Council murals are a big gig for artists wanting to make some decent money. Some other artists were asking on an Insta story if the councils have too much control over the content? I suppose you could feign a debate but they do have the most control, especially in regards to selecting artists. 

I suppose that is just how commercial and community guidelines work in real life, leaving graffiti in the unreal category. It is unrealistic to expect tagging or roller pieces to become a commercial product as they are creative dissent. Maybe just take the creative part out if you really dislike tags, it is dissent. If you like tags and dissent put the creative part back in.

Who in the power plays that dictate what is or is not creative, decent, worthy or valuable have to say about aerosol art? They don’t have to say anything, it is like Tinder, they just swipe left or right through submissions to get the biggest bang for buck. Art is about popularity right? If that’s the case graffiti tagging would win every time because it is popular in most Western countries in underground circles.

Isn’t being underground meant to be something not seen applied in broad daylight on a boom lift? Going back to control I recently read a magazine by a popular spray can brand and they were throwing sponsors names around like confetti at a wedding. When we get married to a brand it better pay some of the bills so we can have everlasting love.

If you can make money out of spitting out sponsor names, you can hopefully get a date with your local council if you get selected but like dating you have to be in the market in the first place. Nobody throwing money at anything wants an artist who is not going to make all of their dreams come true. I don’t do murals myself only because it isn’t my thing and I am a bit over the hill as far as making anyone’s art dreams come true.

A lot of creative dissent types are like a waking nightmare who get inspired by coffee stains on old carpet. We want decency, a bit of colour, some wellness and if councils want to be vibe wardens go ahead. I do work on walls but mainly smaller walls and I get to work in a couple of good spots but what I do only works in small doses. I am not putting up wallpaper and if someone wants what I do on their walls I hope they are prepared for disappointment and a good dose of tough love.