anyone here think MASER's graffiti is pretty average?

Tedious Bore

I've never cared enough to hate it, but after seeing the first few, I don't find all these repetitive "Maser Loves You" doodles any more interesting than the grey walls they're sprayed on.
The first couple deffo had me curious to check out his stuff, and I'm sure there's been the odd one I've liked, but most of it just seems self indulgent muck.

I'm no art critic or graffiti connoisseur, but if pushed on what I like, I suppose I'd say either something that speaks - some message of interest, something funny, ...or at the very least a pretty picture.

I realise I've maybe only seen bits of this guy's work, but if the stuff outside the bernard shaw pub near portobello is typical, then I don't mind calling it mundane.

Jev/N

I'd beg to differ, see here for his stuff...

http://maserart.blogspot.com/

There's a few I'd be willing to buy for my apartment, especially this one..Saw it up close, was pretty damn cool



edit:

There's also some cool stuff down on the North docks and over in the 'Joy.

pearljamfan

how do u pronounce the name,?? is it MASSER or MACER?? either way, i do like some of the stuff but i hate stupid name spellings. lol:pac:

Tedious Bore

@Jev/N.........

just had a scroll down through that link, and honestly, if I was to pick one I half-liked, I'd go for the same one you've posted, but the rest........

If I'd seen this page before, I'd have used it to illustrate my point to begin with. Several bland "Maser Loves You" pieces, "Eye HEART my city" (pants), and others similar.

better than nothing maybe, - brightens the place up a bit. But all I'm seeing is mediocrity scrawled in loud colours.

is it just me? am I missing something.....?

Tedious Bore

pearljamfan wrote: »

how do u pronounce the name,?? is it MASSER or MACER?? either way, i do like some of the stuff but i hate stupid name spellings. lol:pac:

macer i think

Gavin "shels"

Tedious Bore wrote: »

macer i think

Ye it's pronouced Macer. Some of his stuff in the Tivoli carpark is quality along with some of his stuff down in Bernard Shaws pub.

CavanCrew

Ah jeez, Bernard Shaws, some pub. :rolleyes:

And wait a sec,,, maser doesnt always do the "art" there does he?

Gavin "shels"

CavanCrew wrote: »

Ah jeez, Bernard Shaws, some pub. :rolleyes:

And wait a sec,,, maser doesnt always do the "art" there does he?

The boards next to Bernard Shaw are usually always Masers stuff and in the back in the yard there's a bit of stuff in there too.

CavanCrew

So he did the masssive pair of tits ...


psh!

Gavin "shels"

CavanCrew wrote: »

So he did the masssive pair of tits ...


psh!

Haven't been down there in a while, but it would have Maser somewhere on the boards if it's his, most likely it would be.

electrogrimey

Gavin shels wrote: »

Haven't been down there in a while, but it would have Maser somewhere on the boards if it's his, most likely it would be.

There's about 4/5 artists that paint there, not sure if that was him. Doesn't really seem like him.

OP, if you don't like his stuff, are there any graffiti artists you do like? Banksy, Invader, Pixnit etc? You have to admit he's a lot better than the UEK crew anyway.

Degsy

Why dont graffiti "artists" paint thier shiite on thier own property instead of destroying other people's?


Oh i know..because none of them have thier own property..they all live with thier mothers.

wixfjord

Degsy wrote: »

Why dont graffiti "artists" paint thier shiite on thier own property instead of destroying other people's?


Oh i know..because none of them have thier own property..they all live with thier mothers.

Ah the old art vs public property debate. Good man Degsy. There is a huge difference between scrawled graffiti and art, but of course people like yourself tar it all with the one brush.

And its their.

AnonoBoy

All I know about Maser is that he loves me.

Degsy

wixfjord wrote: »

. There is a huge difference between scrawled graffiti and art, but of course people like yourself tar it all with the one brush.

My question remains..Why not do it on thier OWN property?

Uriel.

wixfjord wrote: »

Ah the old art vs public property debate. Good man Degsy. There is a huge difference between scrawled graffiti and art, but of course people like yourself tar it all with the one brush.

And its their.

I agree, huge difference between scrawled graffiti and art.

But I am afraid there's no difference between defacing private property and defacing private property irrespective as to whether you think it's "good" or "artistic". which i think is the point Degsy was making.

And the whole "And its their" thing? - Did you really have to make that point :rolleyes:

Ps. It's "And it's their" btw :cool:

CavanCrew

I prefer Banksys stuff, there is a little bit more to it... and sometimes masers display of love isnt always reciprocated.

electrogrimey

Degsy wrote: »

My question remains..Why not do it on thier OWN property?

In my experience they do. Guarantee if you go to big writers houses, the whole back garden will be sprayed, and there might even be a few rooms inside sprayed too.

