Sunday, February 05, 2006

Press Action Hero of the Week: BORF

Press Action Hero In my neighborhood, there’s a fair amount of graffiti on newspaper boxes, street signs and buildings. I’m unable to decipher the graffiti symbols.

People say the graffiti is the work of local gangs—Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, the Street Criminals, Vatos Locos and Mara R—who mark out their territory. The appearance of a new tag could signal a shift in gang borders and allegiances. When the neighborhood 7-Eleven or the hardware store next door is tagged with this graffiti, does that mean only that gang is allowed to shop at those stores? I don’t know.

The graffiti apparently represents an important component of the gangs’ culture. The gangs work hard to build living arrangements autonomous of the dominant institutions in American society, although it appears the gangs are at war more with themselves than with the outside authorities who view them as a threat.

Aside from the Latino gangs, other types of graffiti and poster artists have flourished in the Northern Virginia and D.C. area. During the 1980s, posters saying “Experts Agree: Meese Is A Pig” appeared in DuPont Circle in D.C. The posters, which referred to Reagan administration Attorney General Ed Meese, became popular and started to spread across the metropolitan region.

In recent years, another political graffiti artist emerged in the D.C. area, although it took several months before I learned the meaning of the artist’s message. The “Borf” tags would appear on street signs and newspaper boxes. A large version of the Borf graffiti appeared on the side of a utility shed on the Virginia side of Key Bridge heading into Georgetown. Borf’s masterpiece was a huge work of art that appeared last spring on a large sign above the Roosevelt Bridge that could be seen heading across the Potomac River into D.C. from Virginia.

The artist behind Borf, 18-year-old art student John Tsombikos, was arrested last July by D.C. police officers as he was allegedly spray painting in a neighborhood of Northwest Washington.

Prior to his arrest, the Washington Post had run a story describing the political motivation of Tsombikos, who agreed to be interviewed as long as the newspaper didn’t identify him by name. The articles would refer to Tsombikos only as Borf.

“Once upon a time, Borf said, he was ‘just, like, some liberal, like anybody,’ but then he started reading, and found out he really wanted to be an anarchist,” the Post reported. “He decided he doesn’t believe in the state, capitalism, private property, globalization. Most of all, he doesn’t believe in adulthood, which he considers ‘boring’ and ‘selling out.’ ‘Growing up is giving up,’ he said. ‘I think some band said it.’”

image Tsombikos’ mother told the Post that Borf was the nickname for a close friend of her son’s who committed suicide a few years back. “The Borf face featured in his graffiti—which many who’ve walked through Dupont Circle would recognize, and which looks somewhat like TV actor Jerry O’Connell—belongs to that young man,” the Post explained. “Murphy suggests that for her son, the Borf face and moniker came to stand for all that he felt was wrong with the world”

Last December, Tsombikos entered into a plea bargain in D.C. Superior Court that required him to do 200 hours of community service and avoid setting foot in D.C. except to attend classes at the Corcoran School of Art & Design.

But the Washington City Paper reported this week that there’s good reason to believe Tsombikos is still tagging. In November, he reportedly was arrested in New York City for vandalism. And a few newspaper boxes in Boston have been hit with the “Borf” tag.

Because of these alleged actions in other cities, the City Paper reports that Tsombikos could face stiffer penalties when he reports for his sentencing on Thursday (Feb. 9) in D.C. Superior Court.

Keith Haring was arrested repeatedly for criminal mischief in the early 1980s for his graffiti art in New York subway stations. His images of a faceless baby, a barking dog and flying saucers made him famous. Haring, who attended the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh and the School of Visual Arts in New York, enjoyed great success as an artist and a political activist until his death in 1990 of complications from AIDS.

With the political consciousness of an anarchist and an artist’s rebellious spirit, Tsombikos appears on his way to even greater achievements. As long as he continues to dabble as a graffitist, he’s likely to face the threat of prison. But Tsombikos’ graffiti celebrates compassion and typically does not encroach on houses or small businesses. Let’s hope Tsombikos stays true to his anti-authoritarian politics and retains the courage to use his talent as an artist to spread the word. -M.H.

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