Artists or miscreants? Anonymous graffiti in Kochi raises palette of questions

“We received videos of similar graffiti work in the UK and there are striking similarities, especially the crown. We demand the immediate intervention of cops and the initiation of legal action against those behind the defacing,” Antony said. Some have termed the graffiti as creative art. However, in an e-mail communication, a Kochi-based pseudonymous artist, who goes by the name Guesswho, questioned the ‘Banksy fan’ theory. “Graffiti and street art are two different forms of art. Graffiti is just writing your name on public walls without permission. Street art could be both commissioned or uncommissioned. What Banksy does is predominantly uncommissioned stencils. How many people in Kochi do you know who make uncommissioned stencils? Vandalising the clean-looking streets and buildings of London or any European cities is entirely different from drawing a picture or writing your name on the visually polluted streets in our country,” Guesswho, who is believed to be behind several anonymous graffiti in the Fort Kochi area several years back, said in his e-mail. On the motive behind serious street art, Guesswho says it’s nothing more than making art in public spaces that are accessible to anyone free of cost. And on whether acts noticed in Kochi...