Street art blows. That’s basically what it comes down to. It’s sad because as a medium it has so many possibilities, and while everyone is doing it, almost no one is doing it well. What’s more, no one is calling the shit brown. Instead, everyone is getting in magazines with half-baked ideas that have been half-baking for about half a month. Going out one weekend with some wheat paste and your digi-cam doesn’t make you a street artist. Posting it on your blog Monday morning doesn’t make you any good. We need to stop telling kids that what they do is good if it isn’t.

     We have to start asking questions and stop accepting everything on the walls as good. We need to ask ourselves why it is important that this is outdoors? Would this be any good if it weren’t? Why does it matter that this is done where and how it was? How is this new and, most importantly, why should I care?

     Street art has become the annoying little brother to graffiti. He is the one who saw something cool, but couldn’t quite pull it off, so he came up with a lame knockoff to impress his friends. The reason most street art sucks is because it is trying to be what it is not. Street art is NOT graffiti, so why treat it like it is? Designing a poster or a sticker with your image on, having 500 made and putting them up is not a challenge. You want a design challenge? Go tag. Take three to five letters; write them over and over again, outside, illegally. Do it on surfaces not meant to be written on with a medium not designed for writing. Do it for years while trying not to get caught and, on top of that, make it look good. Come back and then we can talk about design challenges. Street art practitioners should have different goals for a different medium. Quit stepping on graffiti’s toes, there are new challenges and new directions you can to go in.

     Too much energy is being spent on making vinyl toys and painting on sneakers instead of actually innovating on the street. Street art should at least be outside. Stop selling us snake oil and give us the real shit.

     Okay, you say, but kids are still going to do street art. Fine, so do it, just try to do something new and not something that has been done better before. Take something that hasn’t been taken, and take it somewhere different. Take a risk or two. Just don’t expect anyone to like it.

Tell us how we are wrong. E-mail: Bitchandmoan@streetartblows.com