That completely defeats the purpose of what they're trying to achieve though. They're trying to turn a boring horrible piece of grey public cement into something nice to look at for everyone, and a lot of the time they do.

Degsy

electrogrimey wrote: »

grey public cement into something nice to look at for everyone.

What if "everyone" doesnt think its "nice"?
Secondly why should they inflict their handiwork on the "public" who have to see it despite not wanting to.

Graffiti looks terrible regardless of what the "artists" may think,it devalues property and has a negative psychological effect on people who live in areas where its prevalent.

Nobody is consulted before an area is defaced and it usually results in dozens of assholes all vying for attention on one peice of wall or whatever..destroying the ambience of an area so that it quickly resembles a ghetto.

The fact is tht the "artists" are little more than egotistical vandals who blight other people's property with thier nonsense because they want to validate thier own pointless existence.

Gaspode

I dont think Maser/Macers graffiti is average.

I think it's vandalism.

electrogrimey

Do you really think horrible, concrete, crumbling, dirty walls and construction boards look nicer than this:

Red_Marauder

I lost all respect for Maser after i saw one of 'his' pieces in a book of pictures by another graffiti artist. We'll leave the artist bit in there because a lot of them are quite decent. I'm not his biggest fan though, and unlike most other people who drink in the bernard shaw, I don't generally kiss the ground he walks upon. He's good but he's far from banksy, and i think that he does ride on his coat tails a little bit, dublin being a pretty small and easily impressed pond.

I do generally think there are some public spaces they (graffiti artists) wouldn't be welcome, but i've never seen one in Dublin where it wasn't appropriate.

Tedious Bore

electrogrimey wrote: »

There's about 4/5 artists that paint there, not sure if that was him. Doesn't really seem like him.

OP, if you don't like his stuff, are there any graffiti artists you do like? Banksy, Invader, Pixnit etc? You have to admit he's a lot better than the UEK crew anyway.

i'll admit I'm pretty ignorant about who those graffiti artists are. - aside from banksy of course, and yeah I really do like a lot of his stuff.

in fact, maybe that's what was riling me to begin with..... I think Banksy and Maser must be the only two graffiti artists whose stuff I half know, - so maybe that's a tough comparison I've been basing Maser against, but I really just think there's so very little to this guy's stuff.
Save for adding welcome colour to some otherwise ugly walls, the content is continually drab, uninteresting. More decorative than arty I always think.

...and when I mention arty, I'm never wishing for something deeply profound, but just humourous even. It's neither. It's dull.

Tedious Bore

electrogrimey wrote: »

Do you really think horrible, concrete, crumbling, dirty walls and construction boards look nicer than this:

there's a side debate which I'm sure deserves it's own thread going on here about whether graffiti is more vandalism than art......

i'll just say that without having given much consideration to people living in any widely sprayed areas, my own opinion is that I prefer seeing half-decent colourful graffiti around than just grey, grey, grey.

so yeah, for the most part I do prefer dublin with stuff like the above than without, but I still say that this continual "Maser loves you" thing from the first pic has been old for a long, long time now, and as for the second one, I can't rate that in the half-decent bracket I just talked about. It really is the opposite to good.

Tedious Bore

Red_Marauder wrote: »

dublin being a pretty small and easily impressed pond.

........spot on.


I was talking to a guy who was asked to do a piece with Maser ages ago.
he told me that between the few arty chaps contributing, there was more recognition for his ability to self-promote than his can-handling skills.
While the others were still finishing off, Maser was making all the right phonecalls to let the world know he'd been doing his thing.

if he can make some moolah off it then why not I guess.
I think my gripe is, that usually when I'm looking at his stuff, it just seems it's less a demonstration of his artistry than it is an advertisement for the man himself. Loads of his pieces are just his own bloody name scrawled large, - all I see in those ones is one big boring logo. Absolute crap.

tfak85

i quite like his stuff, he did an exhibition in a friends shop a couple of years ago and i would have liked some of the pieces but they're quite pricey... i'm enjoying the new stuff that he's doing with damo dempsey, along the north quays, well, i've seen two there but it think there are a good few more..


i've always enjoyed banksys stuff, i moved to london in 2003 when he was beginning to get pretty big and it was always exciting when you spotted a new piece (at this stage he only had two small a6 books for sale) but now i do think he's a bit of a sell out...although, in fairness, if you could...

Degsy

electrogrimey wrote: »

Do you really think horrible, concrete, crumbling, dirty walls and construction boards look nicer than this:

Yes..the walls were built by crafstmen for a purpose at somebody's behest.
The Graffiti was sprayed by an arsehole who wants everyone to think how great he is..probably living at home with his parents too.

wixfjord

Degsy wrote: »

Yes..the walls were built by crafstmen for a purpose at somebody's behest.
The Graffiti was sprayed by an arsehole who wants everyone to think how great he is..probably living at home with his parents too.

