Stumbled onto this; published in The Dig…

EXPERIENCE

PROBATION VACATION

Posted on January 24, 2011 by THOMAS DEAN Email

Mayor Menino and Boston’s finest may not appreciate the art form known as graffiti, but many of Boston’s residents sure as hell do. The Fourth Wall Project puts on a street art exhibition in honor of Jim Clay Harper (Ether) and Danielle Bremner’s (Utah) new book, Probation Vacation. The book is a collection of photographs from Harper and Bremner’s graffiti escapades taken around the globe.

The Fourth Wall Project reeked of paint, which was no surprise considering the space’s interior was turned into a vandalism battleground. An installation piece in the form of small brick wall and a large concrete wall were erected, and then painted to look like an ongoing beef between the authorities and the graffiti writers.  “The artists do graffiti and then similar to how some sort of authority would, it is covered up, and then it is tagged again,” said Fourth Wall volunteer Kevin Bucaccio. more –

The bathrooms were turned into a canvas for the public. On the wall a sign read “Designated Graffiti Area,” and with the Blick art supply store right down the street, the opportunity to vandalize a restroom was even easier than usual to take advantage of.

Nothing goes better with vandalism than beer, and there is no better beer than free beer. Pabst Blue Ribbon sponsored the book release, so PBR tall boys flowed like fine wine. When asked what he liked better, the free beer or the art, one gallery-goer had trouble deciding, “It’s a tough one man, they go hand in hand.”

Ether sat behind a table selling and signing his wares while the public got to look at the various pictures hanging on the gallery walls, that he and Bremner had acquired through the years. Many of the photos were what one would expect to see from the graffiti underworld: paint stained hands, dark city streets illuminated by street lights, train tracks in the night, and tall fences clad in barbed wire. Most of the pictures though were a testament to Ether and Utah being the real-fucking-deal in the graffiti game: shots of the writers scaling walls, hanging out of train windows, and climbing underground to what one can only assume was another ballsy spot to paint.

Bremner, a Queens, NY native, was unable to come to her own book release. A Fourth Wall volunteer said she is banned temporarily from Boston and according to boston-graffiti.com she plead guilty to thirteen counts of vandalism and defacing property. Harper, who originates from Chicago, has also had his run-ins with the law, resulting in a six month bid in Riker’s Island and another six in Boston’s South Bay.

In a city that is increasingly turning up the heat on anyone and everyone with a spray paint can or a paint marker (that means you MassArt freshman rookies), it was great to see a night where an illegal art form could be safely practiced and appreciated. Raise your glass, or tall boy, to vandalism!

Tags: boston, ether, fourth wall project, newspaper, probation, the dig, utah, vacation