I took a walk around the 'hood the other day and took a few pictures of some things I've been seeing lately pertaining to art vs. graffiti. Thus far, I've been on the fence about the whole Fred Radtke vs Michael Dingler thing (aka, the Gray Ghost vs NOLA Rising). I'm already a tad biased towards NOLA Rising, because I've seen a lot of graffiti, and, to my mind, what Dingler himself is doing doesn't really qualify. The man's work is on posterboard and wood. It is usually stapled or nailed onto telephone poles, not sprayed or drawn directly onto them. A better term for what he does would likely be "guerrilla art":

For more examples of what Dingler actually does on the streets, head for his website. A link to his flickr exists there as well, and the most recent pictures on it consist of what I consider to be graffiti art. It is much more permanent, and is therefore true fodder for folks like Radtke who are looking to eradicate such "bombings" from the cityscape.

What I'm seeing in spots a few blocks from my house, however, are probably not instances of the Clean Sweep program doing its job.

All of the following has been around for a while. No gray on it. No attempt to paint it over whatsoever:
No gray paint has touched those tags. None that I can see.

However, if stop signs could talk, I'm sure they'd be cussing a blue streak:


In fact, I think somebody tried to interpret on this sign (pardon the French that you read):


Radtke's attitude towards the issue of covering public property with non-reflective gray paint is that of combating the taggers at all costs - even the taxpayers' : if the city replaced the vandalized stop signs or coated them with a protective cover, he wouldn’t paint over them.

Back to Dingler's beef with the Gray Ghost...

As I said before, I'd characterize NOLA Rising's works as a type of guerrilla art. The most important thing about it, for the purposes of this post, is that it is easily removable. You can take it down as easily as it was put up. Pull out the nails. Tote a trusty staple remover with you to try to take some of it off the poles (and I'm now wishing I'd done just that around Mardi Gras time, when I saw this one on my street...).

If it is easily removable stuff, then what is behind these intriguing swaths of gray?:

And this one - a bane of my personal existence - that I see every damn day as I drop off the little guy at school:
Oh, wait!

I think I get it now:

Honestly, I couldn't tell if this one was definitely a NOLA Rising work that was painted over. The coverage is so thick and thorough that it is difficult to see anything beyond the fact that this IS a piece of poster board that shares the same dimensions as some of Dingler's poster board pieces.

If it is a NOLA Rising piece that was covered by the Gray Ghost, however, I suggest Mr Radtke invest in a staple remover. Take the work off carefully and donate it to fundraisers that will find good homes for it in return for money to good causes. Save it for yourself, man, and see if its value appreciates over time. Or, expand your palette. Don't go with such a drab, dingy gray. So passe, this Krylon Special of yours that you wield with a righteousness that could be channeled into a more creative direction. As a possible instructive guide for a new color scheme, I present this:

Defacement of art? Or an intriguing comment on the rebirth of a community through all the darker elements of its destruction and recovery? The thick impasto of the "NOLA Rising" on the board still shows through all the linear applications of the earthy, dark tones of opaque color atop the message. New Orleans lives!

And hey, Mr Radtke, if all else fails...if you can't beat 'em, join 'em:

There's an earlier event with the NOLA Food Co-Op going on, too.

Thanks to NO News Ladder, Charlotte, Mark Folse, Maitri, Morwen, Dangerblond, and Humid City for more on this hubbub. And, for more on graffiti in general, check this out.