Borf

Last updated
"Bush hates Borf" message painted on the Vision Lighting building near the Takoma Metro station. This message was changed to "Obama Hates Borf" in 2009. Bush hates Borf.jpg
"Bush hates Borf" message painted on the Vision Lighting building near the Takoma Metro station. This message was changed to "Obama Hates Borf" in 2009.
"Obama hates Borf" message, which replaced the earlier message in 2009. Obama hates Borf.jpg
"Obama hates Borf" message, which replaced the earlier message in 2009.

Borf was a graffiti campaign seen in and around Washington, D.C., during 2004 and 2005, carried out by John Tsombikos while studying at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. This four-letter word was ubiquitous around the Northwest quadrant of Washington, and ranged from simple tagging to complete sentences to two-color stencils to the massive defacement on an overhead exit sign from the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to Constitution Avenue. [1] Tsombikos was arrested on July 13, 2005, after tips led police to his latest tag. [2]

Contents

One of the most visible tags was the "BUSH HATES BORF" message painted above other graffiti on the back wall of the Vision Lighting Building and visible from the Metro Red Line near the Takoma Metro station. This message was later replaced by a message saying "OBAMA HATES BORF" in early 2009. [3] Then in late 2011, the notorious icon of Washington, D.C., culture was seen for the last time and finally painted over during the week of November 28.

The graffiti was also reported to have appeared in New York City, San Francisco, [4] Raleigh, North Carolina, [5] [6] Rome, Italy, [7] and elsewhere. [8]

In 2009, director Paris Bustillos created a documentary film about the campaign entitled Borf!. [9]

Rationale

A worker painting over the iconic 'Obama Hates Borf' graffiti near the Takoma Metro subway station, on November 30th, 2011 at 10:20am. Obama Hates Borf Being Painted Over.jpg
A worker painting over the iconic 'Obama Hates Borf' graffiti near the Takoma Metro subway station, on November 30th, 2011 at 10:20am.

The campaign attracted widespread attention without first explaining its motivations. According to Tsombikos and subsequent Borf communiqués, both the nickname "Borf" and the Borf face belonged to Bobby Fisher, a close friend of Tsombikos' who had committed suicide. [10] In a video shown on July 29, 2006, the Borf Brigade – the group claiming responsibility for the graffiti spree – asserted that capitalism and the culture of aesthetics created alienation and feelings of worthlessness that contributed to the 16-year-old's suicide. The group said that they used other peoples' property to commemorate and pay homage to their deceased friend. The graffiti usually had overtones of anti-authority sentiments and youth liberation. [11]

Court appearance

Approximately four months after his arrest, Tsombikos appeared before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. His paint-stained coat, which resembled one that he wore in Libby Copeland's July 14 article in The Washington Post (published after his arrest), was declared evidence by the judge and handed over to the prosecution.

On December 12, 2005, Tsombikos agreed to plead guilty to one count of felony destruction of property. He also agreed to perform community service (cleaning up graffiti) and to pay $12,000 in restitution. Judge Leibovitz ordered him to stay out of the District except for court appearances and classes at the Corcoran College of Art and Design.

On February 9, 2006, Tsombikos was sentenced to 30 days in the D.C. jail, with an additional 17 months suspended, as well as the community service and restitution specified in his plea agreement. At his sentencing, the judge said, "You profess to despise rich people. You profess to despise the faceless, nameless forms of government that oppress. That's what you've become. That's what you are. You're a rich kid who comes into Washington and defaces property because you feel like it. It's not fair. It's not right." [12]

Communiqués

At a Dupont Circle event after Borf's arrest, young people distributed spray paint and anarchist pamphlets. [13] The following was distributed as a "communiqué" at the event:

Borf is not caught. Borf is many. Borf is none. Borf is waiting for you in your car. Borf is in your pockets. Borf is running through your veins. Borf is naive. Borf is good for your liver. Borf is controlling your thoughts. Borf is everywhere. Borf is the war on boredom. Borf annihilates. Borf hates school. Borf is a four letter word for joy. Borf is quickly losing patience. Borf yells in the library. Borf eats pieces of shit like you for breakfast. Borf is digging a hole to China. Borf is bad at graffiti. Borf is ephemeral. Borf is invincible. Borf. Borf ruins everything. Borf runs near the swimming pool. Borf keeps it real. Borf writes you love letters. Ol' Dirty Bastard is Borf. Borf knows everything. Borf is in the water. Borf doesn't sleep. Borf systematically attacks the infrastructure of the totality. Borf is a foulmouth. Borf eats your homework. Borf brings you home for dinner. Borf is the dirt under your fingernails. Borf is the song that never ends. Borf gets down. Borf gets up. Borf is your baby. Borf is neither. Borf is good for your heart, the more you eat the more you. Borf is. Borf knows. Borf destroys. Borf is immortal. Borf pulls fire alarms. Borf scuffs the gym floor. Borf is looking through your mom's purse. Borf is M. Borf is the size of Alaska. Borf likes pizza. Borf is in general. Borf is X. Borf ain't nothin' to fuck with. Borf runs it. Borf has reflexes like a cat. Borf is immortal. Borf sticks gum under the desk. Borf is omnipotent. Borf is flawed. Borf is winning.

