Written by When Does Graffiti Become Art?
Who knows? But it’s a perennially interesting question and one that has reared it’s head around the Berkshire town of Newbury, in the U.K. What’s turned up on several of the bridges on the Newbury bypass probably couldn’t be ascribed to, say, Banksy but the pictures are pretty entertaining anyway.
The link to this website is of course that the pictures are of giraffes so let’s have a look at a few of the examples:
Newbury Giraffe #1
Newbury Giraffe #2
Now nobody is going to deny that these pictures are undeniably cute and the anonymous artist is apparently remaining just that but should this type of thing be classed as criminal behaviour, specifically criminal damage? Local police think they know the answer and said that “….anyone caught doing this will be arrested and put before the courts, which may result in a custodial sentence or a significant fine.”
Surinder Bhangu from the Highways Agency said that the pictures were “quite sweet” but expressed concerns about the safety aspect of climbing on the bridge to paint the giraffe. Locals appear to have split opinions about the legitimacy of the medium, there’s the usual ludicrous Daily Mail-type opinions that the perpetrator should be locked up forever but others say it makes them smile as they make their way to work.
As we mentioned Banksy earlier on, it’s worth mentioning a Banksy-inspired picture by British artist Nick Walker (who has been suspected of being Banksy) which he created on the side of the Roebling Tea Room in the neighbourhood of Williamsburg, Washington.
Nick Walker's Giraffe
Giraffe Death At Vancouver Zoo
A sad piece of news from the Greater Vancouver Zoo this week as we report the death of Amryn, a young giraffe just short of his 4th birthday. Amryn was one of the zoo’s Rothschild Giraffes and had been separated from his mother shortly after his birth when he refused to feed from her.
However there had been no cause for concern in his early years and a pathologist will be conducting a full post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.
