Discussions on graffiti

[ozbob]

Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Sport
The Honourable Judy Spence
15/05/2008

New laws to 'clean up' Graffiti as existing laws cut offences

Police Minister Judy Spence today introduced a Bill to allow council officers to remove graffiti from public places to enhance the feeling of safety for all Queenslanders.

The Minister also reported to Parliament on the success of previous measures to tackle graffiti.

Ms Spence said: "These previous measures include a ban on the sale of spray-paint cans to people under the age of 18 and making shops have proof of age before selling spray paint.

"From July to December 2006 there were 9202 reported graffiti offences with a clear up rate of 35 percent.

"After the introduction of the paint sale ban, from July to December 2007 there were 5546 reported graffiti offences and a clear up rate of 44 percent.

"These figures show the Government's tough stance on graffiti is working.

"We have restricted the sale of graffiti implements, our police prosecute those responsible for graffiti related offences, and now we are going one step further, and that is, removing the damage that has been caused by graffiti offenders.

"Today's legislation, the Summary Offences (Graffiti Removal Powers) Amendment Bill, allows authorised government and council officers to remove graffiti that is in a public place or readily visible from a public place.

"Research indicates that graffiti in a particular area can cause residents to be more fearful of crime and encourage offenders to commit further crimes.

"Addressing the graffiti issue through these amendments will enhance the feeling of safety for members of our community.

"Graffiti offences nearly always involve considerable damage being done to the property of innocent people

"The delinquents who consider their 'tag' and scrawlings to be a work of art can expect to see a freshly painted space where their rubbish once appeared.

"As graffiti is often done on industrial sites and at deserted properties, making contact with owners can be extremely difficult.

"A number of local councils and Queensland Rail have raised concerns about their inability to contact occupiers of these premises to obtain consent for entry.

"In recognition of these problems, I have extended the application of graffiti removal powers to any graffiti readily accessible from a public place including graffiti at non-residential private premises.

"These provisions will allow graffiti removal officers to provide a free graffiti removal service to the community and remove a public eyesore.

"Graffiti removal officers will not have authorisation to enter the actual premises associated with a graffiti offence, unless seeking consent or leaving a notice with the owner.

"A graffiti removal officer will enter the private land to make contact with the owner of the premises or give a graffiti removal notice to the owner of the place.

"The notice will inform the owner of any proposed action, prior to removing the graffiti.

"The owner will then have the opportunity to respond and raise an objection to the graffiti removal.

"Should no objection be raised, it is deemed that the owner's consent was given and a graffiti removal officer may then enter the private land to remove the graffiti.

"It must be stressed that these powers do not allow a graffiti removal officer to enter the yard of a dwelling or residence to remove graffiti without the owner's express consent.

"If a person doesn't want an eyesore in the form of graffiti removed, then it can remain where it is.

"Graffiti removal officers will be afforded protection through the introduction of an offence, making it illegal to obstruct, intimidate, hinder or prevent an authorised officer from removing visible graffiti.

"This Bill will ensure that the fight against graffiti crime is effective and the negative perception created by graffiti-related offences among the Queensland community is minimised," Ms Spence said.

==============================================================

[mufreight]

Effective laws to enable the prosocution of these vandals would perhaps be more effective, as part of their punishment they should be liable for all of the costs arising from the removal of their efforts and should be required to work on graffiti removal under a community service order which shouls be supervised and enforced with manditory jail time if they fail to comply.
In the case of juveniles the parents should be held legaly accountable for any costs involved in the removal of the graffiti, a hit in the back pocket may motivate parents to discourage their vandal offspring from anti social activity generally and these juveniles having no choice other than detention to their having to remove their and their accomplices handiwork would be a most effective deterrent to further such activities.

[O_128]

I saw SMU263 at roma street yesterday with the coroy destination at about 11am i was disgusted when i saw what a bad job had been done of cleaning the graffiti of though it would have looked better with the graffiti.

