Dimitri BurkhardStreet art has been thriving in Switzerland as of lately. A five minute train ride through any urban area is guaranteed to reveal less than a dozen un-sprayed surfaces anymore. Colorful graffitis featuring large words and obtuse drawings litter most any accessible surface and welcome many Swiss cities into the league of Berlin, Paris and L.A.
But as of lately, even small surfaces in Swiss cities have started to get covered with street art stencils. Some street art is funny, some is weird, and some doesn't quite earn the title of "street art" in the first place...
Regardless, I can't take my lens off of these tiny forms of expression! So straight from my ever growing collection, here are the latest pictures of modern street art found in Switzerland!
While I welcome cool street art and some creative graffiti, each time I visit CH, I’m appalled while riding the train or driving on the autobahn: our country has become the dumping ground for graffiti that’s worse than New York’s or LA’s. I see it on almost every wall, house, even monuments, statues and sculptures. Quite often I’m embarrassed taking foreign visitors on trips thru the country. It’s usually the first thing they point out and can’t understand why this is tolerated in such a beautiful country that prides itself as being spotlessly clean! Funny thing: Austria seems to have this problem under much better control!
What’s needed is a clean-up campaign/promotion, started by (jobless) proud young people and, perhaps, by civis (Zivildienstler), with equipment, paint and food sponsored by the big companies like Migros, Coop, Nestlé, and other private and corporate sources (tax deductions!). Get rid of this eyesore once and for all, like the city of Santa Barbara, CA, which has installed a 24h hotline that brings out clean-up crews, mostly people in detention (Untersuchungshäftler) within 24h. It is 95% graffiti-free and one of the cleanest places in the state, and VERY proud of it!
We can do it, too!
Mark: Thank you for your constructive comment! You are essentially drawing up a blueprint for erasing graffities from Swiss cities, so let’s hope that some representatives from government and the private sector are taking note!
Dimitri,
Thanks for your response. I hope somebody take notice!
However, I don’t think you can expect swift action from reps from government. It’d have to come from civic groups, volunteers, or a consortium of large companies that together have the clout and wherewithall to get people motivated and this movement started. They do it with Fight against Breast Cancer, for instance, and numerous other causes, don’t they?
Without sounding socialist, I think some of the paint producers should be asked to donate paint for free or at least discounted rates, very much like McDo or Burger King should be asked to help with paper trash clean-up and by having to change food-to-go packaging, another eyesore!