The Underscore Archives

    i remember seeing the 'mild mild west' graf back in '98 when i first 
arrived in bristol. it was an immediate point of reference for me and 
has remained so. i'm no fanboy but banksy has become an inexorable part 
of this town's identity. when my dad visited recently, he made no bones 
about telling me how ugly he thought the graffiti down stokes croft was. 
to him, though, it was all the same; none of it was art, all of it was 
vandalism. i got upset with him, partly because i was cross at how 
blinkered he could be to beautiful things (like the yard wall of jamaica 
street studio, for instance, or the side of the chinese herbalist by the 
arches) but also because i felt my pride had been hurt. bristol, and 
more accurately, stokes croft is my home and i feel proud to live here. 
sure, some of the graffing you see is rubbish but with art, as with 
life, you have to take the rough with the smooth. would you be happier 
if the council only ever put up works of art that you liked?

rx