Graffiti: From "Vandalism" to "Street Art"

The passage of time changes things. When I was very young, I rode with my family through some not-so-nice parts of New York City. The walls were dirty gray. There were emergency escape ladders that looked like they were barely hanging on outside cruddy buildings. Some windows had no glass, and tattered curtains fluttered out of blank windows. It wasn’t pleasant. At street level, I remember ugly wall writings, mostly in black spray paint. Words I couldn’t understand. Everything was gray and dirty and dingy.

Fast forward forty-plus years. Inner city neighborhoods are getting a new life. Roof-top gardens bring a touch of green. The old buildings have been cleaned up, and large, windowless walls provide perfect canvases for “street art.” Today, urban artists are asked to decorate the walls.

I’m intrigued by some of this new craze. In Biarritz, France, for example, there’s a huge mural on the side of a building that faces a traffic circle. It is a trompe l’oeil masterpiece with painted details of open windows, doors, stairs, etc. with the real ones included. It’s hard to tell which part of what you see is the real building and which is painted. Human figures are doing all kinds of activities—including a lady peering out from behind a curtain. Geraniums grace planters in front of the windows. It makes you want to take another turn around the traffic circle.

In London, a man who paints simple stick figures has been nicknamed Stik. Another London artist, Bansky, paints realistic people, usually in black and white, and always surprising. He often paints a mouse. (My personal favorite Bansky painting* is a maid sweeping the dirt “under the carpet,” only she’s lifting up a sheet over the wall to reveal natural bricks.) A Hong Kong man was dubbed The Plumber King because he painted calligraphic plumbing advertisements all over the city. “Cope 2” in New York City became famous for his stylized, colorful letters and words.

What started as “defacing public property” has become a celebrated art form. Some street artists have even been featured in galleries!

I read a quotation not too long ago that expressed this same idea.

But, it was talking about sin, not graffiti.

Sins that were once called taboo/criminal start on a progression. They are tolerated, then accepted, approved, normalized, protected, and finally, they're given preferential treatment.**

This applies to almost any sin. You can fill in the blank. What was once called perverse, abnormal, and criminal is now celebrated as a “lifestyle.” (Thankfully, not every sin can be put in that blank. People still frown on murder, major theft, and the like.) Let me give you an example. I took an abnormal psychology course at a state university in the late 1970s. We studied a variety of behaviors that were labeled “abnormal.” Today, almost every one of those behaviors would not be called “abnormal.” Today, even child abuse in the form of pedophilia is on its way to becoming decriminalized and re-labeled “a preference, a form of sexual expression.” It’s on its way to becoming tolerated, and soon, it too will be perfectly acceptable. Within the next twenty years, it may not be a crime at all. It might even be “celebrated” in parades.

We’ve watched this process begin to happen with promiscuity, euthanasia, prostitution, homosexuality, assisted suicide, and abortion. What used to be shocking, illegal, and absolutely wrong is now “normal” and protected. “Rights” to practice these sins are being defended in courts of law.

The cycle has started.

The Bible says, Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)

What the Bible condemns, we should, too. When our government wants to change its laws contrary to biblical thought, we need to lend our voice to the outcry. We need to vote our conscience. What’s wrong is wrong. Let’s not call it good. Let’s protect the rights of those who have no voice.

*Some of Bansky’s work is indecent, and much of it is strongly political/social commentary. I by no means endorse all of his work or ideas, though I appreciate his talent.

**This progression is from a column titled “Where ‘Little Lies’ Lead” by Joel Beltz, World Magazine, Feb. 23, 2013.

Paper Books or Digital?

A rainy day, a cozy place, a book in hand . . . oh, the joys of a good read!

The debate about digital books versus paper ones begins.

I totally understand it.

I resisted the e-book idea for years. Who wants to spend more time at a screen than he has to? How about eyestrain and sitting?

Then, my husband bought me a Kindle.** I found it easy to use—even for a non-techie like me. I started buying books in English, online, with Amazon’s Whispernet. In less than half a minute, I have a new book. And now, I’m actually accessing my books on a cloud! Amazing! I love it that I can read in bed with my nifty difty reading light (built into the cover) while my husband sleeps soundly beside me. Oh yes, this is progress!

A purist would miss the musty smell of old pages and the feel of a book in his hands. I understand. There is nothing that calls to me more than a library of leather-bound books. In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, when Belle sees the library, I feel her wonder. I remember a tour of the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC entering its library. I truly could have remained in that one room for the rest of the day . . . .

The pages of a book offer everything. You never know what awaits until you open that world and begin to read. Each cover is a door. Each page is meaning.

A book can transport you to exotic places and historical times. It can give you the adventure of a lifetime—while you sit in your living room. It can produce tears, laughter, romance, and sorrow. A great writer appeals to all the senses and to your heart. A wonderful book makes you think and feel, judge, and enjoy.

The words make the book.

There are, thankfully, many good new authors coming to the fore. Some are frankly awesome. They have a gift for wording that borders on poetry. They understand how to use the right word at the right moment, how to weave them together, how to make a single sentence memorable.

I’m seeing new trends in fiction. Plots are more complex. Characters are more fleshed out. (Sometimes, the plots are so complex that I find myself lost in the tos-and-fros.) I love the action and movement. Some authors describe scenes so well that you end up breathless. Many authors have mastered the secret of writing page-turners. Subject doesn’t really matter as much as the pace. The author makes you want to find out more. Today’s authors cut and cut and cut, so that what you have left is what’s necessary to tell the story. (This change is in both fiction and non-fiction.) I am happy, as this style suits my natural impatience.

I recently finished up an excellent Bible study on the book of Job.* It’s a paper book. It has blank lines in it. It asks thoughtful questions and poses ideas, and you write your thoughts or what the Bible passage says. I can’t imagine doing a Bible study in any other format. Without being able to read, write, read, and write, and then go back over what you filled in, you would never get out of the Bible study what you should. I think definitely paper for Bible studies.

I use Online Bible** for research, but for devotional reading and looking for context, there’s nothing like the thin pages of print in a real Bible. I also still find it easier to flip back and forth in a real Bible that to have to type in references on my computer.

I absolutely love what many people call a “coffee table book.” It’s a book that has a lot of pictures in it, usually exceptional photography. How, I ask, could you possibly get the same effect on a screen? I don’t see it happening any time soon. I am very visual and own at least two dozen such books. I love them and won’t be replacing them digitally, ever.

And, oh, the shelves full of classics, missionary biographies, Bibles, women’s devotionals, studies, and fun reading in my home . . . . Not going anywhere any time soon.

There’s still nothing like a rainy day, a cozy place, and a good book in hand.

*Grace for Every Trial, reviewed here.

**Love both Kindle and Online Bible! Yes, these are endorsements.