We Love the Magnet Mafia

Posted September 4th, 2010

If you’ve read the “We Love the Bunnski” post you might already realize that we love street art. The Magnet Mafia takes the idea of street art and combines it with a form of ahimsa (non-violence or non-harm).

There are two main problems with street art. One is that violent street gangs use graffiti to mark territory. This is a legitimate problem, although most of this kind of “tagging” is intentionally cryptic, and created with most of the concern for where it is placed and what it represents, rather than the aesthetics. It’s not so much art as it is vandalism.

The second problem concerns artists who want to express themselves in a public forum, but don’t want to damage any public or private property. In steps the magnet mafia. These are some (very talented) artists based in Denver, Colorado, who use magnets as their medium, and put their artwork on metal things around the city. Most are marked with their website on the back so when you find one and put it on your refrigerator at home, you know where it came from. One of my favorites said “You Found Art!” on it.

The Magnet Mafia works on a Karma system. When you take one down, it’s courteous to put one back up. Since this type of art is collectible and transient, it’s best to try to give more than you take. This keeps the community going.

Here are some examples of magnets spotted around Denver: