Another Heidelberg house goes up in flames from arson

[Django]

WTF is going on? There must be a way to stop these from happening. Any ideas?

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ar...uring-a-legacy

[Gannon]

WTF is going on? There must be a way to stop these from happening. Any ideas?

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ar...uring-a-legacy

Tyree said they would be installing cameras, obviously the perp or perps read the same story and rushed their next job. This one was no mistake, no random event. Damnit.

We need a small army of all-night observers...some type of network that calls out suspicious behavior. Watchers.

Perhaps the new police chief will dedicate some resources to this, it should be the same manpower as the anti-scrapping unit.

[A2Mike]

Some artist may actually submit video of the arson to an exhibit, treating it as document in a conceptual art project, or even as a "performance" art.

[compn]

i wonder if this is paid arson, like 'get rid of this and i'll pay you $10k'?

or if this is real arson, what happens when the guy finishes torching the art houses?
will he start on the houses full of people at 3am ?

better catch that guy before he burns down your house!

[greekt0wn]

"Art" is thrown around rather casually in Detroit. Most of us call this trash.

[noise]

"Art" is thrown around rather casually in Detroit. Most of us call this trash.

That's because most people don't know the first thing about art. That doesn't stop them from opening their mouths or smashing keyboards, however.

[p69rrh51]

That's because most people don't know the first thing about art. That doesn't stop them from opening their mouths or smashing keyboards, however.

No Greekt0wn is correct, many in the city including myself find that the word "art" is thrown around very casually in Detroit! As for the project while I think its a piece of junk, I am very disappointed at the arsonist who has targeted the area.

[Wesley Mouch]

The best thing that we can do to prevent this in the future is to start acting like adults. Figure out how to live within our budget. Fix our civic institutions [[police). And grow the population again. Worry less about who did us wrong. And worry more about what we're doing wrong -- and be willing to change it even if a few sacred cows get slaughtered.

[motz]

That's because most people don't know the first thing about art. That doesn't stop them from opening their mouths or smashing keyboards, however.

Pretty much this. If it doesn't fit their definition of art, then ohhhh no, its junk, or stupid, or whatever. There is a fair amount of art I do not "get", but that doesn't mean it doesn't have value for someone. People should be upset that a unique part of Detroit that many, many people enjoy is being targeted by an arsonist.

[greekt0wn]

Pretty much this. If it doesn't fit their definition of art, then ohhhh no, its junk, or stupid, or whatever. There is a fair amount of art I do not "get", but that doesn't mean it doesn't have value for someone. People should be upset that a unique part of Detroit that many, many people enjoy is being targeted by an arsonist.

If you love it so much let this guy turn your house into a garbage shrine.

[NoHeartAnthony]

When my house is abandoned in Detroit, which has an ample amount of available housing [[and therefore... not taking houses away from those who need it), Tyree can turn into whatever he wishes. Weird argument.

[Detroitnerd]

"Art" is thrown around rather casually in Detroit. Most of us call this trash.

That's really funny. We had internationally known artists putting up murals in Hamtramck and some of the locals went apeshit. Calling the art scandalous, they wanted it removed. They rushed out to whitewash one piece until they got too tired of whitewashing it. Several other locals threw paint on another piece of art.

These people never complain about the weeds growing around the vacant buildings that were painted on, never come down and pull up weed trees or pick up trash. These hillbillies are totally fine with McBurger wrappers and chip bags and all this garbage, with the weeds growing knee-high down at the end of their block, but put a piece of art up and all of a sudden they're down at city council meetings and passing around petitions.

Good old art. At least it can still shock the local troglodytes into half-wakefulness long enough to hoot and holler about "trash."

[noise]

No Greekt0wn is correct, many in the city including myself find that the word "art" is thrown around very casually in Detroit! As for the project while I think its a piece of junk, I am very disappointed at the arsonist who has targeted the area.

Then you should easily be able to prove me wrong. What makes you an art expert?

[401don]

Since I have zero artistic ability, I've always figured if it's something I could do, i.e. randomly hang stuff on a house, it's not really art.

[cman710]

I am far from an art expert, but I would say that if a significant number of people appreciate and enjoy a piece of "art," then it probably is art in some sense of the word. I am sure that some college courses spend an entire semester discussing this question, though.

[greekt0wn]

When my house is abandoned in Detroit, which has an ample amount of available housing [[and therefore... not taking houses away from those who need it), Tyree can turn into whatever he wishes. Weird argument.

So it's "art" but only if you don't have to live next to it. Got it.

[WaCoTS]

anyone who claims to understand art should know that it is subjective. one man's sacred art is another man's eyesore.

no need to froth at the mouth just because someone doesnt agree with my conception of what is art.

furthermore, it's temporal. easy come, easy go.

