by PATRICK LEJTENYI

The following, according to the Plateau borough’s Web site (www.ville. montreal.qc.ca/ plateau), is the profile of your average tagger: he is between 12 and 17, has been spraypainting between one and three years, and is motivated principally by adrenaline and making his mark in the world. Other motivating factors include peer pressure, the desire to belong to a group, adolescent rebellion and artistic passion (although this is rare). The element of danger involved is considered “very high.”

Now take a look at mural writers. They’re usually older, between 18 and 20, have been doing it for around five years and are motivated by artistic passion, feelings of rejection, marginalization and a certain amount of pride in their ability. The level of danger involved is “none at all.”

In between are writers who spray paint “inflated letters” (they tend to be between 14 and 20) and “elaborate letters” (between 16 and 20). The city figures there’s an indirect correlation between age, motivation and danger—the latter decreases as the former increases. While graffiteurs come from all social classes, most are poor to middle class, and some even (gasp!) shoplift to secure supplies.

This informative peek into the netherworld of the urban graffiti artist is one educational tool the city has unloaded from its armoury in its much-touted fight against filth. Two weeks ago, the borough announced it would use the $175,000 the city allocated it to remove graffiti from Plateau buildings and walls. Over 1,000 requests have been filed, and a minimum 11,000 square metres of graffiti will be removed. A request form is available for property owners to download from the borough’s Web site, and the clean-ups will be free of charge. Work has already begun on St-Laurent, St-Denis, Pine and Prince Arthur, says borough rep Pierre-Antoine Ferron.

But to Sterling Downey, who runs the annual graffiti festival Under Pressure, the whole campaign sounds confused, and confusing. “I don’t think they know what to go after,” he says. “They pretend they do. But they’re hiring these cleaning companies and scaring the public” without telling people what the difference between a mural—whose artistic merit can be argued—and a tag, which most non-graffiti connoisseurs would consider an eyesore. The lack of public awareness about the campaign may lead to widespread ignorance of what the city is trying to accomplish.

“People are going to assume they’re going to get fined if they don’t clean the graffiti off their walls,” says Downey. “I’ve seen murals get whitewashed. I think this is a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is washing.”

Ferron says the washing is up to the owner of the property making the demand. “It’s a first come, first serve basis,” he says.

To let people know about the campaign, he says, the borough sent out press releases to local media and subscribers to the borough’s listserv, as well as mailing 4,000 to 5,000 letters to residents and merchants below Pine Avenue.

Downey says he hasn’t heard of the new campaign, although, “They didn’t launch it during Under Pressure, so I guess it’s not so bad.” The city’s last anti-graffiti crusade in August 2005 came at the beginning of the festival’s 10th edition.