Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 27th June, 2018)

There seems to be a primative urge in man going back thousands of years to make paintings on walls. I wonder why?
We chastise people for doing it now but are they a nuisance, or are they just following a natural instinct?

Good question DTease and something quite troglodyte about this picture too.
Most art forms have degenerated in recent times however be it painting , literature or especially music.

Paintings on walls are not so bad, but after the artist have finished they always smash there pop bottle on the ground, making these cave like tunnels a nightmare for traveling men on there push bikes.

Theres no excuse for Graffiti these days .. It's downright ugly. I do believe there is an urge to make marks in us all. The cave dwellers were attempting to decorate their surroundings - probably by the light of fires during long winter evenings. Graffiti 'artists' are just bored. It's the spray paint which makes it worse and difficult to remove.

Poet, I would certainly agree with you about today's music, or screeching as I call it.

Mick, with all this good weather we are having you must be having a great time with your bike. Do you always stay local or do you sometimes go further a-field?

Three young men KILLED last week for the sake of their art.

Tunnel vision photo.

Veronica says it all.

It maybe sub-art in some peoples eyes but when it comes down to it, its vandalism.

Worth dying for...I think not.

DTease Ive been all over the show, when I got my free bus and train pass I caught trains as far as I could then peddled back along the canals
https://www.youtube.com/user/singaporemick/search?query=rochdale+canal

Rode Southport to Warrington along the Transpennine way, and Warrington to Stockport

https://www.youtube.com/user/singaporemick/search?query=transpennine+way

Veronica/Helen of Troy, what I had in mind when I posed the question was Banksy. Would you consider Banksy to be a Vandal or an Artist?

Mick, I very often travel the trains with my Bus Pass. I’ll keep an eye out for your bike!

Dtease - Banksy has a phenomenal talent but uses it in the wrong places to get his messages across I think! I wouldn't like it if he came in the dead of night and sprayed my house wall no matter how wonderful his art work was. It's a different matter if he has permission - why does he do it in secret? He knows it's wrong to deface property that doesn't belong to him. Anyway I'm sure he can afford massive canvas's. Or at least there must be many individuals who wouldn't mind him spraying their walls....

I agree with Veronica and Helen. Graffiti is lauded in Barcelona,but I believed it just made the areas look messy and scruffy.

There's even graffiti on the ancient ruins in Rome - which to me is pure selfishness. You can see it in Athens all over the place and the ugly modern wall surrounding Jerusalem which makes it appear even uglier still.....I only wish that spray paint could be banned because I'm sure the culprits wouldn't have the courage or talent to go out with a brush and can of paint! in other words it's pure vandalism and in some cases artistic vandalism.

Walls are not blank canvases. They were created by craftsmen. Do not defile another artist's work.

Well, if Banksy feels inclined to come to Wigan and spray my van in the dead of night, then he's more than welcome to do so, as, to be honest, the paintwork's looking a bit tired at the moment. And not only that, the graffiti would be worth far more than the van.

A few years ago I went into the Catacombs in Rome and saw another kind of mark on the ancient walls. Interestingly I found the names 'gouged' into the rock quite moving as they were centuries old and belonged to people who had hidden there from persecution. Other names which were found in the tunnels from WW1 of soldiers who had made their mark as well - when you contrast those with the graffiti of today there's no comparison.

I don't have a dog in this fight, I just find it interesting that Banksy sprays on a wall and we are told that it's artwork worth thousands while someone else sprays on a wall and gets an ASBO. Where's the logic? Is Banksy an artist or a vandal? Or is he both at the same time?

Higher or Lower?

Well I wouldn't complain if he sprayed my old shed- in fact I would be sublimely happy! And my bike at a pinch! Hope the Pericles are ok by the way Oozy!

I don't have a dog in this fight, I just find it interesting that Banksy sprays on a wall and we are told that it's artwork worth thousands while someone else sprays on a wall and gets an ASBO. Where's the logic? Is Banksy an artist or a vandal? Or is he both at the same time?

Its a bit pointless to me spraying a brick wall and can't see it being worth thousands. It can't be removed to sell. A bit like all the artwork on the walls of the Vatican which are priceless. The same with the highly decorated Cathedrals and Basilicas - but at least the paintings are inside - and were commissioned.

Perhaps Banksy could come and spray your Pericles for you Oozy? A nice shade of luminous yellow maybe?

Blimey, don't you lot ever go to bed or what?, and I'm perfectly content with the colour of my Pericles without any intervention by Banksy thank you. As it happens, the recent sunny weather appears to have caused some slight discolouration, but I'm still quite happy with an attractive shade of copper/bronze.

Banksys art not any better than other artists, its because no one supposedly knows who he is & where he will pop up next...oh, the mystery & excitment of it all. Its the art intellectuals who have made his graffiti worth the all the money its supposedly worth.

So, the general consensus seems to be that Banksy is more of a vandal than he is an artist but if he cares to spray Veronica's shed or titivate Ozy's van we'll let him off and put a hold on the ASBO.