Within hours of appearing on the corner of Kentish Town Road and Jeffrey's Street, the new Banksy mural has been covered over with perspex sheeting. Why's this of interest? It perfectly symbolises the ongoing debate about double standards in dealing with graffiti. Both Banksy and Tox leave their handiwork on private property. But while Banksy sees his efforts preserved behind a protective screen, Tox is convicted of criminal damage.
We all have views about the relative merits and motives of the pair, but should the authorities be allowed to make a distinction? (To be fair, we don't know if the perspex screen, in this case, was erected by the council or agents of the property's freeholder. But the point stands.)
It was also interesting to note how many people (Londonist included) were taking photos of the new work. We loitered around for about 10 minutes on Friday lunchtime and counted an average of four photographs per minute.
