I'd say you have every right to be pissed off and angry and being so has little to do with your open-mindedness and more to do with how much you value your time, space and efforts.

"In principle, I am an anarchist. Kurt Vonnegut once said he was an agnostic who respects Jesus Christ. I am an anarchist who loves democracy." - Kenzaburo Oe

 The notion of unauthorized graffiti as art has always confused me.  It is not art, it is property destruction.  Of course some don't care for private property.  Clean it up, and if you catch the wankers who did it, sic the cops on 'em.  

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." --Mark Twain

But I am Just Another Voice

is entirely subjective. I hope we don't get into that unending argument again. That said, as the person using and keeping up that property it is quite understandable that you would be upset about it. I don't blame you. And I don't think it says anything about your capacity for openmindedness. If the "art" is on your window, perhaps you can frame it from the inside for a few days just for fun. The humor might help mitigate the anger. Anyway, sorry you got tagged.

Tschüss

and seek Justice. In that vein I'd send a copy of the picture above to the ODA, the PBIA and the Oly cops. Document the damage and the cost of clean-up for use in prosecuting the perp in the off chance he/she is apprehended. Other than that, I'd say move on.

The preceding is not to diminish the power of righteous anger. One of my frustrations with Olympia specifically and the larger world in general is fear of passion of which anger is a part. I grew up angry, (who hasn't) but at 45 I've got a better handle on when to use my rage and when to curb it. (No, really, I do.) I wish more people would express their rage at the injustices of the world, non-violently of course, but more over I wish those uncomfortable with passion would grow a spine.

Graffiti and vandalism are tough issues. What's the difference between them? Is one art and the other not? How does one define when it is art and not? It can be a fine line.

I think it's pretty clear that most people (probably to include those who did the tagging) think that defacing shop windows crosses the line.

What would be really awesome would be if you could sit down and actually meet with whomever did it, come to some understanding. That would be an interesting meeting. It would require some courage, and maybe an agreement that you wouldn't turn him/her over the police. Might be worth the effort though.

That sucks.  Need any help window washing?  I wouldn't feel bad if you feel pissed off.  It doesn't mean you have a closed mind, it just means that someone violated your space and it bothers you.     

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. ~Ludwig van Beethoven

Everyone,

Thank you all so much for all your kind words, your encouragment and your support.

This is truely amazing and a great example of real community.

Yes, I already contacted the ODA and hope they will be able to clean this up as fast as the last ones.

For me, real community is priceless.

No annual dues to an organization will subsitute the emotional support and consolitation that communities of people can offer.

I wish we as downtown business wouldn't need a "green machine" to clean our street and a "graffiti removal" manager to keep us excited of creating community in this town.

This is not utopia, the more we open ourselves up and share each others lives the more we understand and embrace each other.

 As I'm doing business in downtown and trying feed a growing family off of it, I'm also very much invested in this community and want to raise my family here. I want my son be able to walk to the toystore by himself and take the bike to get some ice cream.

If we all do our part, we can make this happen.

I believe!

mathias

einmaleins 

Thanks to Alan and the ODA, the tag is removed and the window is clean again.

Well, sort off - now I need to actually clean the window from the drive-by dirt on State Ave. ;-)

mathias 

Plain & simple, tagging is not art, it is about ownership and geography...

...I'd just post a cam in the shop pointed at the window(s).

Where are the guard robots when you need them?

...anyways, hang in there =)

Tagging start out as a hairless ape's equivalent of dogs peeing on trees. Then some other apes with more money than brains commodified it turning into art and de-fanged it in the process. Capitalism: We'll take the symbols of your rebellion and sell it back to your bosses for twice what your bosses pay you in a year. But I digress.

Yes, there are some 'tags' that rise to the level of art, tags that took time, technique and thought, tags I'd call murals, but CPDT and other slap dash tags are not art. CPDT is about territory and asserting one's existence anonymously. (Anonymously. Anyone else see the irony in that?)

There is an interesting conversation to be had on the why's of tagging but please don't confuse the issue by calling it art. The stuff that appears on the Free Wall is art. The stuff that appears on, and occasionally in my building is vandalism. And I don't like it. Not one bit. Harrumph!