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Ottawa artist Christopher Griffin awoke on Thursday to find the exterior of his studio at Kent and Gladstone streets had been hit with a “tag” — that most noxious and narcissistic form of public art expression — and his response was inspired, even brilliant.

Most graffiti is an illustration or caricature or abstraction or other attempt at creating an actual work of art, whatever one may think of its rogue nature. Tagging, meanwhile, is but one person’s stylized signature, and though some tags strive for a certain style, for the most part tagging is the “art” equivalent of a dog lifting its leg at a fire hydrant to mark its territory.

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Griffin, as an artist, has some sympathy for tagging.

“I confess to actually liking graffiti and even some tags,” he says. “There is a visual fluidity to some of them as well as graphic sensibility, contrast, line, colour, all the elements that make up visual art.” However, he adds, “I also see the problematic aspect of invading public and private space. So, I was a little disheartened upon seeing the quite large tag on my studio, simply for the fact that up until now, the taggers have tended to respect murals, sculptures and other artistic initiatives.”