Editorial note: Haida Gwaii News does not normally publish anonymous letters to the editor. In this case, we made an exception due to the unusual public discussion surrounding the graffiti and the response it generated. While we do not support or encourage vandalism in any form, we do believe community dialogue, even when humorous or unconventional, has a place in local conversation.E
Response to Tlellagram
We are writing in response to Ms. Rigg’s Tlellogram decrying the impacts of the street graffiti involving the two phallic symbols that appeared on the highway north of Skidegate. As she wanted to “address this individual or individuals directly” in her column, we feel compelled to write a letter to the people of Haida Gwaii to explain that there are alternative points of view on the representation of male appendages in public places. We are proud to be among your better-read readership and avid fans of the Tlellogram.
As one of our members said, penises have been playfully graffitied since time immemorial: on the walls of Pompeii, in the tombs of the pyramids, drawn by Buddhist monks, carved onto totems by Haida artists, even drawn in the sky by contrails of modern navy jets. Even the earth grows vegetables for us to laugh at. While not everyone appreciates that kind of humour, we saw the highway drawings less as aggression and more as absurd roadside art meant to provoke a smile during a long drive.
We intend no aggression, but instead a smile, a stroke of contact with the present, a break from the tedium of driving, a provocation to ponder the power of artistic representation of that which is not talked about in polite society. It is outsider art. We believe in the importance of expression, free thought, and the power of art to change hearts and minds. Our work may not be for everyone, but this urge is universal within all of us.
Love to all on Haida Gwaii!!
P.E.N.I.S. (Penis Enlightenment Not Indictment Society)
Haida Gwaii BC