Graffiti in the Nordic countries? (crime, places, train, people)

[Podo944]

Was just hearing about a lot of Graffiti in the Nordic countries like Finland, Sweden and others.
Curious about it... who it producing it? Is it considered an art form? How do the residents feel about it? Thanks.

[Eden Morlevent]

Where did you hear about it ?

There is graffitis everywhere in Europe/the world, nothing special about it.

[boxus]

Graffiti seems all over the place, not in areas where tourists are or locals live, but along the train tracks, any wall along a road, industrial type areas, etc. Seems to me it is generally accepted as long as it does not get into gang tagging and vandalizing personal property or business property (non-dirty industrial that is).

That is just my view of it from my travels and talking with some people. Goodness though, some people I talked with really did not have the concept of personal/public property and vandalism.

[Arne Bjornson]

there is a lot of graffiti in scandinavia, holland and germany. german companies even produce a number of brands of very expensive graffiti specific spray paint. it seems it is accepted as a form of art

[Podo944]

Originally Posted by Arne Bjornson

there is a lot of graffiti in scandinavia, holland and germany. german companies even produce a number of brands of very expensive graffiti specific spray paint. it seems it is accepted as a form of art

Oh interesting... so it's not a gang thing so much as an art thing? Are the artists mostly German youth or is it an activity popular with both Germans and immigrants?

Thanks

[Arne Bjornson]

i am guessing it can be both a gang thing and an art thing. the big interesting pieces are art and the gangs and hoodlums do the tags. it is the same in the USA but nobody leaves the art up, it gets buffed along with the tags. however there are some places where people do legal walls in the USA too. for instance there is a lot in SF. it used to be more popular in the USA a couple decades ago.

[cattledog69]

There are a lot of places in Holland were people can spray graffiti. Those places are called "Walls of Fame'.

Sorry, this is in Dutch, but the movie isn't. Here's a map were the Walls of Fame are.

Waar kan ik legaal graffiti spuiten in Nederland?

[Borkeur]

are you sure??
http://uiwalls.ml/33/o.png

[soUlwounD]

Most of what I have seen cannot be called as "art". Excuse my limited view of art. But when this "art" makes me feel I am walking inside my nightmare rather than town I would gladly wash them all away.

Also it is also often poorly done, no dimension etc.

[FlorianD]

The nicer ones are definitively art but quickly and filthy sprayed tags are just smearings.

Here in Düsseldorf large wall graffitis can be found everywhere, some are even under monumental protection:








Or as a political protest against Hartz IV (guaranteed minimum income in Germany. What is considered by some people as insufficient):





Tag graffii:



A graffiti crew or "gang" from Düsseldorf:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VLy1CPbGbA

In my opinion "gang" sounds too harsh. Of course it's not legal what they are doing, but i wouldn't consider it as a crime.

Those crews are certainly mixed, Germans and people with a migration background. It seems logical, because most people don't care from where other people are.