Vandalog is a blog that highlights and critiques specific scenes of street art. Street art, including graffiti and sculptures, is often seen as vandalism. However, unlike vandalism or “tagging”, street art seeks to beautify and provide interest to an area. It is art because it evokes thought and emotion from its viewers regardless of whether it is a piece commissioned to adorn the side of a building or sprayed illegally in a tunnel. Living in New York City, we see great street art every day. It is easy to forget to stop and appreciate the art as one would in a museum, but blogs like Vandalog provide a jumping off point for people hoping to view great street art.

Vandalog began in October 2008 and is written and maintained by several authors including RJ Rushmore, the editor-in-chief. While other writers and artists have contributed to the blog, this group is largely responsible for selecting which pieces “matter” and writing about them.

In August, the blog ran a month long experiment where all blog posts dealt exclusively with illegal work. This was in reaction to the fact that, as street art becomes more mainstream and cities pay for artists to create murals on 5 story buildings, the smaller name artists—the essence of street art—lose their place in blogs. Bloggers who are inspired by “awesome wheatpaste and stickers” feel forced into posting on big-name galleries and events, more often legal art than not. RJ Rushmore notes that, while the site traffic fell from July to August, many visitors in August expressed a close connection to the pieces.

Detailed posts are made nearly every day—about 5 times in a week—by different authors and on varying displays of art in many cities and locations. Every post includes photos of the artwork discussed, and in some cases video interviews with the artist. I like the clean, chronological layout of the site and the lack of ads. It allows one to focus on the art and the interviews with artists, rather than being distracted by ads for local businesses and national conglomerates.

The site is careful to differentiate between street art and simple graffiti or tagging. While much of the art shown on the site is non commissioned, it reflects the work of an urban culture that employs techniques as intricate as those of other great modern artists.

One post highlights artist Adrian Doyle who painted a famous Melbourne street a precise shade of blue to depict his childhood. He describes this blue as “Empty-Nursery Blue” – a shade which is at once beautiful and disturbing, a poignant reflection upon a childhood where trouble stirred in the peripheries. One comment points out that the aerial appearance of this artwork is akin to a swimming pool, which, when paired with the name of the color (Empty Nursery Blue) recalls a particularly tragic event in Doyle’s life: as a teenager, Doyle left the gate open to the family pool and his younger brother drowned.

Comments on the site are rare, even though the site is well trafficked and among a group of very popular street art blogs. However, those that do comment are well informed about street art and are often street artists themselves.

Another post is about a new set of wheatpastes that has been put up in Philadelphia. This is a more opinionated piece—RJ expresses his annoyance for the QR codes in a NYC wheatpaste but says he appreciates the complexity in the Philadelphia pieces.

I enjoy the blog because, as something of a street art novice, Vandalog curates a diverse array of pieces from feminist murals to metal sculptures, allowing me to appreciate street art in its many forms.