2023 Grand Tour General Discussion

[Lapchik]

I live about 200' from a track and I see mostly garbage graffiti, but some of the train cars are incredible and should be taken out of service and put on display. Something I noticed is the really good graffiti will not cover up the information on the car, like id numbers or weight ratings. Covering that is basically a guarantee that the rail company will paint over it.

I will admit I like the art produced by some of the notorious likes of Banksy and Shepard Fairey, and have watched more than a couple documentaries on "guerilla art". There is a bridge back home with my name on it by spray paint and scratched in with pocket knives and rocks in more than a couple places, but it's a rite of passage. There are dates on that bridge all the way back to the 60's.

Pretty likely I won't allow graffiti/street art/tagging. Two main reasons are that sort of thing is not usually done in a safe/accessible/well lit area, and I don't want to promote the negative aspects of art.

A potential exception would be the public art walls that some cities provide to reduce graffiti. Sioux City had one for a while that was used by some truly talented people, but it was taken down after gangs got into territory fights with it. I just keep thinking it's too hard to prove that it is an approved location for this event, so again, likely no graffiti.

I think I would have to word it something like:
-Murals must be an obviously legal or commissioned work, or a private property painted by the owner.
-Non-commissioned illegal street art, general graffiti, gang tags, or works of questionable origin should not be submitted.
-The mural must be 64 square feet [6 square meters] or more. An easy comparison is that this area is the same size as two sheets of plywood. You could also measure the mural by estimating if it is around the size of two touring motorcycles or larger. I won't do digital forensics to measure them, so just use good judgement and remember this event is for fun.