Mr Vandal, (not his real name) an
Art Crimes Contributor is Captured!
The Sacrmento Art Crimes Site is History!

April 1999: Multiple law enforcement agencies in Sacramento County have captured and charged a young person, Mr. Vandal, with at least $100,000 in graffiti vandalism damage occurring across multiple jurisdictions. (That's a felony in California. It means prison time and restitution. In this case apparently a deal was struck.) Mr Vandal was the straw that broke the camels back even for Georgia Tech. The president of Graffiti Tech denied space on the school server was being doled out to vandals around the world. What was the Sacramento site doing there I wondered? Shortly after pointing that out to the President, "Mr Vandal" printed the F-word in a disparaging reference toward me on his Sacramento Art Crimes website. A subsequent complaint to the manager of IS at Graffiti Tech ended Art Crimes life on the the Graffiti Tech servers. (There's still a memorial link there. They just don't get it.) Mr. Vandals's arrest speaks for itself don't you think Dr. Clough? Maybe you'd like to apologize to the residents of Sacramento County, California. Art Crimes has already caused the the Sacamento graffiti advocate site to dissappear, shortly AFTER the arrest. It just leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling that bad guys really do go to jail, doesn't it!


Attention other communities around the world! Are your vandals and law breakers showing off their criminal deeds at Art Crimes?

October 2000, We hear from Mr Vandal!
Take my name off your webiste or else!

I would appreciate it if you could remove my name from your website, as the information contained within is slanderous and biased towards the media coverage that my case received, driven by the Sacramento PD. The case has come to resolution, and no felonies were rendered nor jail time served. Your website is damaging to my image, and if action isn't take on your part I will be forced to take legal action of my own.

I don't wish to be a jerk about this situation, but I will be if the need arises.

If you need Mr vandal's name consult the Sacramento Police.

Does Graffiti Advocacy
on the Internet by Higher Education
Bother You? Then get involved.
Write the Georgia Institute of Technology
and tell them how you feel.

You are now "Graffiti Tech !"
Through all time your school shall have this ugly distinction.
You popularized graffiti crime on the Internet.
You earned the name.
So when we see "GT" on the helmets of the football players
we will all know what it means.

Write the Georgia Institute of Technology
Billions of Tax Payer Dollars are Spent
to Abate the Graffiti Vandalism
that this Web Site Celebrates

Academic freedom is one thing.
Yelling "FIRE" in a crowded theatre is another.

The web site at the university is approved by the Office of External Affairs. Write the University and speak out against graffiti advocacy by this University web site. Perhaps the Office of External Affairs will change their minds about glorifying vandalism and take the site down. Write the President of the University G. Wayne Clough,Ph.D and explain to him that you believe the Art Crimes Web Site operates contrary to web site standards as posted by the University on their web site at: POLICIES AND GUIDELINES CONCERNING THE PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION VIA THE WORLD-WIDE WEB Art Crimes may well violate polices as enumerated in the Georgia Institute of Technology COMPUTER AND NETWORK USAGE POLICY particularly Item 2.1 and 4.1 of this policy. (Policy Table of Contents.) Explain to him that graffiti advocacy perpetuates the tragedy of graffiti by creating places where the vandalism sub-culture can gather and achieve recognition, attention, and support for their illegal actions. This is being done with the support of the university, either directly or indirectly. This is not a First Amendment issue. These additional officers of the University can be contacted as well. President Clough has told one letter write that the Georgia Tech Alumni Association has published support for this site in their newsletter. Consider writing Alumni Association president H. Milton Stewart, President and Chairman of the Board & CEO, Standard Group, Inc.as well.


Send your mail to:
President, Georgia Institute of Technology
G. Wayne Clough,Ph.D
Carnegie Building
223 Uncle Heinie Way, N.W.
Atlanta, GA.		 ...and to:
President, Georgia Institute of Technology Alumni Association
H. Milton Stewart
Standard Group Inc.
PO Box 400
Cornelia, GA 30531

The Art Crimes Index is a University sponsored web site that promotes graffiti as an art form. There are photographs of alleged legal murals and you will find documents, that in my opinion, promote graffiti in it's illegal form. You decide for yourself as you browse this material. The documents on Art Crimes do let you enter this counter culture of "vandals and crews" in order to study and understand it. Art Crimes also has links to many other "graffiti" web sites that promote the "art" and ridicule those of us who want our communities graffiti free. Look for their friends of Art Crimes page in their index.

Access to Susan Farrell's web pages at http://www.gatech.edu/desoto/farrell/ was terminated on February 6, 1996. Once this web page had links to her resume and school information she removed the pages from the web. Some of the old links below may be broken. Information about the originator of the Art Crimes web site is no longer available except perhaps a brief insight at this URL. and at this URL. Georgia Tech still maintains the Art Crimes web.

Brett Webb's pages at USC mysteriously disappeared in July 1997.

