The Next Hurricane

There are fears that the rich culture of New Orleans will never be recovered as reconstruction and clean up follows Katrina. Now there's a wave coming which will hit London and leave it cleaned up and culturally reduced.

Preparations for the Commonwealth games in Melbourne have obliterated, with grey paint, years of work of talented stencil artists, who have made graffiti a feature and attraction of the city. "Graffiti's not art," says the police minister Tim Holding, "it's vandalism and it's something we all deplore."

From The Guardian:

"The precedent set by Melbourne does not bode well for London in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics. The games will be set in east London, where Hackney is one of the few remaining parts of the city where affordable studio space for artists still exists. After the warehouses have been flattened by compulsory purchase orders, the pots of grey paint will be opened and an area rich in street culture and frontier spirit will disappear.

Melbourne and London are genuine epicentres of the skewed human touch that can bring a little sparkle into the drudgery of public space. A feat that is of immense value, despite its apparent worthlessness. And a feat that is not so easily achieved by trying to run around a track in under four minutes."
Banksy