What has that got to do with it? Making yourself sound foolish with that sort of ****e.

wixfjord

wixfjord wrote: »

What has that got to do with it? Making yourself sound foolish with that sort of ****e.

That's Degsy, one of the most cynical members of boards.

I think it looks great. Brightens up the place, shows a bit of individuality that Dublin doesn't do great at.

Degsy

wixfjord wrote: »

What has that got to do with it? Making yourself sound foolish with that sort of ****e.

Its usually true in my experience...you know why?
Coz if these fools were paying a mortage instead of living at home they'd have more respect for other people's property...writing on walls is what the "bold boys" did in school..grafitti "artists" arent even Bold boys..they're cowards and ****.

basil83

Papa Smut wrote: »

I think it looks great. Brightens up the place, shows a bit of individuality that Dublin doesn't do great at.

Totally agree. Not into pointless random tagging but Maser's usually commissioned to do pieces so clearly at least some of the owners of the buildings he's painted place a value on his work. Complaining that you don't want to see it is like moaning about architecture that doesn't meet your personal values of taste - tbh if that were the case I'd probably be more sympathetic because we truly have f-ed that side of things up in this city but unlike poor design, graffiti is a transient thing and if you don't like it, well it'll probably be replaced by something else soon. This very anti-graf (having admitted you know very little about it), all painters are losers who live with their mammy argument makes you sound petulant. Dublin's a very grey bland space, particularly down by the quays with many projects on hold and buildings falling into disrepair so if someone wants to put something down there to look at then I'm all for it. A huge amount of technical skill and time goes into creating a piece and while I may not love or even like everything Maser does, I respect the work involved and I like the fact that someone's trying. Banksy only transitioned to a household name because he injected a sense of humour into proceedings and managed to make people who hate graffiti look at it in a different way. If Maser did attempt the witty, pseudo-political route he'd be bashed as a Banksy rip off (just as Banksy has been compared to Blek le Rat) so he's obviously trying to do his own thing with the love tag. Granted he has gotten quite repetitive but he's a lot younger and he's not the only skilled graffiti artist in Dublin so perhaps in a few years someone will emerge on a more noteworthy scale. Perhaps not. Til then I don't mind seeing love in unlikely places.

Degsy

basil83 wrote: »

Totally agree. Not into pointless random tagging but Maser's usually commissioned to do pieces so clearly at least some of the owners of the buildings he's painted place a value on his work. Complaining that you don't want to see it is like moaning about architecture that doesn't meet your personal values of taste - tbh if that were the case I'd probably be more sympathetic because we truly have f-ed that side of things up in this city but unlike poor design, graffiti is a transient thing and if you don't like it, well it'll probably be replaced by something else soon. This very anti-graf (having admitted you know very little about it), all painters are losers who live with their mammy argument makes you sound petulant. Dublin's a very grey bland space, particularly down by the quays with many projects on hold and buildings falling into disrepair so if someone wants to put something down there to look at then I'm all for it. A huge amount of technical skill and time goes into creating a piece and while I may not love or even like everything Maser does, I respect the work involved and I like the fact that someone's trying. Banksy only transitioned to a household name because he injected a sense of humour into proceedings and managed to make people who hate graffiti look at it in a different way. If Maser did attempt the witty, pseudo-political route he'd be bashed as a Banksy rip off (just as Banksy has been compared to Blek le Rat) so he's obviously trying to do his own thing with the love tag. Granted he has gotten quite repetitive but he's a lot younger and he's not the only skilled graffiti artist in Dublin so perhaps in a few years someone will emerge on a more noteworthy scale. Perhaps not. Til then I don't mind seeing love in unlikely places.

Tag the front of your parents house then...go on.

basil83

Degsy wrote: »

Tag the front of your parents house then...go on.

Just told you I don't like pointless tagging. Hate it when it's just mindless vandalism but there's a huge difference between halfassedly scrawling your name somewhere and making a full size piece somewhere you've a) been paid to do so or b) is currently unoccupied/derelict.

(Poor choice to try to prove a point. When I was a teenager I did use a stencil once in my parent's garden. It looked good and they didn't mind. That was my sole involvement with anything close to graffiti, I'm not great at art and wouldn't have the patience to learn or deal with people giving out about the medium.)

