San Francisco’s graffiti hierarchy and the Case of the Honey Bear

In a lengthy piece about why graffiti artists often don’t tag murals, KQED considers the Case of the Honey Bear:

In January, street artist fnnch began creating stencils of honey bears within a four-block radius around the Mission District.

“We all take this image for granted as being totally acceptable,” says fnnch. “But really it’s a surreal idea that you would put honey into a container that’s shaped like a bear.”

On the first night he painted five honey bears, some of them directly on top of tags that graffiti writers had left on mailboxes. Within a week, someone had taken a blue spray-paint can and made a mark right through the center of the bears — the ultimate sign of disrespect.

“When I posted [photos of my work] on Instagram, people started to comment and say that I shouldn’t paint on top of tags for my own safety,” says fnnch.

He had upset the graffiti hierarchy.

Read on for lots more insights into the world of graffiti and murals and why “street artists” are sometimes not respected.

7 Responses to “San Francisco’s graffiti hierarchy and the Case of the Honey Bear”

  1. emilie says:

    “I thought taggers would be fine with me painting over their tags because I thought what I was doing would be considered a piece,” fnnch (sic) says.

    Haha what an idiot. I suppose all toys have to learn. Allan, what is this crap? It’s just a repost of someone else’s half-assed misunderstanding of the graff scene – not even correct about the bay game. This is not Content, this is evidence of a dying blog, isn’t it?

  2. Horn Dog says:

    Thanks for the coverage!

  3. scum says:

    In a respectful world none of this shit would be happening.

  4. BIMNY says:

    Proxy war between art is on the side of gentrifying evictions VS throw up ugly shit will keep the streets affordable.