same as what it was before. Graffiti as art developed to beautify the hard parts of the world where the artists lived. It's not the same as a flawless wall they're invited to paint on while the privileged folk living inside look on in fascination.

Snow wrote:

(All in all, the industry over there is luckier than they know, at least they don't find Roman ruins while digging for the foundations of nearly every new building they try to build... )

Well they did find that whole African burial ground in the Financial District a while back. OOPS PILES OF DEAD SLAVES, should probably leave that be, guys! So we did. Makes me laugh that we have the luxury to make decisions like that in the US. If Italy or France had to stop work on every pile of corpses they dug up, nothing would get done.

Snow wrote:

Sorry for the rant, but what is being done here makes me very sad (these things always make me emotional, for some reason). I can only promise the world  I'll try not to do such things, if and when I start doing the job...bad examples are learning  material, too, I guess.

There's always a lesson! And you're exactly the kind of person one hopes to appeal to when they do stuff like this. You'll be a decision maker later, or at least a voice to be heard. Rant very appreciated. Yasha and I foamed at the mouth the whole way home over it.

Kita-Ysabell wrote:

Yasha, the pictures you've captured are amazing, it's a real shame things turned out the way they did.  Painting it over in the night without waiting for the legal battle to be over seems like a really underhanded tactic.

I think it was a tactic to take the fight out of the legal battle. Now that the art is gone, they hope the wind's knocked out of their sails.

I'm Giovanna, BTW. Though I understand it's hard to tell us apart. We get asked if we're twins all the time.

Riri-kins wrote:

I've liked street art ever since I saw some of Give Up's work. It's a real shame to see this go.

I like it! It reminds me of the Listen Bird we had in Edmonton for a long time when I first started coming. Literally just a bird saying "Listen!" but it was always in cute spots and pretty fun.

It happens more often than you think, even satyreyes has done that once or twice.

Anyway you're pretty close, I was all like "GET THAT PICTURE. AND THAT ONE. AND I WANT THAT ONE TOO," so I'm also responsible, although I didn't hold the camera or press the button.

These pictures make me sad now. 5Pointz was gorgeous just because it was so wild compared to "legitimate" art. I hope people tag the shit out of the new buildings and leave the designated graffiti spot completely alone.