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Jun 3, 18

VANDALISMS: Memory

In our last column, we dedicated our column to Stephon Clark, murdered by the police in Sacramento, as well as DOPH, a graffiti writer murdered by police in San Francisco, and HINT, a longtime graffiti writer who is no longer with us.

Today, we dedicate this to toor, an anarchist and graffiti writer who also passed away just weeks ago. We’ll start with a tag of toor’s, and then share some graffiti done in their memory.

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RIP ?

A post shared by Minnesota Vandalisms (@mnvandalisms) on

Conflict MN has published multiple communiques of graffiti done in their memory, including several from around the world.

We see these acts as a practice of insurrectionary memory, something elucidated by a few Chilean anarchists several years ago, in “Memory As A Weapon” (as quoted in Bædan):

To pierce the erasure of time, remembering and assuming the different contexts and the unrepeatable idyllic and exactly equal conditions is a direct and real support to the social war. To sharpen, expand, and make evident the conflict against the powerful is extremely necessary and possible in the present as well as in the past. Our combative history is the rebellion of different exploited who decided to actively oppose the established order, breaking free from the different forms of normalcy of their time.

Memory; the past is our present, its thoughts have been ours, its desires to attack are the same as ours today. We are talking about the history of revolt for centuries, years, or a pair of painful months. Now we are here remembering Mauri, comrade of so many fighters, but not only is this memory individual, it is also the continuation of the urgent need to oppose domination.…

To remember the struggle in the present is to glimpse which road we have walked upon, to help understand where to place our next steps—this is to use insurrectionary memory to replant ourselves tactically and strategically in combat against the oppressive reality.

The redemption of comrades and combatants past and present is in our hands, the names and lives of comrades like Mauri, Claudia, or Johnny are in us and will not be forgotten, nor engulfed by the beast only to later be vomited by some intellectual with dates of the revolt.

To remember that these are not abstract ideas like some game, but that social war is actualized by comrades of flesh and bone through actions, expressions, and decisions in moments of their lives is what is truly potent and makes the combat carried out by them reproducible, in order to really sharpen our present offense.

Memory is a weapon, but it is necessary to know how to aim and shoot at power or else it is only a sterile act, trapped in history or emotion. Insurrectionary memory is our weapon!

Dear punki Mauri: our best memory is to continue confronting the order of those who fancy themselves masters of your life.

In this spirit, let’s get on with the vandalism!

We’d first like to say how exciting it is that yet another regional “vandalisms” page has been set up—this time in Connecticut. Check them out!

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A post shared by CT Vandalisms (@ctvandalisms) on

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Hamden/New Haven

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#NewHaven #Edgewood #ACAB

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Philly Anti-Capitalist also shared another round-up of graffiti in their city, titled vandalisms. Here’s a few, but follow the link for many more!

If it isn’t clear, this column here at It’s Going Down has no relation to any of these regional pages that share our name. We took our name from past projects as an homage, and these new online accounts are presumably following in these same footsteps. There’s nothing to stop any one of you from creating a new Instagram (or anything else) page and collecting photos of rad graffiti, whether or not you choose the name “vandalisms.” If you do, hit us up and we’ll be sure to share it!

More important than creating ways to share documentation of graffiti online, is getting out and putting the graffiti up in the first place! In our previous column, we went through a lot of different ways you can very easily start putting the buff to work.

We can’t speak to Filler’s email inbox, but we do agree that it’s really easy for anyone to pick up a marker, spray can or… wait, we literally just went over this last time

The point is, if you don’t think there’s enough radical vandalism in your environment, it’s super easy for you to change it. Even a few stickers and/or a sharpie on your way to work adds up. Who cares if it doesn’t “look good.” That takes practice, and if you’re into that kind of thing, it will come in time. Otherwise, just fucking scribble on shit.

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This is a beautiful place to commit a few crimes! #pittsburgh #pgh #graffiti #pittsburghgraffiti

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See?

https://twitter.com/ASN_Austin/status/991340109567062021

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Four hours and no sleep later, I’m back home in Michigan this early, early Sunday morning — or the airport at least. Back in Portland, Oregon, where I said good-bye (for now) on Saturday night to dear friends, I saw evidence that Rose City Antifa stays awake and vigilant against white supremacy, which alas, follows one everywhere across Turtle Island. #ArtOfResistance #HateFascismLoveYourFriends

A post shared by Cindy Milstein (@cindymilstein) on

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#nevertalktothecops ever! Period!

