'Tagging' problem in Bedminster and Southville

There does seem to be some sort of turf war going on at the moment. I got onto the council about it just the other day. I agree that if it's left there, it only encourages other idiots to do the same.
The council said they can send teams out to remove any tagging that is reported to them (ring 922 2100), but if it's on private propery they will need a consent form. Which is fine if it's your property but can be a bit of a problem if the building is landlord owned and they can't track them down.

"they follow some sort of respect code, which involves not painting religious structures, or private cars, and to some extent, peoples houses."

Apparently not in Bedminster! There were two vans parked on North Street that had been tagged by 'SoughB' and 'TBP'. Another using the tag 'Krome' has scrawled on front doors, house fronts and vehicles. These certainly are not 'artists' but talentless morons who seem to think that owning a marker pen or paint can gives them carte blanche to deface property. It's just mindless vandalism that costs the residents and businesses of Bedminster and Southville time and money to clear up after the taggers territorial p****ng contest.

As for the other problems, yes, they need addressing but allowing vandals to cover shop fronts, buildings and vehicles doesn't make the area look attractive and only encourages others to do the same. In turn this can lead to a downturn in the area and other problems with more serious criminal activity.

So what? I couldn’t care less whether they’re graphic designers or whatever – in fact, Id hope they’d  have better outlets for their creativity than vandalising my private property!
Why should their right to express themselves exceed my right not to have my private property vandalised?
And for the record, re-painting the front of your house does not cost less than replacing a broken window, it costs a lot more. I know, I’ve had to do both.  If I work hard to look after my family and our home, why should I have to pay out to cover up some moron’s idea of art?
And you pick some extreme examples but of course crims are going to carry on in areas that don’t look like anyone gives a toss about the place, as they’re less likely to be bothered or interrupted. The East Street cannabis factory being a good example.

I could get fairly technical on the matter of graffiti and tagging causing crime but will let the following link do that.

tinyurl.com/ycjf3d6

Quoting from government sources:

"As well as damaging property, graffiti / tagging also causes intimidation and fear of crime. It generates a cycle of disrespect that can lead to more excessive forms of vandalism, anti-social behaviour and crime."

From personal experience I have seen several cases where commercial property that had closed down has been scrawled on. This made the property appear run down so the next stage was that windows were broken followed by other vandalism. This in turn allowed drug users access to the property and caused a problem with drug use and eventually arson in the area.

"Graffiti has been part of the 'city' for longer than the majority of business here have been opperating. "

Yes, and it has made some areas look a right mess.

"Did you know that statistically almost all non-fad taggers are graphic desigers, fine artists, or illustrators?"

Then maybe they should find a proper outlet for their talent instead of apparently having the urge to go scribbling their marks on shop fronts and houses in the middle of the night. However, judging by the scribbles appearing around Bedminster at the moment I doubt anyone would offer them a commission due to a serious lack of artistic ability.

"Half the 'taggers' in Bristol have had at some point an exhibition in a local gallery."

...and will hopefully soon be joining those exhibiting on the BTP database.

"a tag is maybe a foot or 2 squared, and a roller and paint less than £20 in the shops."

Getting a colour match for paint that was used 10 or more years ago isn't always easy and leaves your house with a 'patch' so usually you end up having to paint the whole thing again. If you are elderly or disabled then you have to pay for someone to do it for you which isn't cheap and when your property gets hit three or four times a year (as some do) it all mounts up. On a pension, even a couple of hundred pounds is a significant amount to pay out to deal with the damage caused by some idiot who thinks it is their right to deface your property.

"if it was so talentless, why do clothing companies, and advertisers constantly use references to 'graffiti' lettering on adverts, cloths, food and drink products and on television??"

Because they think it's "so terribly urban darling!". Luckily for them, in most cases they don't live in the kinds of areas where there is a graffiti problem. I bet if someone covered their Porsche with tags or came and scrawled all over their 'apartment' they would soon change their tune.

Oh and as for Banksy, I don't care if he's a stencil artist, a tagger or Van Gogh reincarnated. If he defaces my property then he is a vandal.

There is nothing "creative" or attractive about this tagging - comparing it to Banksy is ludicrous. That's like me chucking a load of paint alll over the front of someone's house and claiming to be the next Jackson Pollock. And it's not just a case of buying a can of paint to remove it when they have sprayed three walls and a fence. And why should I pay for it anyway? I'd rather pay to see more creative art exhibitions thank you. There are places where people can express graffitti as art as well - much of it far superior to this annoying childish scrawl - on people's property shouldn't be one of them.

On my way to work this morning I noticed that the 'next round' appears to have begun with more tags appearing to join others already done and one prolific scribbler using the tag 'Deko' has been crossing out others tags and adding their own. As a result several properties now have great daubs of paint on them where this individual has practiced their so called freedom of expression. I'm sure over the next few weeks we will see an explosion in daubings around the area as these 'creatives' try to mark their territory.

Sidderley wrote:

"Kaptain von can you tell me which streets these latest tags are in?"

In some cases I can tell you the buildings.

The person using the tag 'Deko' has put their tag on the Co-Operative Chemist on North St, the former employment office on the corner of Greville Street and North St, Personic Computers and several properties on Dean Lane. They have crossed through several 'Sony' tags.

In an apparent response to this the person using the tag 'Sony' has scrawled through several 'Deko' tages on Dean Lane and added a number of their own. The Coronation pub, Charmans, Hotel 247 and a house at the end of Dean Lane bear tags as do several other walls. These two charmers appear to have carried their war as far as the docks with their tags appearing on L shed and near Trinity steps.

The Salvation Army Hall on Dean lane appears to have been hit over the weekend as when I passed it this morning there was someone out trying to clean the walls, the most prolific tag here was 'C4J' but there were a number of others. Similarly the wall and meter boxes at the side of Personic computers have been heavily tagged over the past month or so and there were new ones there as well.

Houses at the Dean Lane end of Acramans Road have had their garden walls tagged over the past few weeks. There are numerous other tags on walls in Dean Lane and in one case one of the 'creatives' has tagged a meter box in someones garden.

The electricity sub-station on Sion Road has more tags than before and the side wall of the used car lot opposite Tesco on West Street bears a number of tags as well. more than there were a few weeks ago despite obvious attempts to cover them up by painting over them by the car lot owners.

I can't confirm it as I have not been that way myself but talking to someone who lives at the top end of North Street, the electricity sub-station on North Street Green apparently has numerous new tags and advertising billboards at that end of North Street were scribbled on last week. They also said that 'Deko' had tagged a couple of houses as well, again, until I go that way I cannot confirm or deny this but have no reason to not believe them.