Bosfield 1
Darlecia Bosfield
Professor McFeaters
ENC1101
10 October 2017
The Public Opinion and The Hidden Expressionist By definition, graffiti is illegal. It is also considered vandalism because public or private property is intentionally destroyed, but in Alex Boyd’s blog “In Defense of Graffiti”, he clearly conveys his argument about how graffiti shows qualities of value and shouldn’t be criticized on impulse. Even though many people have seen graffiti as something to be condoned, punishable, and terrorizing, it is actually just another form of expression, communication, art, and point of view. The younger generation doesn’t feel that they are being heard. There are so many things that young people go through and so much that they would like to speak about, but the older generation or the outside world brushes it aside. They don’t see their thoughts as something important or something worth their while. Graffiti seems like it is the go to tactic to express their selves because it is a free and rebellious way to get the attention of everyone. Boyd states that “anywhere attempts are made to smother freedom of speech, graffiti becomes an affordable, accessible method of communication (Boyd). The younger generation screams for the attention of the outside world just to listen to them for a moment, so when they go to extremes like graffiti, it is just their way of making sure they are being heard. Every color, stroke and spray is for a reason. For example, the
Graffiti is a disrespectful thing to put on public schools, it makes the adolescents think that it is ok to go around and do the same. Graffiti persuades other students to draw or paint on school property. One way that schools help graffiti is by have a class that students can express themselves through their art. That would prevent them from painting on the school’s walls. They also would get to take art and show people their
Graffiti has been used many times in history to preserve and show political and religious ideas of the past. Street artists are preserving the history that is deemed “illegal” at this time. Graffiti itself is history, and it tells stories as well as preserving cities and adding a creative aspect to everyday life. The “...first forms of scripture and storytelling … were through drawings on walls. Stories passed through generations… were preserved on rocks or walls.” (Lloyd, Alexis). Now street artists are simply doing the same, whether it’s murals, tags, or people just messing around; They are preserving the unique cultures that we have today, or trying to make a name for themselves through art, or portray a political message. 85% of graffiti is just tags. (Akbar, Airfa). People's names or words made to look interesting. People trying to preserve their name through art. And this is considered a crime. Splashing your political views on a building through a mural to some people is offensive and the fact that this is illegal is a violation of the 1st amendment. Making graffiti or street art illegal is limiting an expression of people's ideas and religion.
Graffiti has been around for more than half a decade and practiced worldwide. However there is debate between whether it is a form of art or vandalism. Graffiti artists’ debate that many do not understand the reason most graffiti artist take the risk of incarceration, fines, injuries, and in some cases death to paint a wall. A graffiti artist can have the simple desire to become recognized, or to create a piece that speaks to their audience as a form of self expression. Because graffiti is associated with gangs and acts of destruction to some many cannot see the history and importance graffiti can have on a worldwide scale. Due to the fact that graffiti is usually produced illegally, meaning it is
If you were to go open a dictionary and look up the definition of art, you would see that it has art as “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination…” (“Art” 2017) and “Works produced by human creative skill and imagination.” (“Art” 2017). From these definitions, graffiti is art, yet in most cases, it’s considered vandalism because it is done without permission of the property. When graffiti is done in a designated place or with the permission of the property owner, then it can truly be considered art. But even if these circumstances are not met, if the graffiti goes beyond a simple tag, it is art.
Generally most people look and take graffiti as a form of destruction and wanting to cause violence, but in the artist’s mind they want to be creative and help the people around them by making art to cheer someone up or create a sense of creativity in others. They don’t do it to go to jail or because they want to pay a fine they do it because they are open minded and creative. For instance, “A lot of attention is given to the ‘broken window’ theory, which says that signs of disorder like petty vandalism, fare jumping … and yes, graffiti, open the window to larger crimes,” Verel told The Huffington Post. “But little is paid to the ways graffiti is harnessed for good in a form that’s both constructive and authentic”(Patrick Verel). They are taking this broken windows theory too far and only saying it can cause bigger crimes. Some graffiti artists are trying to uplift the neighborhoods and the people they live around with creative art. Also not all graffiti is bad enough to want artists to commit a crime. While making this art or graffiti I don’t think that these artist are trying to harm the buildings in any way, but they should ask for permission if they aren’t allowed to be painting on these buildings. This is to let the owner of the building know that they mean no harm to the environment or their workplace. For example, “Adam Cooper, cultural strategy officer for the mayor of London, thinks
You see it everywhere. You see on buses, on walls, on trains, everywhere. It has made many gawk while others just don’t see a reason to it. Graffiti has many connotations, some good and some bad. It’s the thrill that drives these crazy risk-takers to get their names known. Seeing graffiti through the eyes of an artist who only sees his masterpiece. Graffiti has been here longer then you think. Though you may see destruction of property he only see his art and freedom of expression. Being a graffiti artist is about feeling the rush of a finished masterpiece and not getting caught. Some are the quieter type but are still well-known. It has been here since the 1960s.