Now Look over Art Crimes...

The Front Door to Art crimes: Click here.

Art Crimes is the Master's degree project for Susan Farrell at Georgia Institute of Technology. There was nothing in the public relations information (now removed from the net) for this project that specifically stated the art presented is all legal, though I have been told by Art Crimes assistant curator Brett Webb that it is legal art. On her pages Susan says that, "The vast majority of graffiti art is illegal because of its unauthorized placement." There is the matter of her Usenet News announcement made in 1994 about the creation of the Art Crimes Web where she says, "See guerrilla art worth being arrested for."

Susan would have us believe, "Brett and I hope our efforts will help spread the truth about graffiti, that this art is done by artists, not by violent urban gangs, as is too often erroneously reported. " She also said she and Brett do not advocate breaking the law but in this document called "What We're Doing and Why," she says she and Brett have nothing but "respect" for graffiti writers.

This sure looks like a crime in progress.

Here is the disclaimer. They deny everything of course. Interesting how you can publish a deviant site at a University and write a simple disclaimer to make all Ok!

Art Crimes at Georgia Tech is now donating web space to other graffiti advocate groups. These sites are maintained by third parties according to the FAQ's on each site. The President of Georgia Tech says this is not happening.

I can only hope that as part of her Master's Thesis she visits as many police departments, city halls, victims of graffiti crime, racial/ethnic hate graffiti crime, political graffiti crime, and graffiti crimes against monuments and parks, as she can to get the real truths. In my town the graffiti is "gang" graffiti. Susan should post the "erroneous reports" to substantiate her claim. Susan needs to look beyond what I call the PPP syndrome that many graffiti advocates suffer from. (Pretty Picture Protectiveness) PPP syndrome causes you to see only the pretty pictures and not the vandalism. The truth and public outrage of the reality of vandalism becomes obscured in emotion. The person suffering from PPP will stand with the so called graffiti artist completely unaware of the vandalism victim as Susan does in this interview with a Dutch vandal. A journalist documents reality. It is quite another thing to set up a web site that seems to advocate what you are reporting. I would hope Susan's eventual thesis covers all the bases. What I have seen so far on Art Crimes is a blatant celebration of vandalism and gross disrespect for victim's rights. See the Anti-Graffiti FAQ section on Obstructionist Attitudes where I discuss institutional support of criminal activity further.

Advice and Protection from
the Folks at Graffiti.Org
or Art Crimes Suggests
Vandals be More Careful!

Subject: What's up with you
lot .. Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 09:40:28 +0100 From: dan ([email protected])
Organization: Digital Jungle Newsgroups: alt.graffiti
Easy all,  If I were a policeman I would be rubbing
my hands together with glee.  Lessons should have been learnt after the Gkae
incident .. but it appears not. You are all making it much to easy for your
authorities to track down writers. Think about it ... if you were the subject of
discussions on this newsgroup, would you want your every move made public?  Just
remember that there are people logging what's said on here and it can then be
used against them as evidence in a court of law. Think before you post ...  --  
Dan Kew ..                                          [email protected] 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 * Digital Jungle - Graffiti from London * http://www.graffiti.org/dj 
************* Digital Jungle Magazine available NOW!!! ************* 
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Links to Art Crimes Pages

Art Crimes Index: The Master's Thesis/Project of Susan FarrellIs there a benefit to the study of graffiti as an art form instead of condemning it as vandalism? You read and decide. Everything below is found on the Art Crimes web page at Georgia Tech University and at mirror sites around the world! Some of the pages below seem very supportive of the illegal activity of graffiti vandals. (You won't find this anti-graffiti URL on the Art Crimes web site.) Moms and Dad, it wouldn't hurt to look over your child's Internet browser bookmarks for links to these pages.


Art Crimes Curator & Contributor Pages


Other Reviews of the Art Crimes Web site.

Including sites that link to Art Crimes.

Search Art Crimes using HOTBOT

- H o t B o t - Search for


USENET News for the Inquiring Mind

The inquiring reader might want to look even deeper in to the "hip-hop graffiti life style." I encourage you to browse the alt.graffiti news group (Your web browser needs to be configured correctly to view the news group from this page.) . Here is a sampling of the eye opening conversation you will find there. There are many other news groups where graffiti, pro and con, is discussed. I suggest you point your browser over to Dejanews and "key word" search using the AND operator on "graffiti vandal" or "graffiti vandalism" as a starting suggestion. Dejanews is a free service that searches many news groups for key words you specify. I found transportation officials and just every day folk talking about the effects of this blight.



Georgia Tech! Take down Art Crimes! The Study Art Crimes Page has been on the web since February 10, 1996.

Use the No Art Crimes logo on your page! Use the logo to link this page and help An Anti-Graffiti Web tell the world this madness must end.



Last modified September 26, 1997[POINT Top 5% of the Web]

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