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Not Art guy not revealed in interview

Somerville Nieghborhood News interviews the Not Art guy, who lives in Somerville:

In the past, creating ‘not art’ was something he did for fun. But this year, after he lost two food service jobs in three months, he decided it was a sign that he should pursue art full-time. ... "I'm planning on staying here,” he said. "I'm not going to be moving to Brooklyn like everybody else."

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Comments

With a lazy ass stencil and another overblown concept?

Here, you all deserve better. https://flic.kr/s/aHsjYUpmTz

Enjoy it with your morning breakfast. There is a stunning variety of stuff out there.

I'm nearly blind but I get around and the Union Square area deserves better recognition for its visual surprises and street art stuff than that pitiful twerp.

As a talentless person, myself, I know a profound lack of talent when it I see one.

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How can you earn a paycheck by vandalizing?

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If you can't hold that simple entry level work stuff down you may as well join the other sad homeless wraiths wandering the neighborhoods.

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Put up a not art stencil, forage a trash bin, put up another stencil, etc.

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on a building that is on the Watertown Greenway, near Matilda's. It's creepy. Also, there's these Alien- looking things all over Watertown. Anyone else see them?

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Yes! The aliens are everywhere on that bike path, and I think even past the end of the paved part heading towards Alewife, by the bridge near Star Market, if I remember right. I keep wondering what the story with those little dudes is - there's a group of three somewhere along there that always cheers me up on my runs. I'll have to look for the Orange Thing with the Eyeballs tomorrow morning.

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I think that one was on the back of a building near Brick Bottom.

I found it when I was scouting the Green Line Extension route in winter.

There are lots of very talented interesting people doing this stuff and the best ones get invited.

I really doubt those business walls were vandalized. It's enthusiastic participation, as best as I can tell. Somerville is always trying to think of ways to engage people.

This is a core problem. The place is so eager to hype contrived things that its real distinct and noteworthy facets get lost in the Fogg.

The Cambridge Arts council is just cheesy old hippies rehashing the same stultified crap they've been flogging since Jerry Garcia decided to grow a beard.

There is plenty of interesting work here but it lacks the dynamism of Somerville.

I just do my part with counter hype. I have whole photo albums of our varied public art array from sublime to ridiculous over in gurgle plus. I usually load stuff to flikr to provide visual back story when I have something that fits.

You all really liked this photo set. The stats are impressive.. thanks.

But really it is the other people who made this work and a killer camera set I have.

I'm just the idiot who notices things cause I'm bored and semi retired.

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It was green, not orange. I saw 'was' because it was painted over last week. It was on the back of the building that is just after the Target parking lot if you're headed towards Arlington Street.

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I don't get it. There's no point.

Everywhere I see a "Not Art", starting with Downtown Crossing I am going to change it to:

"Snot Fart"

So there it is Not Art guy. When you see it, it is me. I take full credit for vandalizing your vandalism.

or maybe

"Nothing Smart"

Just to switch it up a bit.

http://cappyinboston.blogspot.com/

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It's the stuff where the idea is marginally more interesting than the actual thing.

It's how you grift money from our gullible art councils.

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but if you think that Boston is a "Mecca" for conceptual art then you must not leave the city/metro area all that much. This is one of the most traditional, staid places for art that I've lived in or visited.

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This thing really needs context markers... smiley faces or something.

How about... it has long imagined itself to be so... like Mobius Theater, (aka Dubious)

Or maybe you prefer ICA... Institute of Contemptuous farts.

I know.. Mass Art and the Museum school... woohoo.

Boston was cutting edge between like 1900 and maybe the early 60s when Sam Rivers still lived here.

It was cutting edge when Serge Chaloff and Dick Twardzik were young hoodlums.

Isabella Stewart Gardner was cutting edge as was Serge Chaloff's name sake Serge Koussivitsky when he ran the BSO.

Maybe it was cutting edge when Herbert Marcuse was at Brandeis.

George Russell was cutting edge when John F Kennedy was still alive.

Or when Booker Ervin was a Cambridge mailman in like 1964.

So there.

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:-)

Great follow-up post!

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And it should be no surprise that the vandalism of the vandalism is more imaginative and charming than the original vandalism.

I'll grab a shot of an example next time I'm out and about.

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If someone put something really artistic next to every one so it made him out to be a liar.

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As someone who lives in 'ground zero' of 'not art' I can only say, may a thousand flowers blossom from the dung feeding.

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the Not Art Guy would probably approve of this

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Over a year ago Improv Boston was making fun of this guy by portraying him as an idiotic jeggings-wearing hipster. Now we hear he's not only still around, he's gotten a 'sign from the universe' to paint his stencils MORE?

It's not the stupidity I even mind so much (though the whole idea is something an artsy 12-year-old would think up, write down in an emo poem and then forget about), it's the total laziness.

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Not Art Guy seems pretty cool, keep doing you, Not Art Guy

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I'm curious how someone loses food service two jobs that quickly.

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Lack of a work ethic, ethics in general, basic hygiene, and a shitty entitled attitude?

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I can imagine that the entire package of attitudes that go along with "It's cool to deface other people's property." tend to significantly reduce one's desirability as an employee.

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Probably for attendance or sticking to "the man" (being defiant/insubordinate)

then again this guy is making is 'living' (so to speak) doing graffiti and defacing property so he can't be the brightest bulb on the christmas tree either.

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Especially poorly conceived, shakily financed and trendy ones.

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They don't exactly add a lot of people to the payroll mere months from closing except in very dire and mishandled situations, at least according to the bankruptcy cases I've handled.

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So this talentless shitbag is going to be going around and tagging more funeral homes and murals, like he did in Union and Harvard? Joy.

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""I'm planning on staying here,” he said. "I'm not going to be moving to Brooklyn like everybody else.""

Yeah, you might need talent or something down in the big city.

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Out two jobs. He's not moving anywhere any time soon. Besides, his mom's getting used to him declaring every dinner she makes him as "not art".

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Is that why his contemporaries are moving there?

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Man, this guy really gets my goat. Every single time I see one of these stencils it irritates the hell out of me. The concept is terrible and it's so obvious that it doesn't inspire any kind of critical thought. At least the "meow" graffiti in JP a while back actually made me stop for two seconds and laugh.

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Ughhhhh this dude is the WORST. I don't understand why he thinks what he is doing is so profound and important when it's the most halfassed, inane crap.

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Fines and cleanup costs for each instance.

Do it without fanfare. Many artists crave attention, controversy, publicity, the appearance of making people talk/think/question. Talking about him just encourages him and other artists to vandalize and crap all over public spaces and other people's private property.

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Please post here if someone starts a fund to buy him a one way ticket out of here. I'll contribute.

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