Тег: Graffiti

How will things stand with graffiti and street art in general in Ancapistan?

анонимный вопрос

I have already had to answer regarding graffiti, but that was about current reality. How will the situation differ in Ancapistan?

Every wall is private property; where can a free artist go? Free creativity can only be illegal, otherwise what rebellious spirit could there be? So, we will leave banalities like the idea that one could only paint by contract with the wall owner to the lovers of banalities.

So, will private walls be painted in Ancapistan without asking the owner’s permission? Yes, of course they will! It could be a sincere desire to decorate a boring space, it could be Vasya’s intention to tell the whole world about his unearthly love for Olya, it could be the longing of a miserable lover to express his bitter regret that his beloved is leaving for Ptiburdokov—there are plenty of reasons one can imagine to fill an empty space with one’s own content!

What exact sanctions face the graffiti artist? Well, what sanctions are you prepared to impose on someone caught painting the wall of your private house? Well, you might swear, try to shame them, promise to give them a good thrashing next time. Or you might say, “Dude, sign your drawings so everyone knows it’s you who paints so poorly, and they can wish you a speedy improvement in your artistic skills.” Naturally, the more expensive the property, the more provocative the drawing, the greater the danger threatening the author of the masterpiece. He knows this. Nevertheless, I don’t recommend shooting them—people won’t understand. If you want to take a hard line, it’s better to sue and demand monetary compensation for damages.

This picture has already been here, but I am a pathetic copy-paster, not a proud graffiti artist

And is painting graffiti on state property an infringement on property, or do you have the right by definition since you pay taxes?

Anonymous question

What are you even talking about? That which government officials are meant to manage is not property at all. It is simply a no-man’s-land resource. Soviet people, who invented the formula “you are the master here, not a guest—take every nail from work,” understood better than anyone what “state-owned” meant. By the way, it was precisely this tactic toward the state that led to its end; it was literally dismantled nail by nail, and only after that did people acquire a certain amount of property that was previously inaccessible to them.

So, graffiti on no-man’s-land walls is simply decorating the space around oneself at one’s own expense.

P.S. Following the discussion of the answer, I will add: graffiti on a government institution is not an attack on property (a government institution is not owned), but it is an attack on the privilege of government officials to have absolute control over the building’s walls.

Isn’t it true that this is better than leaving a bare wall?