“Consolation of Ruin” was a very interesting and thought-provoking art show…
May 26, 2007, 10:03 PM
All in all, it was awesome! The Borf show was definitely not your mainstream art show. The building, in a somewhat run-down neighborhood in Northeast DC, was covered with graffiti on the inside, for one. And that makes sense, since “Borf” is primarily known for graffiti. The outside of the building even had a giant, elaborate “Borf” tag on it near the roof. This, of course, was all part of the show.
Then inside, there were several sculptures of people. One, in a room with red-painted walls, and the only room free of graffiti, depicted a person hanging from the ceiling, with a belt being used as a noose. This was how Bobby Fisher, whose likeness graced Washington as “Borf”, committed suicide. That was a very shocking and thought-provoking scene, all wrapped together as one. Then another sculpture of people shows three working as a team to make graffiti tags. All three are wearing ski masks, and two are holding a pole, which carries the third person, holding a can of spray paint, up high to place a tag.
The show also included a lot of Borf memorabilia. A number of the tools of the artist’s trade were on display as well. The stencil that John Tsombikos used to place that memorable “Borf” face all over town was on display. Much to my surprise, it was cut out of a cardboard pizza box. They also had copies of a number of court documents related to Tsombikos’s arrest and trial hanging on the wall.
And, according to Chuck Burgundy, the man running the show, it was a complete success! A number of the works sold, and the proceeds covered most, if not all, of the $12,000 in restitution that the courts ordered Tsombikos to pay.
They also allowed photography inside, and I took a bunch of shots. I’ll post some of them once I get back on my real computer. I have a small backlog of stuff I want to show you anyway.
And I still don’t know the name of the song that was playing on the accordion in the Borf Brigade video. Does anyone know?
Web site: "The Borf Brigade Takes It Inside", from yesterday's Washington Post
Song: The theme song for the Borf Brigade...
Quote: And like I said, pictures will be forthcoming once I get the desk and the computer set up.
Categories: Street art