On July 29, 2006, a group of young people calling themselves the "Borf Brigade" held a march in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, and projected a "video communiqué" on a wall in which a young woman wearing a Zapatista-style face mask read a statement labeling Tsombikos a "minor Borfist" and announced that he had been "purged" from the group. [11] The video also said,

On October 22, 2003, our friend Borf hanged himself from a basement pipe in a suburb of the nation's capital. This was not a solitary act. Over 30,000 people in the U.S. alone fall victim to this conspiratorial violence. It is the third leading killer of young people ages 15-24, and outnumbers homicides 3 to 2. This epidemic cannot be medicated into remission. It is not a problem confined to our family bloodline. "Trouble at home" is not the only trigger for depression.

Consolation of Ruin art show

Borf piece on the side of the Bobby Fisher Memorial Building in Washington, D.C. Bobby Fisher Memorial Building tag.jpg
Borf piece on the side of the Bobby Fisher Memorial Building in Washington, D.C.

In April 2007, wheat-pasted posters announcing a "BORF SHOW" slated for the weekends of May 18–20 and May 25–27 began appearing around Washington. The location was "The Bobby Fisher Memorial Building" at 1644 North Capitol Street NW. [10] [14] [15]

The show, entitled "Consolation of Ruin" and sponsored by philanthropist Chuck Burgundy,[ citation needed ] featured two floors of oil paintings, screen prints, etchings, installations, and video, all for sale in an effort to pay for Tsombikos' $12,000 restitution. One installation (a direct reference to Banksy's "elephant in the room" piece) was of a male figure hanging from a belt from the ceiling and painted to match the wallpaper designs on the wall, camouflaging the lifeless figure. A number of the original stencils used in the graffiti campaign were on display. [16]

After the Borf show, the Bobby Fisher Memorial Building served as a youth-oriented space for music and art until its closing in July 2008. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graffiti</span> Drawings and paintings on walls

Graffiti is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banksy</span> Pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter

Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stenciling technique. His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls and bridges throughout the world. Banksy's work grew out of the Bristol underground scene, which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. Banksy says that he was inspired by 3D, a graffiti artist and founding member of the musical group Massive Attack.

<i>Weird NJ</i>

Weird NJ is a semi-annual magazine that chronicles local legends, purported hauntings, ghost stories, folklore, unusual places or events, and other peculiarities in New Jersey. The magazine originated in 1989 as a newsletter sent to friends by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman, but as it grew in popularity, it became a public magazine published twice a year. It spawned a series of books called Weird US, which chronicle oddities from individual states in the United States aside from New Jersey, which in turn led to a television series that aired on the History Channel.

William Alexander White is an American neo-Nazi. He was the former leader of the American National Socialist Workers' Party, and former administrator of Overthrow.com, a now-defunct website dedicated to racist and antisemitic content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enloe High School</span> Public (magnet, ib, gt) school in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States

William G. Enloe GT/IB Magnet Center for the Humanities, Sciences and the Arts, also known as Enloe Magnet High School or Enloe High School, is a public magnet high school offering Gifted & Talented and International Baccalaureate programs located in eastern Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It is operated under the Wake County Public School System. The first integrated public high school in the city of Raleigh, it was named after William Gilmore Enloe, the Mayor of Raleigh at the time the school was opened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skerik</span> American musician

Skerik, is an American saxophonist from Seattle, Washington. Performing on the tenor and baritone saxophone, often with electronics and loops, he is a pioneer in a playing style that has been called saxophonics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1920 Revolution Brigades</span> Sunni militia group in Iraq

The 1920 Revolution Brigades was a Sunni militant group in Iraq, which included former members of the disbanded Iraqi army. It was established by the members of the former Ba'ath army of Saddam Hussein in 2003 following the American invasion. The group had used improvised explosive devices, and armed attacks against U.S.-led Coalition forces. The group comprises the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement. The group was named in reference to the Iraqi revolt of 1920.

Paw Tracks was an independent record label based in Washington, D.C.

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has taken a variety of criminal actions since 1992. Actions were rarely publicised prior to 1996 and are therefore difficult to find.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OSGEMEOS</span>

OSGEMEOS are identical twin street artists Otavio Pandolfo and Gustavo Pandolfo. They started painting graffiti in 1987 and their work appears on streets and in galleries across the world.

Libby (<i>Lost</i>) Fictional character of the TV series Lost

Libby is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. She is played by American actress Cynthia Watros. The character is introduced as a member of the tail section survivors in the second season episode "Everybody Hates Hugo", together with Bernard, and she ends her role as a living character in the episode "?".

