Throughout the Jane and Finch core, street art and murals are common to this area. Expression by artists has proving to captivate a strong message or display a beautiful piece of art is that is characteristic to this community. Some that I found include majestic doves clinging for hope and illustrations of hands coming together detailing that the youth should carefully veer into the right path in life. In fact, the Jane and Finch region was funded $15’000 reserving the rights to embellish public graffiti as a practise. (Graffiti Transformation Program, 2000) However, in this particular incidence, not all graffiti is meant to relay a positive message or image for someone to understand. As I adventure off to visit my mother from Vaughan, I notice a more aggressive form of graffiti this time in bold black paint. The word appears to spell out the phrase “Wacko” which shapes how anyone views this image. This is a feature that takes away much of what has changed over the course of time and reputes a negative connation to this region of the GTA that residents are trying to shed for years now and must be removed.
Today, the core of Jane and Finch spurts many different types of people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. In the spot this graffiti was tagged in, there is a strong contingent of people commuting and exploring the various plazas and landscapes. The tag is in the centre of it almost to bring attention towards the surrounding community that it is there. Initially, I had difficulty finding any tags that signified illegal activity, which was a considerable surprise. I felt that upon starting this assignment, the graffiti in this region would be easy to find. However, the majority of illegal graffiti is much more difficult to find compared to a few years ago. That is most likely attributed to the lower amounts felonies and the strong community act behind street art that this region now has.
For a long time Jane and Finch has been perceived to be a region that has a high rate of crime and a dense population. In actuality, April Lindgren of Ryerson University protests that the “highest volume of violence-related calls for service actually occurred in the downtown core” not Jane and Finch. (J-Source, 2012.) This shows that when we discuss how space is indentified stereotypes are more easily emphasised as apposed to live experiences. This region thrives on the expanding multiculturalism and now has the greatest lock on crime that they ever had. Despite the statistical and factual evidence to support Jane and Finch as an improving region, tags like these only further promote crime and misdemeanour. When discussing the media its important to note that “imagery that underlies relational construction of racialized groups in the Canadian media, one cannot ignore the role the American media plays as implicitly and explicit reference point.” (Riddick 1996, pg.9) In the American media, when you are discussing more groups that are more racialized than other there are disparities that exist. In this case, Jane and Finch has always been a hotbed for small crimes to be looked at as much larger than they are because of the regions ethnic composition.
In the perspective of the everyday individual not from Jane and Finch and the media eye, this region is known as a destination of social issues and threats to public safety. However, many including myself would argue the reverse. Paul Nguyen a long time resident of Jane and Finch accredits these perceptions on media disparity on the fact that Jane and Finch has become a catch all name for reports. (J-Source, 2012.) The graffiti expressed here only furthers the coverage and fact that this is a crime riddled region and that by having it present only furthers the notion that certain crimes like these are normal. McAuliffe and Iveson state that “the framing of graffiti as crime is based upon a particular understanding of its relation to the moral and legal order of place.” (2011) With that idea, it is evident that this piece of graffiti only furthers crime as it defies the order of place. By breaking the moral standards graffiti here will be looked upon as more acceptable again and influence others to contribute to these actions.
In the community, this image completely signifies how Jane and Finch is completely marginalized as a region. When conducting research on this, residents and pedestrians tend to stay away from the graffiti that seems unusual or has no positive message behind it. Some individual tend to neglect tags like these and their existence while admiring anything that is a more a form of art.
There is another way to understand this as more of a class and social understanding of how graffiti can frame how a society looks at a group of people. This idea is dexamined by Mcauliffe and Iveson as they comment:
“The lack of a cohesive voice and presence among those involved in graffiti as well as those who support aspects of the subculture of graffiti, has allowed politicians and media outlets relatively free rein to wage a succession of ‘wars on graffiti’ (Dickenson 2008; Iveson 2010), marshalling their forces through the media and public policy, against people whose medium for comment is not the newspaper and the television, but the urban fabric itself, its static and moving surfaces.” (McAuliffe, Iveson pg.128)
There could be a circumstance in which the artist is looking to give a voice for the people of his community, as there is a lack of it for the media to grasp. Artists generally do not have a strong enough voice when it comes to graffiti like these because people like myself instantly assume that the intent is negative.
The message this piece of graffiti seems to strike out does not have a clear narrative or understanding behind it. By writing “Wacko” the privatized message seems to carry out a message only for those who can understand it or only for the person writing it. With an unclear thought or motive provided this only furthers the misconception of what Jane and Finch really is as the expression of crime is highlighted further.
Living in Vaughan, graffiti is a very uncommon site to behold, as it simply does not exist here. It is rare to find any form of artist expressed art outside, and paid public designing of any kind. Unlike, Jane and Finch it would be more inspiring for this region of the GTA to have a greater expression of art and opinions. The usual connotation that exists with graffiti is that it is more of crime rather than a space for free expression. This proves that we are forced to link graffiti to crime, which is why simple acts such as these give off the illusion that Jane, and Finch is a crime-infested region. If we were to make graffiti more common and looked at as an expression of beliefs and art rather than a criminal act then we can shed some of the many stereotypes of Jane and Finch. By removing more criminal works of art and by adding more public community building works of art then having graffiti will be able to inspire many types of people in the GTA.
References
Graffiti Transfromation Program, 2000. Retrieved from http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2000/agendas/council/cc/cc000607/plt5rpt/cl007.pdf
J-Source, 2012. Retrieved from http://j-source.ca/article/crime-coverage-and-stereotypes-torontos-jane-and-finch-neighbourhood
McAuliffe, C. & Iveson, K. (2011). Art and Crime (and Other Things Besides…): Conceptualising Graffiti in the City. Geography Compass, 5(3), 128-43.