However, even though graffiti is portrayed as art by many people, some people think that all kinds of graffiti is vandalism. They think that it is a dirty way to destroy a city, and a bad influence to young adults and children growing up. In the article “Vandals hit 18 statues in Grant Park with graffiti” by Carlos Sadovi, public buildings had been covered and nearly destroyed with tags by young teenages. When Sandovi says, “People, especially children, like to go up to the statues and pose with them for pictures and touch them. He said this is the first time they have been vandalized here.” In this case, the children of the city will have to suffer through. People can also argue that the graffiti is a bad influence for the children. However, even though some young teenages decided to vandalize a building, doesn't make graffiti vandalism. There are graffiti artists that even make their paints out of wheat, so that if they
Is graffiti seen as vandalism or a notable art that is used to voice the opinion of many artists? Many are quick to conclude that graffiti is an act of defacing public property, but few are in understanding of what real graffiti is. Graffiti is defined as art that is displayed or created in public spaces. So this presents the question of why some critics believe that graffiti should not be classified as a real subcategory of art. Below is the explanation as to why graffiti needs to be considered among the most prestigious and notable art forms.
Most people think of graffiti as vandalism or the defacing of private property by wild teenagers with spray cans. I had never really thought about graffiti or art for that matter until I found myself defending something I didn’t know about because I liked what I saw on the sidewalk in Memphis, Tennessee. Now, that’s sounds crazy but I did my best to explain using simple words that I hoped they would understanding.
In the 70s graffiti was just tags or small pictures but it quickly turned into and “art movement” (Eickmier). This means that the young and the old artist had finally found a way to express themselves and were spreading it around cities like wildfire. In other countries the amount of graffiti shock american tourists, it is seen as a good thing. “Instead of walls being used to separate people from each other, graffiti brings people together and keeps conversations going.” (Wark) Graffiti has value as art and it tells a story worth reading. (Wark) Most teens resort to graffiti as their last option, and most people see that as wrong, but it lets them express themselves in a really different
Graffiti can be found everywhere and anywhere. It is a way for people to express themselves and be creative in a public manner. It shows how passionate and talented they can be when it comes to drawing or tagging and have it displayed as a piece of art for everyone to see. Graffiti goes way back to the ancient times and is now very well known in the modern days which makes more and more people interested and fascinated by them. It can be used in different types of ways. Many artists can either spray paint, carve, paste, or stencil them on a surface. From how we see them today they are usually images of random cartoons, big bubbly letters, vintage black and whites or inspirational quotes. Virtually anything colorful or not and big that can be easily spotted. Graffiti is more superior to be known as art than vandalism because it is a self expressing act. People need to be open minded about the images they see and look at the message behind it or else they will immediately criticize and say it is vandalizing property.
Coming of age in the United States has its privileges, you can vote, drink and buy spray paint. That’s right, spray paint. Many states, including Texas and Florida prohibit selling spray paint to minors. That means that, without an adult, under-age graffiti artists cannot purchase the medium needed for their creative work. Unlike other styles of art, graffiti denotes passionate emotional controversy. Ask anyone to describe graffiti and you are likely to hear anything from vandalized walls full of writings to beautiful commissioned murals. This paper will explore this intriguing creative expression, why it has such a negative stigma, and how or if it has evolved over the years.
Graffiti is being viewed less as vandalism and more as art. Lately there has been a large push to give painters places to make graffiti without it being illegal and the painters getting in trouble. Many large cities are putting up walls whose sole purpose are to be used for graffiti so the artist have a safe place to express their ideas and not have to worry about being arrested. In many places, especially Detroit, old rundown buildings that are no longer being used are having graffiti sprayed all over them. That shouldn’t be illegal or viewed as vandalism because the building is vacant and will never be used again. If the city allowed people to legally use the building for graffiti the amount of illegal graffiti around the city would go down
“Legal or not, as graffiti seeps into the fabric of neighborhoods, it becomes a natural part of everyday life in the city” (The Guardian). There is graffiti everywhere nowadays and the government takes down the ones that do not follow their expectations. Governments should allow people to do graffiti because people use graffiti to express themselves and their art styles.
Graffiti has put a major impact on the way people look at their everyday life. It was not used so much here in the United States but was used overseas. Overseas, graffiti, or street art, was used or played as a sport, just like baseball is Americas sport. There are different laws that are put over there than what there are here. They can get away with some of the things that they paint or make over there. If we tried some of that type of work over here, we would get in trouble and possibly serve time for vandalizing someone else’s property. There are many biased outlooks on graffiti, but it should be considered art in all places because of all the time, effort, and design the artist put into their work.