[Derwan]

There was an ICE carriage at Bowen Hills this morning that was heavily graffitied.  Isn't QR doing ANYTHING to stop this?

[mufreight]

Mario_128
Even if the job of cleaning off the graffiti was less than a 100% effort in the time avaliable to have the set out of service it still removes the satisfaction for the vandals by effectively destroying their handiwork so even a partial job of the removal of this garbage is a deterrant.
Of course we would like to see all this gargage instantly removed and all the rollingstock in pristine apperance, that wont happen until such time as the courts get serious and hands out appropriate sentences, jail time with hard labour and restution of the costs of actual cleaning up their mess and the costs of having the rollingstock out of service while it is cleaned up and the ratbag section of the community stops refering to this vandalisim as art and glorifying these idiots.

[ozbob]

According to a report in the Courier Mail October 23 last, QR employs a staff of 9 and spends around $0.5M dollars are year on graffiti removal.

There is a lot of graffiti around at the moment, for example on the Ipswich line corridor from around Corinda to CBD.

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Matt Malone travels in search of artistic graffiti

Matt Malone travels in search of artistic graffiti
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Trent Dalton

November 25, 2008 11:00pm

MATT Malone suggests we take the Caboolture line.
"There are some great pieces along the Caboolture line," says the Brisbane artist, whose latest exhibition of large-format landscape paintings, On Top, has been inspired largely by graffiti walls viewed from a train.

"We can hop off at Sunshine, one of my favourite stations," Malone says.

I share Malone's appreciation for Sunshine, a bizarre, eerily quiet train stop between Virginia and Geebung that always makes one feel as though something - most likely interplanetary craft - has abducted the station's inhabitants. We buy two off-peak dailies at Bowen Hills and board the train.

Malone says he's been doing some train travel of late, mostly along the Caboolture-Central-Logan corridor, searching for what he calls the "new packaged Australian landscape"; the world of advertising - not just of products but of identities - and the visual language of marketing and product packaging.

"It started with me doing a lot of travel down on the train to the Gold Coast," he says. "My father was unwell and I was visiting him in Robina. I was spending a lot of time on the train, just gazing out the window.

"At first, all the graffiti and dowdiness was a turn-off. Then, visually, I started to notice things that I hadn't noticed before - beautiful things. Then I started to look at advertising billboards and I realised they were like graffiti walls in many ways. It's all bold advertising."

Both graffiti and advertising, Malone says, employ bold font styling, colourful decorative devices and "a kind of attitudinal tension of one-upmanship".

Take your average bus-stop advertisement for a Snickers chocolate bar: bold lettering; aggressive wording; vibrant colours and "tags", such as the word "new" or the idea of  "extra crunch", seemingly spiralling toward viewers like meteors.

"Like advertisements, the graffiti writers want their works to be seen," Malone says. "It's about wanting to put their name out there.

"That's where I'm approaching it from. They try to get their stuff up in places where people will see it. They climb up on buildings. They go to often dangerous lengths - to get these works seen.

"And they'll put them in places where nobody can get at them so they stay seen for a long time. It's about being seen. These guys are competing against themselves as much as Coca-Cola, which can be seen on every bus stop and every billboard."

At Eagle Junction Station, Malone pointed to some of his favourite graffiti pieces; nothing extraordinary, just examples of a fluid ease with the paint can.

Tags like the ubiquitous "Man Man" and "Tone", and other underground legends such as "Gest", "Kasino" and "Lucks", become pleasing to the eye when appreciated from an artistic point of view.

It clearly wasn't a point of view shared by the woman eavesdropping behind us. She all but scoffed behind Malone's head, reflecting the widely held view that graffiti is vandalism and has spoilt more train trips than the QR airconditioning systems.

This month, Brisbane City Council moved a motion calling for Queensland Rail to "get serious" about graffiti, saying its assets had become a blight on society.

Last month, Lord Mayor Campbell Newman announced a $6 million four-year plan to tackle graffiti, which included employing a task force of five full-time police officers.

