The Urban Landscape is Messy

There's been a few posts in the local blogaverse about the aesthetics of the urban landscape. An old way of communicating is sticking a notice on a telephone pole. In areas with bars that host bands flyers are pretty common & frequently show a good bit of creativity. Bands doing original music? Artists doing original art? Sounds nice to me. Sounds like something we should foster.
I like Northside. I like it a lot. I don't relate to a lot of it. I have no idea why anybody would go to a coffee house. The teenagers are weird & frequently obnoxious. I could do without the rock throwing & willy nilly gunfire. But I certainly like the weirdness & the creative aspect.
But I could also do without people who want suburbia in urbia. That is - it's not going to be neat, sterile & homogenous. People claim they want a "diverse" community. This seems to mean, I want some black people living on the next block. I want art & culture but it has to be ok with NPR.
Art Damage is celebrating it's 25th anniversary this year. Seems like just yesterday I was listening the the show on WAIF while working alone on third shift in the nation's most dangerous neighborhood. In that time they have, essentially become a Cincinnati art institution. They have progressed from just a radio show to having a space for experimental performers & movie makers.

What do they get from the neighborhood?
grief

In this post on the Northside BB, a poster complains about Art Damage specifically for posting flyers on phone poles. The neighborhood liason police officer is quite happy to jump in. This kind of pisses me off since I post annually that it is city law to clear your sidewalk of snow & I never got a response from Cincinnati's finest. Of course a snowy icy sidewalk is dangerous - flyers on poles assault our sensibilities & tastes. priorities....

It's not just Art Damage, of course
Now, while people in "eclectic" Northside are griping about contemporary graphics advertising experimental music, the neighborhood hosts an "installation" Shepard Fairey work.

Fairey, of course got his start doing, essentially "street art". But he's been on NPR, so it's ok.
One of the complaints is that the flyers contain profanity from time to time. While this is a semi-legitimate complaint, the flyers are usually posted at the eye level of an adult, so I don't really see a problem there.

an offending flyer ?
Now, I have to say that advertising to the people walking through the Northside business district has it's limits. Blanketing the 3-4 blocks is probably not too productive. Some strategy is worthwhile.
The issue is up in the air. Hopefully the AD folks will just be told to take down flyers after the events. That would be a good idea anyway as old ads would distract from new ads.
Clicking on these thumbnails will display some of the older Art Damage flyers.


Art Damage can also be found on FaceBook.
An alternative Art Damage page with a history lies here, but navigating there sets off all sorts of warnings about how it will melt your computer. No problems here.