Borf

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Borf stencils outside Kramerbooks.
Borf stencils outside Kramerbooks.
"Bush hates Borf" message painted on a building near the Takoma Metro station.
"Bush hates Borf" message painted on a building near the Takoma Metro station.

Borf is the name of 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 DC, and ranged from simple tagging to complete sentences to two-color stencils to a massive defacement on an overhead exit sign from the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to Constitution Avenue.[1] Tsombikos was arrested July 13, 2005 after tips from locals led police to his latest tag.[2]

His graffiti also was reported as appearing in New York City, San Francisco,[3] Raleigh, North Carolina,[4][5] Rome, Italy,[6] and elsewhere.[7]

Contents

[edit] Rationale

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The Borf graffiti campaign attracted widespread attention without explaining its motivations. According to Tsombikos's mother and subsequent Borf communiqués, both the nickname "Borf" and the Borf face were references to Bobby Fisher, a close friend of Tsombikos' who had committed suicide, according to an interview on Dissonance Radio.[8] In a video shown on July 29, 2006, the Borf Brigade, a group claiming responsibility for the graffiti spree, asserted that capitalism and the culture of aesthetics created the alienation and feelings of worthlessness that caused a 16-year-old to commit suicide. The group said they used other peoples' property to commemorate and pay homage to their deceased friend. The graffiti usually had overtones of youth liberation.[9]

[edit] Court appearance

Approximately four months after his arrest, Tsombikos appeared before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, wearing paint-stained clothing. His coat, which resembled one he wore in Libby Copeland's July 14 Washington Post article, 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."[10]

[edit] Communiqués

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At an event in Dupont Circle after Borf's arrest, young people handed out free spray paint and anarchist pamphlets.[11] 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 and projected a "video communiqué" on a wall, in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, in which a young woman wearing a Zapatista-style face mask read a statement labelling Tsombikos a "minor Borfist" and announced that he had been "purged" from the group.[9] The video also said,

“ On October 22nd, 2003 our friend Borf hung 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 US alone fall victim to this conspiratorial violence. It is the 3rd 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. ”

[edit] Consolation of Ruin art show

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

In early April 2007, wheat-pasted posters started appearing around Washington, D.C. announcing a "BORF SHOW" slated for the weekends of May 18-20 and May 25-27, sponsored by philanthropist Chuck Burgundy. The location was "The Bobby Fisher Memorial Building" at 1644 North Capitol Street NW in Washington DC.[12][13][14]

The show, called "Consolation of Ruin", included sculptures of humans showing one hanging from the ceiling, and three working to make a graffiti tag. In addition, there were photo flip books showing three people working to make a graffiti piece. In addition, a number of the original stencils used in the graffiti campaign were on display.[15]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Borf's Magnum Opus? (English). DCist (April 19, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
  2. ^ Copeland, Libby. "The Mark Of Borf", The Washington Post, July 14, 2005, p. C01. Retrieved on 2007-03-11. (English) 
  3. ^ "Borf on the West Coast?", DCist.com[1]
  4. ^ "'Borf' is watching us," Raleigh News & Observer [2]
  5. ^ "Arrest may end artist's spree," Raleigh News & Observer [3]
  6. ^ "The Borf Saga Continues... In Rome," DCist.com [4]
  7. ^ "Borf goes global," DCist.com [5]
  8. ^ Borf Brigade interview on Dissonance Radio [6]
  9. ^ a b Borf Brigade Communique (English). visualresistance.org (August 14, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
  10. ^ Cauvin, Henri. "Borf Gets Month in Jail And Rebuke for Graffiti", The Washington Post, February 10, 2006, p. B09. Retrieved on 2007-06-25. (English) 
  11. ^ "A Borf-in at Dupont Circle", DCist.com [7]
  12. ^ Borfyou.com [8]
  13. ^ Borf Brigade interview on Dissonance Radio [9]
  14. ^ Copeland, Libby. "The Borf Brigade Takes It Inside", The Washington Post, May 25, 2007, p. C01. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. (English) 
  15. ^ Flugennock, Mike. "Borf Brigade's "Consolation Of Ruin" Opens at Bobby Fisher Memorial Building", DC Indymedia, May 21, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-29. (English) 

[edit] External links

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