"Of course, it could be called vandalism," Malone says.

The fact that graffiti stirs such debate is tied up in Malone's exhibition. It's part of the reason he was attracted to the idea.

We disembark at Sunshine. Malone walks into an industrial estate and through the gates of a rambling brick building across the road from the station. Industrial themes have always run through Malone's work. He studied construction after high school. In the early 1990s he moved to Western Australia with some geologist mates.

"I worked on exploration drilling rigs. We lived in all these old mining towns. It was somewhere around that point I decided I could contribute something to art. Things quietened down in the mining industry and I moved back to Queensland and enrolled in art college. But my work has always had that industrial element."

Malone walks behind the brick building and surveys the graffiti tags covering the wall. He takes out his camera and snaps away.

"The backs of private properties can be ideal," he says. "QR employs guys to buff (paint over graffiti with rollers) their walls. But QR can't touch private walls. And most companies can't be bothered spending money on buffing. So the tags stay up longer.

"Some of the Brisbane writers have been doing this for 20 years.

"They're now getting commissioned work. They're being recognised as artists. Big brands are hiring them.

"They're getting paid for this stuff."

[ozbob]

Art my ass!

EMU32 at Oxley this morning 5.38am down service.



Photograph R Dow  28th November 2008

[glen_2006]

I took a watch of that movie that a number of people made last year of themselves Graffiting trains, Riding on the back and also smoking in carriages (the whole 80 minute video is posted in parts on Youtube). I noticed that they can even get away with Graffiti in the day-time on trains WITH crews on them. I think in some cases, its a matter of keeping your eyes peeled.

There was one part of the video they were graffiting one train with a crew on it - and the crew just hopped out of the drivers carriage and took a quick squiz at the outside of the train from their vantage point, before getting back on. The youngsters then simply continued.

[ButFli]

Why doesn't QR commission a few artists to paint a couple of EMUs? We have buses on our streets that have been completely covered in advertising. Why not have trains covered in something interesting and creative on our tracks?

[brismike]

Because they would look like crap.

[glen_2006]

Because they would look like crap.

I think it might also encourage the vandals still to graffiti that as well...just to gain attention. Because the only way to remove their graffiti, is to remove the whole mural.

[ButFli]

And full-bus advertisements don't look like crap? What about bare metal?

And if you've noticed, the large murals commissioned by QR for some of the walls around the Citytrain network are very rarely vandalised while blank walls do not stay blank for long. I think many of the QR-approved murals look awful but they are certainly better than a wall that has been attacked by a toy with a can of black paint.

I propose an indigenous design for an EMU to start with. If it is a success then we could paint up a few more trains. Brisbane could become world famous for having arty trains on our tracks.

[ozbob]

I think it is idea with merit Butfli.  My only concern is the regulators might suggest it is a safety issue, reduce visibility at crossings?, but the buses can have murals etc. So maybe possible.

I think some nice murals with an indigenous theme on some units as you suggest. Others could have seascapes (but a bit different than Indooroopilly  ).

Yet others with rail themes perhaps?  Lots of possibilities.

The artwork at stations improves for sure, and is generally left alone by the graffiti makers ...

[ozbob]

Check out these --> http://freshpics.blogspot.com/2008/12/painted-trains-in-japan.html

[brismike]

I do like the artwork at Milton Station, it is done very nicely.

[ButFli]

My only concern is the regulators might suggest it is a safety issue, reduce visibility at crossings?, but the buses can have murals etc. So maybe possible.

I had considered the safety issue but came to the conclusion that bare stainless steel doesn't particularly stand out either. Certainly any design would need to be bright rather than military camouflage but most murals are bright and cheery anyway. As long as the yellow nose and reflective strips along the sides were left alone I don't think it would be a problem.

[brismike]

I'd like to attach a picture I took of an EMU carriage defaced with Graffiti that I took at Fortitude Valley station the other day but can't see where I can do that on here?

