Who defines the urban aesthetic?
In the past, before there was specific legislation to regulate graffiti, DEBE had a run-in with the law. Anxious about an exhibition they needed to prepare for in Ximending, Taipei, for the Taiwan Alliance for Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare, and unable to sleep, DEBE and his friends took to the streets to throw up some art. However, their work was unexpectedly interrupted around midnight when a police officer happened upon them. This being before the authorities in Taipei City began levying fines for graffiti under the Waste Disposal Act, the police spent the whole night trying to find out who owned the wall that DEBE and company had been working on.
Graffiti has always been something people have thought of as “defacing the city” and being on the line between legal and illegal, but who is it that decides what the city should look like? Who has the right to decide whether a space is “beautiful” or “ugly”? This is, as DEBE remarks, a major question the graffiti world often puts forward.
To those who subscribe to the “broken windows” theory, the more graffiti that appears in a city, the further it means that city has fallen. The stereotype most people have of graffiti is of closed-down stores covered in massive graffiti, an indicator of economic decline or a slide into lawlessness and chaos. But DEBE offers a different perspective: “The way I see it, the more graffiti a city has, the more alive it is.” Look at Long Beach. The city has invited several artists to come and paint the city, creating some 70-plus huge pieces of graffiti that have become public art. Their work has received the support of the city government and local businesses, creating rich, creative spaces that have also become popular spots on social media.
In terms of public art, DEBE believes that the current generation enjoys something much more diverse and engaging than the preceding one. “To the previous generation of Taiwanese, prosperity was money, but to my generation it’s ideas.” He may not be an eloquent speaker, but with his colors and art, DEBE is able to communicate ideas that go beyond language.
On the field by Huashan 1914 Creative Park, DEBE created this piece of graffiti art on the side of a train carriage. (courtesy of DEBE)
DEBE believes that an artist’s work reflects their lifestyle.