Roadside haiku: art or litter on a stick?

There has been a recent debate about Atlanta artist John Morse’s “roadside haiku.”  Is it art, or is it “litter on a stick”, as Peggy Denby, the director of Keep Atlanta Beautiful, calls it?

Morse’s signs, which purposely mimic cardboard and metal advertising signs posted on telephone poles, stuck in lawns or on the sides of road, are short blasts of social commentary, such as “Build personal wealth in the comfort of your home. Read to your children.”  It’s not beautiful in a conventional way, nor is it meant to be.  Morse’s signs are meant to get our attention by cleverly appropriating a banal medium in a way that forces us to question the messaging we see daily.  Atlanta art critic Katherine Fox defends the signs, saying “If art can be a catalyst in getting us to think about what we see, what we accept in our environment and leading us to the other questions, it has a very important role to play.”

I found it disappointing (although perhaps not surprising) that Denby, who claims to be an “avocational painter” could not at least express appreciation for Morse’s intentions, regardless of the sign ordinance violation.  Her comment, “I’m not opposed to poetry. I’m an artist myself” is the tired excuse artists give when they don’t like/approve of another artist’s work, but don’t want to come across as uncool or intolerant.  My friend Annie astutely noted, “We live in a society that's so conditioned as to what creativity IS, that when they see something they don't understand, it's a throw away.” 

Technically, the signs violate a city sign ordinance, but even Denby admits it’s not strictly enforced.  The recent flap over Morse’s signs suggests that it’s less about the signs themselves and more about who is using them for advertising purchases.  I see an endless barrage of advertising signs all over Atlanta and I doubt all of the advertisers posted them in accordance with the city sign ordinance.  In case you’re curious, here is the ordinance:

Signs cannot be set on public sidewalks, roadway medians or affixed to any bridge, utility pole or box in the public right of way.

"Sign" means any material containing printed or written matter in words, symbols, pictures, or any combination thereof, including, but not limited to flyers, handbills, pennants, posters, and streamers. This ordinance includes Political Campaign signs, Real Estate signs, Special Event signs, all business signs and any other signs. (from Keep Atlanta Beautiful)

The city can’t possibly keep up with every business or developer that puts signs up around town – and frankly should have more important things on which to direct their attention.  I’m seriously tempted to drive around town and photograph all of the offenders, simply out of fairness to Morse. 

So why is it that an artist is being singled out for creating “litter on a stick?”  What does that say about the things we value as a society? An advertising sign encouraging us to build personal wealth has more implicit value than a similarly designed sign encouraging us to read to our children.  The battle over Morse’s signs ultimately has less to do with him not heeding the city sign ordinance than it is about the things we ultimately deem important.  We approve of businesses or politicians hawking their goods and services and will implicitly support their messaging.  Morse, however, is not selling us anything.  What he is doing is exhorting us to make meaningful change in our lives.

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