MTSU Sidelines

Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Features

Media Credit: Patrick Casey A giant octopus adorns a dumpster by the Keathley University Center. The MTSU Public Safety Department's 2005 Annual Crime Report showed that of the 131 cases of reported vandalism, less than four percent were "cleared" or ended in an arrest.

Media Credit: Patrick Casey This anatomical piece of art is located on the third floor of the Saunders Music Building, and represents what some believe to be a growing problem on campus.

Tucked away in the receiving area of the Keathley University Center, an octopus wraps its tentacles around one of the campus' many dumpsters. Pressed against another near Wood Hall, a lonely looking girl clutches a bomb and the American flag. Scattered all over campus, images of faces, robots, and sumo wrestlers peek out from electrical boxes and bus stops, all placed there illegally by graffiti artists.

Some advertise bands or political positions; some are nothing more than the pseudonyms of those who put them there, while others are nonsensical images placed at the whim of the creator.

"I clean up more of it than I should have to," reveals Raymond Rodriguez with the MTSU Maintenance Department as he scrubs a Web site advertisement off the Todd Building. "Every clean up requires a work order, so smaller stuff, stuff that isn't vulgar, might not get reported and cleaned," explains Raymond. He isn't sure why some people tag the buildings on campus, saying that most of it doesn't make any sense.

"Personally, I just like seeing my art out there," explains Sword, an alias for a graffiti artist and former student. "Everyone has their reasons, but there's something about seeing people react to what I've put up."

Working primarily with stencils, he prefers images with a "desolate vibe to them," such as bullhorns, gas masks and skulls, but insists there is no hidden meaning.

Sword sprays mostly on campus because "there are plenty of people to see it and it's really not too difficult. It has more hiding spots and less people patrolling it than anywhere else I can think of, and there are few other places where it's not out of the ordinary for teenagers to be wondering around late at night."

He may have a point. The MTSU Public Safety Department's 2005 Annual Crime Report showed that of the 131 cases of reported vandalism, less than four percent were "cleared" or ended in an arrest.

While there is no way of know how many of the cases reported were instances of graffiti, Support Sgt. Steve Scott with MTSU Public Safety thinks graffiti is "a real issue," but one with little chance of being resolved.

"People think it's cool to tag up a building," he explains, adding "the only way you can attack a problem like that is to change the environment so that it's no longer appealing."

As for the low arrest rate for vandalism, "all you can do is hope you can find a witness or something that can place them at the scene," Scott says. Beyond that, he admits there isn't much chance of an arrest.

Sword assures he's careful about making sure there are no witnesses.

"I always travel in a pack of two or three, any more than that and it looks suspicious. Someone is always on look-out and we make sure not to stay in any one area for too long," he tells me.

He outlines a few "tricks" for avoiding detection: wearing and disposing of gloves, ways to disguise what he's carrying, ways to silence the shakers in his cans, and others.

When asked, he doesn't contest that the practice is illegal, but claims that most people don't seek out art anymore, and what he does brings some kind of art to the people.

"The weakest justification for graffiti is self-expression," challenges Barry Buxkamper, a professor in the Graphic Design Department, "you can't force an audience.

"Some [graffiti] is drop-dead gorgeous, like the subway cars in Manhattan, but it seems the people who really respond to the vitality of graffiti wouldn't be as open-minded if it showed up on their property," he continues. "I like passing by junk yards for the structure and colors of them, but I wouldn't want one placed in my front yard."

Still, Buxkamper agrees that "taken for its own sake, out of the context of cost and maintenance, some graffiti is simply beautiful," and that he'd be more supportive of graffiti with a strictly political statement if it had a direct correlation to where it was placed.

"I can see putting up something against the use of napalm in Vietnam on a Dow Chemical plant, where it makes sense to place something like that," he declares.

Though stencils protesting the war in Iraq and other political and social policies can be found, much of the graffiti seems devoid of any meaning beyond the aesthetic. From the ever-present Barney Fife stickers to the broken hearts, skulls and animals that dot the campus, most artists seem content to mark buildings and dumpsters with whatever words or images please them.

Sword asserts that graffiti can be a powerful tool for political dissent, but that most has no real purpose. Still, that doesn't stop him from spraying or enjoying what others have put up.

"The campus would be bland and lifeless if the students didn't leave some kind of mark," Sword reasons, "and, yes, it costs, but sometimes you need a bit of aerosol to break up the brick and concrete."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools

Get your own - Open publication