[ozbob]

See here Mike --> http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=1766.0

I have just updated the instructions.  If you still have problems send me the pic and I can post it for you.

Regards
Bob

[verbatim9]

I cant believe those kids who dont have paint and pens and resort to scratching their tags into the windows of the trains and busses etc......Those kids need help and fast!!!!!!!

[ButFli]

I think it might also encourage the vandals still to graffiti that as well...just to gain attention. Because the only way to remove their graffiti, is to remove the whole mural.

Sorry I missed this one earlier.

That's not the way graffiti works. You don't get attention by having your work cleaned off. You get get attention by having your work noticed and appreciated - to get your message out there.. That's why the most effective way to combat graffiti is to clean it off immediately. No one is going to spend 3 hours on a piece if they know it's going to be gone the next day.

[Mozz]

True statement for larger pieces but what about the numerous wankers who just tag tag tag every surface they see in a few seconds before moving on and wilfully damaging the next surface.

[ozbob]

From Brisbanetimes click here!

Graffiti clean up plan just nuts

Graffiti clean up plan just nuts
Tony Moore | January 28, 2009

Could Queensland's humble macadamia nut be the secret to wiping out Brisbane's multimillion dollar graffiti scourge?

According to one local company nominated for the Environmental Protection Agency's Sustainable Industries Award, the answer is a resounding "yes".

----------------------
VIDEO: Watch the cleaner at work  External link at Brisbanetimes
----------------------

Nuwan Kumarasiri, a former Sri Lankan banker, runs Spicks&Specks, a small cleaning business from Wynnum specialising in using natural cleaning products.

It's been a big week for Mr Kumarasiri.

On Monday, he became an Australian citizen and tomorrow he meets with Queensland Rail to pitch his case for using new green technology to remove graffiti from rail stations, walls and other public buildings.

Over the past 12 months, Mr Kumarasiri has developed a cleaning product which uses - among other things - finely crushed Victorian walnut shells and Queensland macadamia nut shells to "suck" graffiti from cement, glass and stainless steel.

Queensland Rail, which employs 26 staff to remove graffiti from its trains, bridges, fences and walls at a cost of $5.5 million a year, has already expressed an interest in the German-made vacuum-like device used by Mr Kumarasiri, which does not require chemicals.

QR currently uses steel wool, four caustic chemicals and, in some cases, dry ice to remove graffiti from trains.

It also uses a $5 million graffiti removal machine at Mayne Rail station and recently approved a new $15.5 million machine to remove graffiti from trains and wagons.

Using crushed nut shells forced at high pressure onto a vandalised surface, Mr Kumarasiri's Kershki device lifts graffiti paint before sucking it back into the machine.

The nut shells and paint particles are then separated inside the multi-chambered machine and sold back to nurseries and landscaping companies as natural mulch.

Mr Kumarasiri said his process was safer than QR's chemical process and more cost-effective on a commercial scale.

"QR has to apply the chemicals and leave it for a while for the chemical to start working on the paint," Mr Kumarasiri said.

"And then they either have to scrub, or use a pressure washer just to wash it out.

"Then they might have to use another chemical just to get the final surface.

"When there is huge areas I don't know how long it is going to take with the chemicals, but with this equipment if there is four guys it is very, very quick and it is very, very easy."

He said the process may even create jobs.

"We're giving a dollar value to something they have a lot of problems selling (nut shells) and at the same time we keep all the revenue inside Australia," Mr Kumarasiri said.

"We're not importing, except for the machine. All of the revenue stays inside Australia."

The machine can also be used for other purposes, including cleaning boats, he said.

Entries to Queensland's EPA Sustainable Industries Awards close on February 27.

[ozbob]

AN 18-year-old girl with no prior criminal history has been jailed for writing her nickname on the wall of a Sydney cafe.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24996775-952,00.html

Certainly sends a message but the serial offenders seem to get off rather lightly.  Maybe the start of a stricter enforcement regime?

