TOX 06 (Graffiti...)

He's most likely out & about again - though I'd imagine he's not the only one using that particular tag these days.

ISTR he only got something like six months - after all it's not a crime that demands a long sentance, unfortunately.

I was watching a series 2 episode of The Tube yesterday afternoon when the original TOX was in court (recorded in 2004). One investigating officer commented that there were copy-cat taggers trying to get the original into trouble - hence the reason why they need to have video footage of the tagger spraying his/her tag

Personally I'd punish them by getting them to clean graffitied trains for x number of hundred hours, but that would probably not be possible due to training/having to be constantly supervised

Good idea TB, bit brutal... I'd say the best thing to do would be to chain him to a train, and then supply cleaning equipment.... I'm sure he'll wake up and realise one day...

It's like that other prolific artist, Banksy... someone recently found some of his handi work at Disneyland in Florida; he has depicted one of the Guantanamo Bay detainees, in caricature form... When they catch him... srtring him up by the proverbials!

Is corporate vandalism (ie, a business ruining something that was nice) as bad, or worse?

Banksy is a political artist; his work in Disney World was a Guantanamo-style mannequin that was easily removable and easily removed (and IMO an amusing and effective form of political protest). His pictures/cartoons are aesthetically appealing and well-executed.

Tox (whether the original or impersonator/s) is a vandalising thug who deserves nothing but scorn and punishment. He causes extensive damage to property and makes things look aesthetically rubbish by witlessly scrawling his name.

Anyone who isn't blind or ignorant should be able to spot the difference between the two...

I have great respect for Banksy, having experience in stencil graffiti myself (on canvas, mind). He comes into a class of his own, as his work is more thought provoking than it is vandalising.

Whilst mindless tagging is disgusting, corporate vandalism is just as bad. Vandals aren't just taggers and general graffiti artists. He's a quote from Banksy:

Banksy does seem to arouse different responses.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bristol/somerset/5193552.stm

As has been said, his work does have the merit of being artistic and with a point to make.

Those who try to develop their latent artistic skills and try to produce something with merit need to do it somewhere other than on the sides of trains and buildings. Yes they need a severe slap for damaging other people's property, but why can't the powers that be provide somewhere they can work legiimately?

Sorry I'm forgetting, that would mean spending money. However, it costs money to clean up after them. I wonder which would work out cheapest? (Sorry, no prizes.)

The messy little thugs who simply want to tell the rest of the world "I woz ere" are a pain in the butt and that seems like a good place to do some more graffitti. The pattern from the sole of a size twelve boot would be an excellent design.

It's bad enough when he leaves his little "presents" across the network, but it's especially bad when the little git gets to virgin surfaces. The lovely new(ish) CTRL bridge over the ECML has his tags scrawled over the pristine white abutments. A perfect surface tranished by that horrible black scrawl. Grrr.

But it's not new!!!

BBC reran the story of Churchill - including the graffiti'd name he'd cut into a pristine pieceof oak at Harrow school. Worth a fortune apparently.

Same at Carisbroke castle and many other ancient monuments. Spray paint can be removed (even if with difficulty), gouged inscriptions into wood (and worse, stone) cannot. Which is the worse crime?

I'm NOT excusing it, just putting it into context.

There was some in the TV series Restoration- at the time, the carvings made in the solid wood were probably seen as nothing other than vandalism, but now are viewed as curiosities that add 'character'.

I wonder whether the same will happen with modern vandalism- that in a couple of hundred years, someone will look at a 60s tower block and admire the writing in the stairwells. (not that a 60s tower block is likely to last that long, but same principle)?