Borf

While some of us can be instantly suspicious of bourgeois anti-establishment work, it’s easy to love rebellion when it comes from the very young – and when there’s no doubt of dedication to the cause. Borf was/is a phenomenon in his native Washington. He embarked on a prolific, partisan campaign after the suicide of a close friend, daubing slogans like ‘Grown-ups are obsolete’ and ‘Borf writes letters to your children’ around a consistent picture of an eager, positive and rather stupid grinning face. ‘Borf’ as a term was also applied to the deceased friend and the movement quickly swelling around him. ‘Borf’, some will be aware, is also the acronym for the American Bill Of Rights Foundation.

Arrested and tried in 2005, the presiding judge told Borf that he had become what he professed to despise – a rich kid who imposes his opinions on regular folks. Even this truism could be met with a smirk. Because not only is there no doubting the excesses of the baby boomer generation Borf rails against, his exuberant humour is unavoidably charismatic. Like the internet ‘griefers’ who meticulously disrupt po-faced online communities, Borf is stubburn and bloody-minded but ambitious and, given the circumstances, valid. He and his generation could be pictured rubbing their hands with glee as they approach a whole new herd of sacred cows slumbering and ready to be pushed over.

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