'Sorry for the Damage Done' is a photography book — itself an artistic work — that's sole purpose is to document the erasure of others' artwork. That might sound perverse, but in reality the book, which was conceived of and edited by Dutch artists Vincent Wittenberg and Wladimir Manshanden, pays homage to the history of street art in Eindhoven.
In the early days of graffiti, Eindhoven was among the first European cities to embrace the example set by those in New York. Tagging became commonplace in the city over the years, but in the early 2000s, the municipal government began an aggressive campaign to remove all street art, hiring out independent contractors to scrape it away. These contractors had to take pictures of the before and after of their work in order to receive payments, and Sorry for the Damage Done' is a collection of those frank, often unintentionally humorous documents.
What's Driving This Trend
- Graffiti Documentation
- Capturing the before and after of graffiti erasure can become a trend for preserving street art history.
- Street Art Preservation
- The documentation of scraped-off street art can present an innovative business opportunity for street art museum curations.
- Humor in Graffiti Erasure
- Humorous documentation of street art eradication brings a unique touch to the street art collection scene.
Who This Affects Most
- Art
- Sorry for the Damage Done photography book is an innovative product for preserving street art history in the art industry.
- Photography
- Graffiti documentation particularly in the context of its eradication has potential for an innovative photography series.
- Museum
- The collection of scraped off street art will be an innovative element in street art museum industrial exhibits.
