Since 2002 (updated often), your old-school website for all things stencils. Photo, video, links, and exhibit info submissions always welcome. Enjoy and stay curious.

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Reading the Illegible: Can Law Understand Graffiti?

Reading the Illegible: Can Law Understand Graffiti? 
Authors Katya Assaf-Zakharov and Tim Schnetgoke 
Document Type Article (DOWNLOAD)
From DigitalCommons (via Connecticut Law Review)
Disciplines Cultural Heritage Law | Property Law and Real Estate 

Abstract 

This essay focuses on graffiti—the practice of illegal writing and painting on trains, walls, bridges, and other publicly visible surfaces. 

Social responses to graffiti are highly ambivalent. On the one hand, media often picture graffiti painters as “vandals” and “hooligans.” Local authorities define graffiti as an “epidemic” and declare “wars on graffiti.” On the other hand, graffiti is recognized as a valuable form of art, exhibited in mainstream museums sold for high prices. Reflecting the ambivalent social attitude, the legal treatment of graffiti is highly uneven, punishing some graffiti writers for vandalism while granting copyright protection to others. 

Scholars have made various suggestions regarding the legal regulation of graffiti, ranging from toughening the criminal sanctions to providing more legalized spaces and art programs for the painters. Yet to date, no attempt has been undertaken to understand the dissenting message of graffiti and to consider an adequate legal response to this message. As Jean Baudrillard suggested, the subtle message of graffiti “must be heard and understood.” Doing this, in the legal sphere, is the central goal of this essay. Instead of suppressing or manipulating graffiti, we propose to answer its message with redefining the boundaries of physical property so as to restrict owners’ control over surfaces that shape our urban landscape. These surfaces will then be used as a medium of free visual expression, creating a public “forum” in its classical sense: a place of discussion, opinion exchange, and purely aesthetic expression. 

Recommended Citation 
Assaf-Zakharov, Katya and Schnetgoke, Tim, "Reading the Illegible: Can Law Understand Graffiti?" (2021). Connecticut Law Review. 465. https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/law_review/465

SF Stencil Archives Update Complete

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Snapped this one on Shotwell in early 2000s (by Heart 101).

The San Francisco Stencil Archive has been completely updated. Thoroughly enjoyed the S-Z archives visit, especially the Shy Girl / Heart 101 photos. 

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The Strangers caused an interactive sensation with "She Loves the Moon" in the Mission District (2007).

Also, The Strangers' "She Loves the Moon" stencil story game was a nice rediscovery. Years ago, we tried to put the stencils in order to make sense of the progress that was made, but I recall that archive update being unsatisfactory. Here's an early Joe Eskenazi article from 2007 about the long-gone project. Here is a Stencil Archive post about chasing the stencils and following the story.

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Finally, Tech Destroys mostly dropped anti-tech, hip hop, and Grateful Dead humor stickers around SF, but they also managed to put up a few acid-influenced stencils around. 

South America Total

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In the streets of Buenos Aires (ph Amanda)

Sometimes uploading new images to Stencil Archive is smooth and easy! Thanks to Amanda for continuing to snap stencil pics and submitting to us for all to enjoy. We get emails with the photos attached, then rename and resize. Boom, on the site. The one from Colombia is off the socials, so thanks to folks that also share in those worlds.

New Image of the 2009 Stencilada Exhibit

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Jane Verma, one of the metal artists that designed and fabricated the CELLspace Metal Mural back in 2009, just sent us a stitched photo of the whole work, along with the 2009 Stencilada panels installed beneath the planter boxes. While working various activist jobs as well as continuing to promote the "Stencil Nation" book project, Russell Howze got a call from the CELL Metal Shop folks about their idea of installing stencil art under their new mural. What a great idea! Jane and the Metal Shop crew helped coordinate with the artists, pay for the panel shipping, and organize a fun opening day on the wall. The call was sent out to anyone who wanted to stop by and lay down a stencil, and this photo looks like it was taken just after that event.

From left to right, the known Stencilada artists are: James Sellier (RIP), Russell Howze with Hugh D'Andrade, Crystal Townsend, Dignidad Rebelde (Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes), John Koleszar, Scott Williams (RIP) with Russell Howze, Tiago Denczuk (wheatpaste to right of door), Peat EYEZ Wollaeger, and Chris Benfield with Russell Howze. Plant Trees gets some respect to the far left, and the artist who sprayed the green and white stencil did not want to give his name during our opening collab party.

In the upcoming Midway Art Gallery exhibit CELLspace PopUp, three surviving panels will be displayed: Hugh and Russell's CELL panel, Koleszar's men working panel, and Scott's troika panel. One of Peat's panels was stolen, the Dignidad Rebelde panel was sold, and the rest did not age well in storage.