[ButFli]

The case is more complicated than a one-off graffito. It has to be. No one goes to gaol for that nor should they.

She punched a policeman in the face or something.

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Cops hit was right on

[HappyTrainGuy]

I'd also like to add that the people that took one of the ICE sets at Gympie out of service the other week for cleaning were also arrested shortly after for vandalism.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> LNP graffiti 'crackdown' in the spotlight

[justanotheruser]

Art my ass!

just because you don't like something doesn't actually mean it isn't the case. Lets look at music. Is there a type of music you don't like? Well guess what! it is still music even though you don't like it.  As part of the protest against a third runway at Sydney Airport in the 90's there was a great piece of graffiti on a wall at petersham. That was commisioned. Anyone who looked at that would without doubt call it art. Likewise I look at the scupltures in CBD betwen the casino and BCC and sorry no way in the world I think that was a worthwhile way to spend money. It is still art regardless of the fact that I don't like it (and others don't either!)

here is a thought though. We don't object to murals being painted on train station walls. Look at milton station if you need proof. So why not arrange for something to be done on trains. It could be done the same way as the people who paint the power boxes for traffic lights. Get people to register and prove who they are and let them do a picture. Perhaps make it a condition that they must show and say what they are going to do first so you only get pictures you approve of. Then you know who they are and can track them down. The great thing is that they will put their tag in there so any illegal graffitti can be identified as theirs. There is a unwritten law that you don't spray over other peoples graffiti. For the most part that is followed.  We can tell this from looking at pictures around the network. Advertising spots at milton have graffiti but the mural doesn't.

Because they would look like cr%p.

what is the difference between that cr%p and the cr%p look of the trains now? Answer: no difference.

perhaps everyone here just really like nothing but blandness in their lives. i prefer colour. We paint the walls at childrens hospitals to make it more colourful yet at adult hospitals we don't do the same thing. Why not? Do we really want everything looking so depressing? From what I read I guess the answer is yes. How sad.

[techblitz]

a few days ago was at central catching a ipswich train o/b 11am`ish when i notice the front sign ~ipswich~ had been spraypainted in white to the point where it was unreadable as to where the train was going.Had some gang tag on it.

While i was a little furious @ the vandals i think i was more furious at QR for not making an effort to get it off as quick as possible.Would have taken QR all of 10 minutes max to get it off....but they obviously thought lets just keep it on there for the day and wait for the cleaners to do it tonite.LOL. Gotta love that casual laid back attitude.

[petey3801]

While i was a little furious @ the vandals i think i was more furious at QR for not making an effort to get it off as quick as possible.Would have taken QR all of 10 minutes max to get it off....but they obviously thought lets just keep it on there for the day and wait for the cleaners to do it tonite.LOL. Gotta love that casual laid back attitude.

That is happening more and more. The problem is that it is within the 3m Overhead Wiring exclusion zone, therefore it can't just be qiped off, so to speak. Same with how (especially on 160/260s) above the doors rarely gets the graff removed. It's the same problem. The overhead needs to be turned off/isolated for the graffitti to be removed from those areas. There also may only be certain people qualified to remove that sort of graffitti as well (just like there are only a limited number of graffitti cleaners in the first place), so they may have to wait until their shifts line up with when the unit is in the yard.

[HappyTrainGuy]

It's also not always possible to swap trains in and out of service that quickly just for a small bit of graffiti. It might be a quick clean but its not just a 10 minute job especially if other rollingstock have more noticable graffiti that has to be removed. The 3m exclusion is there because you don't have to physically touch the wires to get zapped.

[ozbob]

Graffiti is vandalism with aerosal paint usually, does take other forms such as scratching of windows and cutting up seats and so forth.

To rationalise graffiti as artwork is just more mindless babble.  Art may include graffiti style type works in appropriate places.  That is not what is concerning the government.  It is the mindless cr%p sprayed on various structures, objects and vehicles such as trains and buses.

