One thing you seem to forget in your rant for artistic privileges.....
This was private property.....without permission...you dig?
*Sigh*... in the first place I haven't been "ranting for artistic privilege". Art just happens. When life is boiled down to its essentials, art is one of them, and you're never going to stop it without exterminating the human species.
What I *have* been talking about is better ways to handle the situation.
In the second place, I haven't been disputing that it was private property... re-read my posts. I've been saying that the owner had an opportunity, and for some dumb reason he took the Simian-Americanus approach, which was to start clobbering.
At first I didn't know the building was due for demolition, so I figured he could have quietly encouraged it to go further by "accidently" leaving the doors open so the rougue artists would do the interior too, whereupon he could have then enameled the walls, done some grounds work with turf and benches and interesting night-lights, then cleaned up the interior with interesting lighting and benches, plus set up some popcorn kiosks outside and a Starbucks with a gift-shop on the inside, and voila, he comes off looking a like a hero of the people's art while turning a derelect building into a money-maker. Duh.
Further, when the artists realize he's making money from their work, they'll start freaking about not getting royalties, and *that's* when the issue of spray-painting private property comes to the fore. Eleven judges out of twelve would say the artists surrendered their royalty rights when they chose to fizz their creations all over someone else's property without permision, and voila, a precedent is set making it clear to artists that if their work turns out to have value and if they ever expect to collect from it, then they'd better get some permision. Sure they're operating as rogues now, but wait until they find out their work might have economic value, and watch how fast they start clammoring for a cut.
Then I was told the building was due for demolition, which makes it seem kind'a petty that he'd whitewash it, unless he's got a lawyer telling him there might be a precedent somewhere saying he'd be destroying public art if people in the neighborhood have come to enjoy the view, but in any case, he *still* could have done something like hire some photographers to do a detailed photographic record of all the works, whereupon, after demolition, he could bind it all into a coffee-table book, and sell it under the pathos of the tragedy of development and how it destroys the people's art. It seems so obvious.
By the way your music sucks....
What music?
It's a classic-rock station. What about it?