In July 2005, John Tsombikos, a then 18 year old art student from Great Falls was arrested as the person mainly responsible for all the BORF taggings in DC (and beyond - read the complete story here).
The whole street art universe has since been on foot to help him (see some of the efforts here) and there have been several non-spraypaint media exhibits held by the man (boy) himself.
(the general Borf backlash, we can focus on some other time)
Now, this Friday, the Borf Brigade (last time actively seen during the street bycicle party (see the "Twist and Shout" video footage here), is orchestrating a "Spectacular display of found objects" in hopes of raising 12000 dollars, that will be required to pay his legal fees.
No one has seen the exhibit yet, as the media has been given ONLY a blind folded tour but this is obviously one of those events that is to be deemed unmissable by, lets face it, 99% of us, and you.
Opening Reception: 6-9 p.m. Friday, May 18
6-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday, May 18-20
6-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday, May 25-27
Bobby Fisher Memorial Building
1644 North Capitol St. NW
Washington, DC
find out more about the exhibit here
Also tonight (May 15th) at 11 pm on DC's Hardcore Dissonance Radio (97.5 FM Radio CPR) The Borf brigade is guesting. If you have a question for them... send it to Danger Mike HERE. Podcast tomorrow.
Read one of the rare Borf interviews here here
see random flickr tagged Borf here:
Previously in I Heart DC:
- 2/14: 101 Reasons To Love DC-Part 2
- 2/13: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
- 2/13: 101 Reasons To Love DC-Part 1
- 2/10: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/9: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/8: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/8: Perfect Date Outfits + Outings
- 2/7: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
- 2/6: DC News You Can Maybe Use:
- 2/2: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
God loves a cheerful giver.
john is way cooler than brightest young things will ever be, and less pretentious.
Is there a "Who is cooler, Borf or BYT?" contest going on that I didn't know about?
borf is way cooler than the kid in third grade that i punched in the face for, "drawing a shitty picture of the girl I liked and putting it on her desk." Congratulations on somewhat destroying the city with balls out mediocrity. Finish art school, and celebrate a re-birth.
Laser is awesome.
You wouldn't see people wearing expensive clothes, drinking pretty drinks, and getting wasted then exploiting photos online of their dance moves at john's opening. it'll be good.
disclaimer: don't hold my snobbish words against him, these are my own sentiments.
Anonymous is wrong... I'll be there with my camera, and so will a rack of Bright Young Things all in a big breakdance circle with John in the middle...
Clearly, grown-ups are obsolete.
You know what's so sad about all of this? That DC even has to import its mediocre graffiti from the suburbs! Sorry, I guess I missed the important borf video communique.
Another event where the brightest come lately's can borrow and appropriate the esthetic of the DC punk and DIY scene with their cameras, ironic t-shirts, and designer handbags. You can have Borf with your breakdance circle, but please stay away from Dischord and Fort Reno. Some things should be kept sacred.
too late
lawndart - the people at Fort Reno asked us to be involved, and Chris Richards of Q and Not U and Ian Svenonius are contributors to BYT... sorry
haha. anonymous thinks miller high life* is pretty. and by miller high life*,i mean, whatever is the cheapest drink at the bar.
Thanks for posting the link to my show.
The Dissonance interview with John and the BORF Brigade is posted and available for free download. He talked about the origins of BORF, being a suburban kid coming into DC to write, the anti-grown-up thing, DC's go-go and straight edge graffiti crews, street art and gentrification, getting
caught and doing time in DC Jail.
Go to:
http://dissonance.libsyn.com/
to get the full audio recording.
if there is a open bar im there, and ill even bring an elitists attitude to get things jumpin.
according to Chuck Burgundy:
The opening reception will be alcohol-free, Kool-Aid will be offered instead.
also, further exhibit info:
After that point, the exhibit will be open Saturday the 19th, Sunday the 20th, and the 25th through 27th. The hours are 5-10 pm on Fridays, 12-5 on Saturdays and Sundays (this is a recent change, don't be alarmed if you see it listed as some other time, elsewhere). On Friday the 25th, the Brigade will be hosting a "party", although it's whereabouts have yet to be established (if this is a detail that is of particular interest to you, be sure to either come to the show on Friday for details, or contact me for more info).
As for the work, yes, we will have items for sale, the price listing will be available upon request.
and Nicholas Schiller made this sweet video to go with it all:
http://www.nikolasschiller.com/tv/borfonfox5.mov
chuck burgundy what is your email!
chuckburgundyATgmailDOTcom
I hope the Rainbow Raider doesn't show
Wait - you can appropriate the esthetic of the DC punk and DIY scene with their cameras and designer handbags?! Who knew! I guess DC punk isn't what it used to be.
byt: "hey, let's promote a neat event for a good cause!"
trust fund haters who don't shower for the sake of calling themselves "punk": "no, you guys are fun and wear nice clothes. you clearly don't know what art is!"
huhhhh????
To "Banksy": yes, yes, and yes! So right on. Emphasis on mediocre graffiti. He's so not a real writer, just an art-school rich kid who wanted to get famous quickly by getting caught. Lame.
And yes, I'm sure all the Bitches You (barely) Tolerate (ahem, BYT) will be out in full-force, Sparks & digital cameras in hand, ready to exploite the last breath out of hip hop and street art culture as we know it. Oh yes, and meanwhile photographing their retarded dance moves and "sexy" poses, photos that will undoubtedly be subject to a extensive amount of photoshopping before they're Internet-worthy. Let's just hope for their sake that there will be plenty of low-lighting so that the world won't have to know what they REALLY look like.
How do you know when graffiti is dead? When the Brightest Young Twats attempt to sponsor an already fake "street-art" event. I think the proverbial Ramo just spun in his grave.
I only photoshop my *own* zits out
omg, me 2!!
what a lovely way to release...stuff....argh i need a drink..or a walk through a bad neighborhood with chuck norris at my side. the end all cure all.
I've got a couple more:
Boring Yuppie Trash
Big Yummy Titties
Burning Yellow Testes
awesome!
all the unpaid, long suffering staff is getting these
t shirts right here.
I've always preferred Whitest Young Things and BYTrash.
for those uninitiated, james is referring to comments previously posted here.
i feel like i am in a warm bundle of love now.
group hug now! everyone!
Why do people have to be so hateful and jealous? I've lived in the DC area for seven years and BYT is the first DC based site I've found that caters to my interests. No matter what day it is I can find something stimulating and fun to do in the city. If this site wasn’t so versatile and purely covered pretty people partying I don’t think local DC musicians, designers and artists would be so receptive and supportive of it. As far as I know BYT contributors/staff aren’t making a living off of this; they’re providing a free service because they enjoy doing so. So I’m wondering what are the haters doing for DC? If you don’t like BYT or what they promote why are you reading their site and posting comments? Get off your ass, get a life and do something besides criticize.
Thanx Nean! Let's all just hug it out?
Oh, and Katie J., just thought I'd throw this out to ya: clicky
wow, who knew all these dumbasses lurked this site. what the fuck are you all doing for DC besides complaining?
skimmed the comments, but... rock on, Nean! and love the apples to oranges, svetlana.
see y'all later. maybe? hope so.
I feel the love....
Did everybody play nice last night? Nobody got put in the corner? Did anyones mommy take their wittle spray cans away?
the exhibit is a tome to his best friend.
it's an artistic rendering of a friendship that will always live on in both memory and artistic embrace.
well done
Laser, Katie, etc....
'Tis better to be hated for what you are then loved for what you are not...
Settle down, kiddies...
If you don't like BYT, then go away. Go on, shoo! Buh-bye!
If you're too cool -- then go be cool somewhere else. Whiny hipsters are tedious.
Suckers.
The underlying problem here is the idea that "ephemeral" is a big word. Also, fakery is fucking awesome, apparently somebody didn't get the memo.
There's some graffitti that can be seen from the Metro on the Red Line headed toward Glenmont. It says "Obama Hates BORF." I always wondered what it meant ... thanks for the links!