[WaCoTS]

in a case like Heidelberg Project, it's subject to certain laws, i imagine.

if Guyton does not own the properties, then he doesnt really have much say over what happens to them. if he does own the properties, then he could be fined for having unsecured, hazardous structures.

im not sure if he owns them all now or what, juss' sayin that you cant just create "art" anywhere you want and expect it to be treated as sacred by all, for eternity. im guessing Guyton already has some kind of grasp of that, as most street artists do.

[Lowell]

The more loudly people protest something is not art, oddly enough the more credence they give to those who say it is. It is kind of like the saying that "The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference."

The other art work that engenders such vehement discussion about the meaning of art in Detroit is the Fist.

What one thinks of Tyree's effort is opinion. What the artworld thinks and pays for it is quite another. But he made you react and think, even if to deride him.

Forum poll - Is this art? How much would you pay for this triptych painting?

[townonenorth]

The more loudly people protest something is not art, oddly enough the more credence they give to those who say it is. It is kind of like the saying that "The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference."

The other art work that engenders such vehement discussion about the meaning of art in Detroit is the Fist.

What one thinks of Tyree's effort is opinion. What the artworld thinks and pays for it is quite another. But he made you react and think, even if to deride him.

Forum poll - Is this art? How much would you pay for this triptych painting?

I'd pay $142,405,001 for this.

And yes, it is art. Tyree's work is art too, but not something that would be welcomed in most living environments. If he moved it to Palmer Woods, or even Midtown, I'd think they would have run him out of town years ago. But where it is, is relatively safe.

[subsidized]

Unless Tryee is paying taxes on these properties... good riddance.

[p69rrh51]

Then you should easily be able to prove me wrong. What makes you an art expert?

I have stated my opinion on other pages so it not worth my time here. If you are interested you can search for them.

[acer_ventura]

Whether its art or not might be an issue to some - but thats just an aesthetic argument. I might be a wee bit more concerned about the willingness of a number of ppl to molotov cocktail their friends and neighbors into the stoneage. If someone is willing to burnout homes, skyscrapers, or your kids dollhouse- does it really matter whether it was artistic or not? I truly doubt a firebug stops lighting up when the Heidelberg houses are all gone.

Community policing depends upon 99% of the population of any given area to be at least neutral- if not law abiding. The police are fairly impotent on any given day w/o a local populace that gives a shit about their 'hood. Local firewatch is a great idea- its been used in many metro areas for a zillion years- but it will only work if a vast majority of locals give a shit. Too many ppl are still willing to turn their heads the other way. At some point, people are going to have to start talking about right vs wrong again- and I'm fairly certain that its always wrong to light shit on fire that doesnt belong to you!
If your neighborhood, friends, enemies, etc can't or won't come together and protect their properties as a collective group against one of the scarier urban threats [[out-of-control fires)- eventually there won't be ANYTHING left called 'art' to argue over...

[poobert]

That's really funny. We had internationally known artists putting up murals in Hamtramck and some of the locals went apeshit. Calling the art scandalous, they wanted it removed. They rushed out to whitewash one piece until they got too tired of whitewashing it. Several other locals threw paint on another piece of art.

These people never complain about the weeds growing around the vacant buildings that were painted on, never come down and pull up weed trees or pick up trash. These hillbillies are totally fine with McBurger wrappers and chip bags and all this garbage, with the weeds growing knee-high down at the end of their block, but put a piece of art up and all of a sudden they're down at city council meetings and passing around petitions.

Good old art. At least it can still shock the local troglodytes into half-wakefulness long enough to hoot and holler about "trash."

I agree with you for the most part, but the Hamtramck murals, to me, don't really reflect the community. Every time I go by them they seem very oddly out of place.

Hamtramck has always been a working class, but mostly tidy, immigrant enclave, and despite suffering from more blight than in the past, it still mostly is.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1508123.html

To me, that simply doesn't scream "Hamtramck." Flying some guy named "SEVER" and other assorted verb peoples in from Atlanta to tag up Hamtramck sounds like a pretty fucking dumb idea to me, one that could only sound cool or smart in Metro Detroit. You don't need a degree in Urban Studies to realize that Samir, Stan, and Svetlana who live next door to the mural with their 12 kids and keep porches full of geraniums, are probably going to hate it.

Then to go and decry them for not liking what is forced upon their community...

I understand NIMBY both in Hamtramck and from the HP dissenters, but The Heidelberg Project is a bit different in there is very little left of the neighborhood [[as opposed to being the densest city in the state). If you've driven through the neighborhood recently it is shocking as to how there is really almost nothing left.

I wouldn't want to live on Heidelberg Street per say, but I wouldn't mind having it nearby. Good conversation piece to take the guests after the apertif, no?

I'm pretty much over it from an artistic standpoint [[25 years later and still painting dots on things?) but it's still rather amusing to see the cretins still screaming about how it's not art because "it's garbage" or "it isn't hard to do."

[noise]

I have stated my opinion on other pages so it not worth my time here. If you are interested you can search for them.

I didn't ask for your opinion. I asked what makes you an expert.

Knock off the idiotic rhetoric. You don't have to like it. That doesn't make it any less artistic.