Stenciling around those pretentious ordinances

In yesterday's Isthmus, features writer David Medaris looked at a planetwide graffiti trend making its presence known in Madison recently. "The revolution will be stenciled: Madison joins a worldwide graffiti movement" is (as usual, unfortunately) not available on the paper's website; it introduces readers to the phenomenon locally, starting with a marching line of gray flannels on the papers' Pinckney-facing wall. It looks at this global trend, framed through the inevitable controversy that will come with guerilla art.

The article looked like it was inspired by the Madison Art Crime Collective consists of seven contributing members who host this online "forum for Madison’s finest felons." This group, let's call them the MadACC, maintains this extensive blog gallery of local graffiti. It has been maintained since February, with an incredible amount of photos detailing stencil graffiti throughout the city, but centered mostly about State Street and the east isthmus.

Medaris wrote;

Back in February, stencil graffiti documentarian lafncow wrote an introduction to the MadACC, and explained their mission;

*a word to the taggers: I'm not trying to start a war here, there are truly amazing tagging works out there and they are all the more amazing for having been painstakingly hand done and out of sight of the popo's. However, they are usually in hard to reach/edge of town areas for the same reason. Also, there are far too many egoists who are running around scrawling their names on things without creating art. Art isn't about fame, it's the love baby, the love!

In his feature, Medaris described some of the stencil graffiti, noting through his list that much of it is politically motivated by a critique of modern consumer society. Some of the recent stenciled love notes include;

This list of local stencil graffiti make it clear that Medaris is familiar with the MadACC, as these were all recently featured pieces within the last month or so on the the blog gallery. Medaris, who is clearly sympatheic to this art form (decrying the inevitable "knee-jerk reactions" against it), perhaps shares the concerns of those hoping that the stencil graffiti doesn’t attract negative attention.

He wrote about this issue, referencing the disagreements about publicizing the stencils among graffiti artists;

On the point of law, the applicable Madison ordinance is as crisp and clear as the edges of a well-executed piece of stencil graffiti: "It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally place graffiti on any surface located on public or private property." Violators are subject to fines of $50 to $500.

So you can understand why local stencil graffiti artists have been circumspect about seeking credit for their work. Their blogs and other online forums communicate a discernible tension between their desire for acknowledgement and a self-protective streak.

This tension was evident from the get-go on the MadACC blog gallery. In reply to the introductory post about the project, an anonymous commenter complained about the project, predicting that there will be legal trouble for local stencilers this summer as their work gains a higher profile. lafncow responded, writing;

The MadACC member also responded to the anonymous request not to promote local stencil graffiti on the blog, and said their work documenting the art will continue. Otherwise;

Though Medaris often includes supplements and some contextual chit chat about his articles at All Things Medaris, there is nothing there currently about graffiti art. There is, however, a post on TDPF brings up the article, mostly looking at the legal and zoning issues surrounding stencil graffiti.

More writing about Madison’s stencil graffiti can be found in volume seven of the Shaken Naked! zine. For readers in, from, or going to the Brew City, check out the Milwaukee Stencil Graffiti Map Project, noting the locations of the stencils, centered mostly in Riverwest.

The photos posted below (courtesy of the Madison Art Crime Collective) highlight some recent works. The final photo is of a stencil graffiti jamming a city-placed stencil, prohibiting dogs in James Madison Park. MadACC noted that it is the oldest work of its kind in the city; this is probably the caes, it has been there for years, amusing pedestrians walking down Gorham near the intersection of Butler next to the park.