Comments on: Girafa Arrested?

By: baybbaybay

baybbaybay — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:08:04 +0000

Some trouble with the law wont stop Girafa,trust me.

By: FREE GIRAFA

FREE GIRAFA — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:38:46 +0000

What seperates Steven Free’s “vanadlism” as some would call it, is his imaginative character: the Giraffe; done in a cartoon like fashion. His tags and throwies are seldom seen compared to his myriad of Giraffes, in all phases, with different moods. It truly is ART in its purest form, it’s a Giraffe for crying out loud. It’s not chicken scratch like you see everyday while traveling down the freeway, it’s not the crossed out names, it’s not the graff thats non-legible, it’s not like he WANTS to destroy the property (owned or not). In an interview with “I hate graffiti” magazine, Steven Free said, and I quote, ”I paint giraffes to bring awareness that wild animals don’t belong in…zoos. Just like a painted giraffe doesn’t belong on a rooftop, a city wall, or a delivery truck, right?” he told the magazine. In the article, Girafa goes on to explain his connection to San Jose, saying he was raised there.
“I was a deformed baby and placed for sale because the San Francisco Zoo had no place for half-breeds,” he said. “My owners from San Jose purchased me and I grew up away from my giraffe mother and zookeeper father.” On another point, as stated in a couple posts above, someone said that cleaning up graffiti is costly at the taxpayers expense. That is true in some sense, but have you even considered how easy it is to take a brush and paint over something? How CHEAP paint is, thus having more vandals because of the cheap paint. You can literally purchase 10 gallons of white paint at home depot for no more than $25. If it takes about a gallon on average to paint a normal sized bedroom, how much would 10 gallons cover? A LOT. So why is it then that money is used on the graffiti removal. Why not fix the freakin cracks in the freeway? Oh wait, because we have earthquakes? And they would just come back? Well, same scenario with graff. You paint over it, it will be bombed again. Why not use it to house homelesses like another man said. Living on the street is illegal! Yet they don’t prosecute them because it’s too expensive. Eh?! And another person said, money is being used to clean the streets of san jose. You’re kidding right? I rarely see city workers out on duty picking up trash, or even clearing out weeds. Guess who mainly gets rid of the trash? The people. You see those elderly distressed men and women pushing food carts full of bottles, cans, plastics, cardboard…any that can be recycled. San jose is one of the cleanest cities in the country. But back to Giraffa and his amazing art. Some say its vandalism, and I agree to some extent. Some say its art, and I agree completely. So what do I think? Lets just put it this way…I’d rather go about driving catching a few realisticly painted giraffes than passing by something that says “fuck ‘this’ crew” or “can’t be stopped.” His art is non-verbal and yet it carries out an array of messages. Just set his free, let the Giraffe out of his cage. It’s inhumane. =P

By: sales Team from Siliconvalley

sales Team from Siliconvalley — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:23:51 +0000

One of our best Graffiti artists we see here in the Bay Area. ” GIRAFA” We loved the giraffe head the best. We would see how many times we would see it though out the Bay Area. True it’s illegal to draw on cars and stuff. But his work was good.
And we didn’t see that much harm as you see others. It’s also illegal to come to America without the proper papers. But you don’t see the police trying to stop them? Plese go to http://www.siliconvalley.cc and click on the Girafa picture and let us know how we can get some shirts made. I would love to have a t-shirt of this Giraffe.

By: FREE GIRAFA!

FREE GIRAFA! — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:52:11 +0000

[...] arrest has prompted calls by some Bay Area bloggers to “Free Free” and has revived the old graffiti [...]

By: John

John — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:49:34 +0000

“Unless you have actually traveled to the location to take the picture you can in no way judge from a photo if the place was abandoned or not. ”

I agree. My family owns a business and one of Free’s pieces were on one of the large vehicles that was being used for deliveries. The vehicle was clearly marked..

By: MICO

MICO — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:33:28 +0000

GIRAFA’s work is really “cartooning.”

Then there is “graffiti,” the type of scribbles that Cy Twombly does.

And then there is “Writin’ ” or “writing” one’s name, what we invented during the Original School of Writin’ in NYC in 1970.

ya dig?

By: vandelsreignsupreme

vandelsreignsupreme — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:51:24 +0000

if this is first time caught hell get a plee. doubt there will be jail time just a shit load of community service.

a lot of you dont and never will understand graffiti but keep in my we dont give a shit nor do it for those who dont.

By: Graffiti. It’s Good for Blight. Or Is It Bad? - Bay Area Blog - NYTimes.com

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:44:37 +0000

[...] arrest has prompted calls by some Bay Area bloggers to “Free Free” and has revived the old graffiti [...]

By: fax

fax — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:51:09 +0000

BTW… more money is spent on removing TRASH from our streets than graffiti:

– 7,622,234 square feet of graffiti were removed from along freeways in the district last year, including 4,479,674 square feet within the city.

– Removing the graffiti cost $2.7 million.

– 60,743 cubic yards of litter were removed from freeways in the district last year, including 14,438 cubic yards in the city of L.A. For what it’s worth, I notice that sometimes it takes a week or more for Caltrans to remove bumpers and various other car parts lodged in the guardrail of the Pasadena Freeway.

– Removing the garbage cost $8 million.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/03/where-do-you-fi.html

These are just LA County estimates, I can’t imagine any other county spending more on graf than garbage.

By: hah!

hah! — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:21:17 +0000

Unless you have actually traveled to the location to take the picture you can in no way judge from a photo if the place was abandoned or not. Alot of those cuts are in abandoned areas with homeless encampments. Don’t you think those people who owned those abandoned buildings have a responsibility to keep a clean living atmosphere? Of course not because private owners have the right to do what they want with their property. Graffiti in those areas is not a blight, it’s like an urban canvas. I have never seen his work on any residential building in the Bay Area. I challenge you to find one and flick it with the owner in front. AND this is not the SFPD prosecuting it’s San Jose police. So lock him up and throw away the key? You should feel proud that your tax dollars are going to lock up artists. That’s a good use of your taxpayer dollars right? Not cleaning up the freeways… not providing safe shelter for the thousands sleeping on the street in encampments. It’s illegal to sleep on the street. It’s illegal to make shanty’s and live on the private property of an abandoned building. But do those people get prosecuted? No, because it’s not profitable. It’s easier for a PD to thump their chest when they arrest someone who is in the public eye. Look what they did in LA… using federal stimulus money to clean paint instead of helping the homeless and the poor.

Way to go society!