Kate Stewart: Tagging's not even close to real art works for our walls

TOUR DE FORCE: Graffiti as art - Banksy's portrayal of Apple founder Steve Jobs drawn on a wall in a refugee camp in Calais in 2015.

A COUPLE of weeks ago I was listening to national radio which was doing a half-hour piece on graffiti and tagging.

It was most informative, especially when they were quoting the true cost to the ratepayer when it came to graffiti removal or cover-up.

Of course, every city was different but it came as no surprise that Auckland spent the most annually - millions of dollars a year, with a minimum $60 per square metre, and that's with volunteer labour.

Many may argue that graffiti is art which itself, is highly subjective. Personally, I love it when executed well ... the shaping of the letters, the shadowing and bordering, the use of such vivid colour. When done to a high standard, it can certainly brighten up dreary grey buildings and walls - or any surface, for that matter.

Tagging does not fall into that class in any way, shape or form. It gives real graffiti a bad name. For the purpose of this article, and so there is no confusion between the two, I have decided to re-name tagging as grafFARTi.

Let me cut to the chase - I re-named it because, in my opinion, it's little more than splattered crap. An assault on the eye and a definite form of vandalism.

My blood began to boil as the radio programme went on. There were interviews with the volunteers who selflessly give their time to removing the stuff, only to come back again the following week and do it all over again.

What really hacked me off, though, was when these gutless vandals were referred to as artists. Another reason grafFARTi is such an appropriate name is because it's complete and utter bullsh*t to call taggers artists, and a huge insult to those worthy of the title.

Any true artist, worthy of their salt, would stand proudly by their work, working in full view of the public and often drawing crowds as they bring their masterpiece to life.

Not taggers, though - grafFARTi happens in the shadows, the vandals hidden under the cover of night, creeping about with stolen cans of spray paint and depositing their hideous scrawl on everyone else's property.

Monkeys and elephants have created more inspiring art works than these imbeciles.

The radio programme ended with an interview with Auckland's most prolific tagger, nameless naturally to avoid conviction for this criminal behaviour. She was actually proud to discover she held the title and when questioned about the cost of clean-up and the damage she had done to property, she reinforced her mindless drongo status by saying she was creating jobs.

So bloody stupid, she couldn't even grasp the concept that the volunteers - by their very name - don't get paid.

I wonder how these taggers would feel if random strangers were to walk into their homes and deface their property.

If they really feel they are deserving of the title "artist", I challenge them to come out of the shadows and stand by their efforts and apply to councils and building owners to have their work commissioned and make an honest living.

They won't of course because they're scared, weak and spineless - and, above all, their handywork sux.

It's a shame talented graffiti artists are being tarred by the same brush ... or, in this case, paint can.

I'd also like to give a big shout out to the Whanganui volunteers who follow behind the vandals and paint over their mess - you're all heroes in my book.

** Kate Stewart is a politically incorrect reluctant mother of three, who is also a staunch advocate of common sense and three-ply toilet tissue - feedback to investik8@gmail.com