Ruddick, S. (1996). Constructing Differences in Public Spaces: Race, Class, and Gender as Interlocking Systems. In J.J. Gieseking & W. Mangold (Eds.), The People, Place, and Space Reader (pp.7-11). New York: Routledge
Very interesting blog post – I have to admit that the first question that comes to mind is whether this graffiti contributes to feeding geographic imagination? In other words, I am curious if a non-resident coming to Jane and Finch would experience graffiti differently in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood because of how racialized and criminalized it is made by the medias?
I find it so great that you open up the question of whether graffiti is a response to the marginalization experienced by Jane and Finch residents- would it be a form of appropriation of the city, to shape what is actually happening? Residents have no mean to control what is projected outside of their neighbourhood, nor in the medias, could graffiti seek to palliate for the unfairness of power distribution? I agree with you that it does provide a sort of a voice to people that normally feel left out from the public sphere. Although I don’t understand neither what is meant by ‘wacko’, there is a clear intent from the author to use a style that is comprehensible by all – maybe would only the targeted audience understand the message? Similarly to what you said, it does make the space more private but I do not think it is sufficient enough to justify taking it down.
Very interesting post! I definitely agree that the meaning that we give to graffiti shapes the way that Jane and Finch is seen as a crime-infested region. I, like Chloe, also wondered while reading your post, if graffiti in Jane and Finch is seen by outsiders in a different way than in downtown Toronto because of how it is represented in the media? I wonder if there is a difference in the type of people imagined to be doing graffiti in Jane and Finch as opposed to downtown Toronto and other areas. I also think it's great that you pointed out that the artist may have been looking to give a voice for the people of the community. I also wonder how that same graffiti is received by community members.
Thanks for the post!
Great post! Jane and Finch has tended to always be seen as one of the most problematic areas of the city. I like that you have put into view that area has improved over the years. Could this simply be due to community action or is there more to it? For example, has there been a stronger police force/less negative media attention?
This is definitely a great example of how a progression into street art/murals in the Jane and Finch area has seen a decline in illegal graffiti that's seen more publicly. From an untrained eye (those outside the groups who practise graffiti) we would think that this example reinforces the stereotypes of a marginalized, and crime-ridden community that is spread through the media.
Although I'm not personally for the legalization of ALL graffiti (as some can become very offensive), I do not mind murals being more commonplace and encouraged. Legal walls might also be a good idea, although it remains to be seen how effective they would be in stopping the more negative and nonconstructive messages that may sometimes give an area a more dangerous feeling.
Chloegs
Hey Chloges, you do bring up a very reasonable and understandable position on this that we cannot let one piece of graffiti cohere with an entire region and state of thought. Jane and Finch as a region should not be defined just by this one piece of work. I just feel that an outsider would simply correlate a work like this to indicate injustice and criminal mentality. The media and police body have their own strong distinctions on how we see and interact with whats around us and this only furthers the matter worse. Furthermore, I agree with you on the fact that the phrase 'Wacko' would be comprehensible by the target audience. Someone who knows more about this idea would be able to translate and deconstruct this further in a way that is at least unclear to you and I.
Sabeeha
Greetings Sabeeha, I feel like downtown Toronto has a different reputation than that of Jane and Finch because of the people inside the region that shape it. If you look closely, we have multi-national corporations, businesses and a high concentration of head offices in the downtown core with typically associates to those in suits. I feel like by proving that the crime is harder to distinguish and believe for the general public because their is no race to correlate or this or media coverage. On a global context, if we take one of our more famous cities and turn it into a headline of misdemeanor then I feel like other countries and famous world cities will marginalize our province. I feel this way because by it is easy to stereotype regions such as Jane and Finch on a municipal basis but compared to a federal context Jane and Finch has a smaller piece to the pie than Toronto does. Thats why I believe the media is scapegoating Toronto more because I feel that the downtown core and city have a huge role on how our country and province is viewed.
Jacintam
Hey, Jacintam I feel like as Nathan our guess speaker said that our police force in this area is actually one of the worst in the GTA. It seems to be that the community is just not as involved as they could be and that even includes York as a university. York seems to just water down the problem by just not indicating on how the problems really exist and the community just is not able to do as much as it could to change the identity. As a Vaughan resident, many of my friends and peers believe that Jane and Finch is the 'ghetto' which lead to word of mouth connection. If simple stereotypes and beliefs were just changed by an observer than many issues that this region faces will change. I believe that having better security and a more reasonable police force can motivate others to feel "safe" because these problems will seemed non existent even though that is just changing how people are viewing the idea of safety.
Nushmeen
Good Evening Nushmeen, I agree that just illegal graffiti in general needs to be not only better controlled but even illegal in some areas. For instance, any messages beside a school environment positive or negative can have a lasting affect on the youth and those around it. At my younger brother's elementary school, they have positive murals that express how we should believe in ourselves and keep up with a strong faith. These are bright for the community of Jane and Finch because it does show that art work can be acceptable and have a positive voice for a community. On the other hand, when illegal works are used I feel like most of the time there is some sort of criminal intent because most of the messages I tend to find are not pleasant (not saying that we cannot draw any positive from graffiti because we can.) Moreover, I agree with you that messages that are not sanctioned by a legal body are usually nonconstructive and have a dangerous feeling because we never know who really expresses these feelings and they do not normally have the right to do so.