Hackney Council get a lot of things right. Fair play, they do a pretty good job and you have to applaud their ‘different’ approach to tackling fly posters, whether you agree with it or not. Hell they know the difference between pissed up tagging and quality street art too.

I’ve personally witnessed one Hackney Graffiti Removal Van pull up outside Cargo’s front door and the driver get out and approach Nick Walker‘s Moona Lisa. I jumped in and said, ‘you’re not going to remove that are you?’ Only for the driver to get out his mobile phone and take a picture of it, get back in his wagon and drive away. (Now Nick’s piece has been ruined by dickhead taggers writing ‘I Love You Dave’ all over it and other 2am pen drivel, oh the irony). I’m still dining out on the story.

So it was strange to walk up to Cargo on Tuesday morning and see Myne‘s new poster piece covered with Hackney’s patented anti-fly poster techinque. ‘CANCELLED – NOT THE EVENT ADVERTISED BUT THIS POSTER’.

Which is all well and good but what about when the poster isn’t advertising anything? What’s happens when the poster is a piece of art? Surely Hackney have been handed too much power when they have the ability to cancel art? What’s next, Hackney Council cancel dreams…

Whether Myne’s poster is advertising anything is a can of worms that Shepard Fairey would love to open up, and it’s clear that Myne’s work is influenced by Mr. Obey, but surely the Hackney Council can tell the difference between a poster advertising a night and a piece of poster art, can’t they. Can’t they?