Tedious Bore

basil83 wrote: »

Totally agree. Not into pointless random tagging but Maser's usually commissioned to do pieces so clearly at least some of the owners of the buildings he's painted place a value on his work. Complaining that you don't want to see it is like moaning about architecture that doesn't meet your personal values of taste - tbh if that were the case I'd probably be more sympathetic because we truly have f-ed that side of things up in this city but unlike poor design, graffiti is a transient thing and if you don't like it, well it'll probably be replaced by something else soon. This very anti-graf (having admitted you know very little about it), all painters are losers who live with their mammy argument makes you sound petulant. Dublin's a very grey bland space, particularly down by the quays with many projects on hold and buildings falling into disrepair so if someone wants to put something down there to look at then I'm all for it. A huge amount of technical skill and time goes into creating a piece and while I may not love or even like everything Maser does, I respect the work involved and I like the fact that someone's trying. Banksy only transitioned to a household name because he injected a sense of humour into proceedings and managed to make people who hate graffiti look at it in a different way. If Maser did attempt the witty, pseudo-political route he'd be bashed as a Banksy rip off (just as Banksy has been compared to Blek le Rat) so he's obviously trying to do his own thing with the love tag. Granted he has gotten quite repetitive but he's a lot younger and he's not the only skilled graffiti artist in Dublin so perhaps in a few years someone will emerge on a more noteworthy scale. Perhaps not. Til then I don't mind seeing love in unlikely places.

I think you're confusing two different posters here.
was me who said I didn't know much about graffiti art these days, but not me who called the artists cowardly **** who live at home with their folks.

when you say Maser's a lot younger, he ain't a kid.
I'm bemoaning the blandness of his stuff largely coz i remember arty kids in school scribbling stuff on desks and walls that I can still say now - albeit in miniature form - was more interesting and clever than a lot of this Maser lad's wallpaper.

I very much agree though that even the most average art efforts do bring some much needed colour to tired grey places.

_blank_

Mod Note

Everyone reel in the language and tone down their tempers please.

Do not respond to this (part of this) post in this thread, if you have an issue either PM me or report posts.

*************************************************

Non-mod part of post, this is me giving my opinion here.

I don't like graffiti. Some people think it's artisitc or whatever, but each to their own. What I mostly don't like about it is that 95% of the time it's done on walls where it hasn't been asked for. That is destruction of public or private property. It would still be that if Da Vinci did it. That, in my opinion, is not in dispute. I don't see any difference between an "artist" doing it, or some teenager scrawling his name on the side of a house. The end product is the same. Someone else has to spend money to remove the paint from their wall. It's extremely disrespectful of other people's property rights to just arrive and paint on their wall, without permission. How anyone can disagree with that is baffling to me.

On the other side of it, if the piece has been commissioned and paid for, and the property owner actually wants the graffiti on their wall, well then, that's their choice and they are perfectly entitled to have it done. I still don't like it though.

I do recognise the difference between "Johnner woz 'ere 14/8/10" and a piece of work that someone may have spent hours designing and painting, but as said above, if the artisitc piece is painted on a wall without permission, it boils down to the same thing.

One name I've noticed around if "Grift" or something like that. In my mind, that person is no better than the "Johnner woz 'ere" brigade. He is simply scrawling his name wherever he can.

monument

There seems to be the presumption that the work/art/vandalism/whatever is always done without permission, when that sometimes isn't the case.

Degsy wrote: »

What if "everyone" doesnt think its "nice"?
Secondly why should they inflict their handiwork on the "public" who have to see it despite not wanting to.

You better be careful then when venturing outside. You may just see people / buildings / advertisements you don't like the look of. Best to keep indoors.

panda100

Ya not a major Maser fan. Didn't he do the 'I heart Lamp' stuff around the city? That graffitti pissed me off cos Anchorman was about as funny as ants in me pants. I do like the bright colours he uses though,its just the content thats poor really.

I like PI he has pretty decent drawings about the place. Noone to compare to Banksy though. I guess Dublin is a small place and it could be quite easy to get caught?

patma2003

i dunno... as someone who moved to dub some years back, i think the guy has got some pretty decent social comment for the time...

went for a beer down in tbar tonight and spotted something out of the corner of my eye in a little alley way off the main drag... crampton court...



not designed to beautify or have you walking away in admiration of someone skills... but, it is bold and distinct without doubt... cos the font used in that comment, is found round the corner from mine near the port tunnel entrance...



no... not setting the artworld alight... but yeah, not a bad voice by any means...

bealbocht

All grey cast concrete should be painted.

The "bunkers" could do with a good dousing if you ask me.
And for my 2 cents, I'd rather it was done by graffiti artists, cos if you left the corpo to do it , it would take 10 years, go x4 over budget and still look ****e.

I'm not a big fan of the general scrawl that most graffiti tends to be, and there are places , historic buildings for example, that really should be a "no-no" to even the biggest halfwit, but if I ever managed to cough up for what ever it is an aersol can cost, I quite like the idea of popping down to Kildare St , and writing "****heads" on Leinster house