Classical Christian education is an approach to learning rooted in the long story of Christian engagement with the classical tradition as exemplified first by figures such as the Cappadocian Fathers, Augustine and Jerome as well as the fullness of Christian monastic traditions. Its current revival in American K-12 schools started with three schools founded in 1980 to 1981: Cair Paravel-Latin School, Trinity School at Greenlawn, and Logos School. Various classical Christian schools emphasize and articulate different things in their approaches, but most include biblical teachings and incorporate a teaching model from the classical education renewal known as the Trivium, consisting of three parts: grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

Libby Copeland is a freelance writer in New York City, and was previously a staff writer for the Washington Post. She started her career with the Post in 1998 as an intern in the style department, and went on to cover culture, crime and Washington politics. In 2005, she was the Feature Specialty Reporting winner for the large circulation papers in the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors' annual competition. In 2009, she left the Post and moved to New York. Since becoming a freelancer, she has become a regular contributor to Slate, and has written for the New York magazine, the Wall Street Journal and Cosmopolitan, among other publications. She has appeared on MSNBC, CNN and NPR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Donald Brown</span> American politician (born 1953)

Michael Donald Brown is an American politician serving as the junior United States shadow senator from the District of Columbia, having served since 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Powers (artist)</span>

Stephen J. Powers is an American contemporary artist and muralist. He is also known by the name ESPO, and Steve Powers. He lives in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graffiti in New York City</span> Street arts evolution in NYC

Graffiti in New York City has had a substantial local, national, and international influence.

Mook is the vandal moniker used by a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania man Michael Monack and a Portland, Oregon man Marcus Edward Gunther.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MFONE</span>

MFONE is the graffiti moniker of Daniel Montano. He was an American best known for his graffiti who died on June 10, 2017, from a heroin overdose at the age of 31. He had been using Vicodin, Xanax, cocaine, heroin and marijuana for 15 years. He was active in Pittsburgh in the mid and late 2000s. At the peak of his tagging activity, he was considered to be "the most notorious tagger in [Pittsburgh] history." According to police, he is the most prolific graffiti writer in the city's history. He replaced Mook in local graffiti folklore. His graffiti activities are alleged to have caused up to $713,801 in damage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comet Ping Pong</span> Pizzeria in Washington, D.C.

Comet Ping Pong is a pizzeria, restaurant, and concert venue located on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C.'s Chevy Chase neighborhood. Owned by James Alefantis, Comet has received critical acclaim from The Washington Post, The Washingtonian, New York magazine, the DCist, and Guy Fieri of Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Utah & Ether</span> American graffiti artist duo

Danielle E. "Utah" Bremner and Jim Clay "Ether" Harper VI are American graffiti artists, called the "Bonnie and Clyde of the graffiti world". They have tagged trains and buildings in over 30 countries on five continents, and have made books and videos about their exploits. They have also been arrested, fined, and served multiple prison sentences for vandalism. Their use of social media has been used as an example in a book about graffiti artists, and they have been the subjects of a video exhibit and a song.

References

  1. "Borf's Magnum Opus?". DCist. April 19, 2005. Archived from the original on February 17, 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  2. Copeland, Libby (July 14, 2005). "The Mark Of Borf". The Washington Post. p. C01. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
  3. John Muller (2012-02-08). ""Obama hates BORF" buffed from the Red Line". Greater Greater Washington. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  4. "Borf on the West Coast?". Dcist.com. 2005-04-13. Archived from the original on 2007-04-07. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  5. Ellen Sung. "'Borf' is watching us". Raleigh News & Observer. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  6. Ellen Sung. "Arrest may end artist's spree". Raleigh News & Observer. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  7. "The Borf Saga Continues... In Rome". DCist.com. 2005-09-07. Archived from the original on 2006-10-19. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  8. "Borf goes global". DCist.com. 2006-10-12. Archived from the original on 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  9. "Borf! and Chocolate City Burning". hiphoppress.com. 2009-03-16. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
  10. 1 2 "Borf Brigade interview on Dissonance Radio". Dissonance.libsyn.com. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  11. 1 2 "Borf Brigade Communique". visualresistance.org. August 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
  12. Cauvin, Henri (February 10, 2006). "Borf Gets Month in Jail And Rebuke for Graffiti". The Washington Post . p. B09. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  13. "A Borf-in at Dupont Circle", DCist.com Archived October 19, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  14. "Borfyou.com". Borfyou.com. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  15. Copeland, Libby (May 25, 2007). "The Borf Brigade Takes It Inside". The Washington Post . p. C01. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  16. Flugennock, Mike (May 21, 2007). "Borf Brigade's "Consolation Of Ruin" Opens at Bobby Fisher Memorial Building". DC Indymedia. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  17. "The House That Borf Built is Closing". DCist. 2008-06-26. Archived from the original on 2008-11-02. Retrieved 2009-07-16.