I have always been a supporter of painting trains, legally with appropriate murals.  Stealing through the night with paint cans and painting mindless garbage is not art to me mate, and never will be.

Best you contact the Premier and plead that graffiti is really art.

During the election campaign the LNP promised:

    an additional $1 million a year to renew Neighbourhood Watch and CrimeStoppers;

    to make sure that all graffiti offenders remove graffiti;

    to increase the maximum penalty for graffiti crime from 5 to 7 years;

    to establish GraffitiSTOP, a dedicated graffiti hotline; and

    to remove reported graffiti from public utilities within 7 days.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/lnp-graffiti-crackdown-in-the-spotlight-20120527-1zcvw.html

[#Metro]

I will add that SCRATCHITTI drives me INSANE! I hate seeing this, it is so horrible! Who the frick goes around with steel wool sponges scratching all this crap into the windows?

[verbatim9]

Advertising on outside and inside of trains may help. Seems by my observation around the world is that trains and busses with advertising inside and out seems to be less targeted by graffiti. Also on the subject of advertising a good idea would be to introduce product advertising on the go card machines as form as screen saver. This will generate income to help rollout the go card to other areas such as Stradbroke Island and Toowoomba.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Low lifes that think they are hardcore. Its not just steel wool. It can be coins with roughed up edges, sharpened powerpoint prongs have been used before, screws, scribes, metal offcuts, knives, forks, bottle openers/cork screw twists and the list can go on. Bus windows are made from different materials and construction compared to train windows. If you throw a rock at a bus window it will fracture while if you threw it at a train most times it would bounce off... maybe fracture the outside glass plane... and that's what they are scratching; The material applied that gives the window its strength and prevents glass from getting sprayed everywhere. IIRC the EMU flip at Mayne wasn't enough to break the drivers right hand side window that ate the dirt (The drivers front and front left poped out due to damage to the mounts). Advertising won't make a difference. Buses usually have a driver who can report it straight away and use available CCTV feeds to quickly back it up. On a train you have the driver/guard in different remote areas with a 120m train and carriages with limited people. Scratch a window and no one would notice/be able to follow it up without downloading the CCTV feed and going through hours and hours of footage.

[Golliwog]

Low lifes that think they are hardcore. Its not just steel wool. It can be coins with roughed up edges, sharpened powerpoint prongs have been used before, screws, scribes, metal offcuts, knives, forks, bottle openers/cork screw twists and the list can go on. Bus windows are made from different materials and construction compared to train windows. If you throw a rock at a bus window it will fracture while if you threw it at a train most times it would bounce off... maybe fracture the outside glass plane... and that's what they are scratching; The material applied that gives the window its strength and prevents glass from getting sprayed everywhere. IIRC the EMU flip at Mayne wasn't enough to break the drivers right hand side window that ate the dirt (The drivers front and front left poped out due to damage to the mounts). Advertising won't make a difference. Buses usually have a driver who can report it straight away and use available CCTV feeds to quickly back it up. On a train you have the driver/guard in different remote areas with a 120m train and carriages with limited people. Scratch a window and no one would notice/be able to follow it up without downloading the CCTV feed and going through hours and hours of footage.

EMU flip?

[HappyTrainGuy]

Caboolture bound service SPAD into a freighter outside of Mayne in 96. Drivers carriage flipped over onto its side. 5 years later the same freighter loco returned the favor to EMU05-60.

[Golliwog]

Caboolture bound service SPAD into a freighter outside of Mayne in 96. Drivers carriage flipped over onto its side. 5 years later the same freighter loco returned the favor to EMU05-60.

That'd explain why I don't remember that, I was 6 years old when that first incident happened.

[HappyTrainGuy]

EMU028 was the offender IIRC.

Edit: Seems the memory is still working Pretty sure no passengers were injured as the first two carriages were locked at the time with all passengers located in the third car (happened around 10.45 pm.)