art crime

As this blogger points out, the problem with graffiti art being anonymous, is that when you stumble upon a really great piece there is no information card attached to the artwork to tell you who made it, when it was painted and what they were referencing with the work.

New technology being tested in Hamburg, Germany, by the new media agency Jung von Matt, would give the viewers information they are looking for. The technology would allow artists to affix interactive stickers to their work that, when photographed with a mobile phone camera, explain the details of the graffiti.

Hamburg’s first interactive wall, called Nextwall, allows viewers to watch videos of the artists painting the wall,  download wallpapers for their phone and virtually ‘tag’ the wall with an “I was here” feature. Another blogger notes the technology can also be expanded to include a comprehensive guide to the graffiti via Bluetooth and allow users to download coupons to area stores.

I wonder if making graffiti more informational would cause more people to foster an appreciation for the art. Graffiti is often just understood and appreciated by the artists themselves and their close circle of followers — could this new technology bring graffiti to the masses?