A post shared by Sactown Vandalism Appreciation (@streets_of_sacto) on

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It’s that time of year again, when spring’s warmth gestures toward summer’s solidarity. It’s not too early to turn up the heat of sticking side by side with anarchist prisoners on #June11th. #ArtOfResistance spotted in so-called Ann Arbor, Michigan for june11.org, international day of solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners. #Abolition #SolidarityIsOurBestWeapon #UntilAllAreFree

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Seen this sticker with the Here & Now sentiment out in the wild! Also check out phlanticap.noblogs.org for some communiques from anti-amazon actions. . . . . . . #philly #phillyanarchy #phillyslaps #amazon #nonewhq #nohq2 #nohq2philly #now #nofuture

A post shared by Zine Distro in Philly (@hereandnowzines) on

https://www.instagram.com/p/BipFhtQHQWu/

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#nopigsinpride #slaps #tagging #graffiti #graffitispotting #sfgraffiti #stickerart #stickers #streetart #urbanart #osagealley #themissiondistrict #sanfrancisco

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#pittsburgh #pgh #graffiti #pittsburghgraffiti #trump

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#defendj20 #defendj20resistance #acab #ftp #antlabor

A post shared by Sactown Vandalism Appreciation (@streets_of_sacto) on

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Spotted downtown ?

A post shared by john (@johnandrew_) on

Anymore? This sticker has a pretty liberal message but honestly fuck Amazon. No HQ2? How about no HQs at all!

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Here until 6. #slaps #slapstickers #june11 #againstcivilization #againstoblivion #transfeminism

A post shared by The Wooden Shoe (@thewoodenshoebooks) on

https://twitter.com/WashcoAntifa/status/986318586267365377

If you’re looking to step it up, grab a spray can (or several) and head out for a night. Or, depending on your taste, cook up some wheatpaste and cover the city in posters. In either case, bring some (trustworthy) friends along!

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Ok

A post shared by Sci-Fi Sluts For Reforestation (@itsametaphorfordeath) on

These seem like simple instructions to us…

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“You’re not paid enough to buff this” #fuckthebuff

A post shared by Sactown Vandalism Appreciation (@streets_of_sacto) on

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You know what tf goin on #kov #keepolyvandalized #keepolympiavandalized #vandalism #vandal #graff #graffit #tag #tagger #tagging #oly #olympia #olywa

A post shared by Salish Sea Black Autonomists (@fuck_wit_my_clique1312) on

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https://cwc.im/TrumpedUpJ20

A post shared by CrimethInc. (@crimethincdotcom) on

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiR80eYnutX/

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Lots of news: posters up against repression, a bike bloc for Pablo, anarchist graffiti, and a police station tagged! Read the reports and see the pictures on phlanticap.noblogs.org . . . . . . #philly #phillyanarchy #phillygraff #acab #ftp #fuck12 #dropj20 #defendj20 #j20 #rippablo

A post shared by Zine Distro in Philly (@hereandnowzines) on

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“YOU CANT KEEP UP.” Tagged in #LittleSaigon/#ChinatownInternationalDistrict, where the median household income is $27K a year. Old Acme Poultry Co. to be demolished for a 7-story market rate (non-affordable) apartment building by Intracorp & Tiscareno Associates. The upcoming construction also made the small Asian-owned & Asian-serving grocer behind it, Rising Produce, decide to shut down a year early because of the disruption this will cause to their business (that building & the nail supply shop next to #RisingProduce is also proposed to be torn down – for an 8-story hotel/apartment bldg). #youcantkeepup #youcantkeepupwiththejoneses #youcantkeepupwithcapitalism #gentrification #displacement #signothetimes #publiccomment #seattlegraffiti #seattletags #development #redevelopment #regionofboon #demolition #acmepoultryco #noticeofproposedlanduseaction #project3025755 #cid #humbowsnothotels #seattle #vanishingseattle

A post shared by Vanishing Seattle (@vanishingseattle) on

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Siempre antifascista! . #acab #antifa #antifascista #antifascist #anarchism #anarchy #olywa #olympia

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Someone just sent us this. Apparently seen around the hood of recently doxxed Nazi and daily stormer writer Zeiger aka Gabriel Sohier Chaput. #antifa

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Antifascists get up. #antifa #antifasacramento #nonazisinsac #acab #allcopsarebastards #allcatsarebeautiful #ftp #fuckthepolice #anarchy

A post shared by Sactown Vandalism Appreciation (@streets_of_sacto) on

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#acab #allcopsarebastards #allcatsarebeautiful #swamp

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CONTINUAMOS TODA LA SEMANA CON 10% DE DESCUENTO, EN LA COMPRA DE AEROSOLES #ClassicUltraSuave Válido solo en nuestra tienda en CDMX. Isabel la Católica número 77, Local 14 Col. Centro. CDMX. Fotografía: "Arriba los migrantes" por: Bice. #IlegalSquadmx #ClassicUltraSuave

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A post shared by TroPiCaL ciTy (@fishoox) on

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From @queerappalachia #ruralresistance in #ashvillenc to the city’s ever growing #capitilistbrewculture that is at the heart of the cities #rapidgentrification emergency. #oneworldbrewing opens in a few weeks, just in time for @acab.2018 & @pansyfest ? #queerappalachia #queersouth #electricdirt

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#Yaboi #bayareagraffiti #vangraffiti #yeaboi #nopigs

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You know it couldn’t be a real VANDALISMS column without a YEABOI tag, right? Actually a total coincidence but let’s roll with it.

That’s it for this week month uh whenever!

Get up! Stay free.

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An irregular column of vandalism. We collect stories and photos of all sorts of interventions into the visual space—via paint, posters, stickers, and more—across so-called North America.

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