Graffiti comes in all different shapes and forms including gorgeous street art, community sponsored murals, simple tags, gang related messages and senseless vandalism. The distinction between these forms can be blurry and open to interpretation by the viewer of the graffiti. The more cut and dried difference between all forms of graffiti is whether or not they are considered legal. A commissioned mural for a civic center and a large work of street art painted illegally on the side of a building may both look equally beautiful. But, as Mettler (2012) points out, it is common to find city ordinances in the United States which say that graffiti or unpermitted art must be removed often at the property owners expenses.
A police constable named
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On the other end of the spectrum, writers like PHADE and BUBZ report that they disregard the loss of reputation on the street that they may encounter and that their ability to do graffiti legally is more important to them. Furthermore, it has allowed for them to work with other movements for social change and awareness. The 140 Characters Conference in New York gave greater exposure to the legal graffiti movement which prompted a collaboration back in Toronto with a group that is dedicated to providing “Winter Survival Kits” to the homeless called Project Winter Survival. Project Winter Survival helps draw attention to the need for additional help for the homeless population during cold months when it is easy for someone without proper shelter to die of exposure. The intersection of Project Winter Survival and legal graffiti led to involvement with a further project called Invisible People which seeks to bring visibility to the homeless population and their struggles. PHADE and BUBZ worked together to create a mural in Toronto after watching 50 hours of video documenting the lives of homeless men and women. The mural begins with the words “PUTING [sic] A FACE TO HOMELESSNESS” and then depicts silhouettes of the “invisible” homeless followed by portraits detailing the men, women and
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
Most people can argue that there is a fine distinction between what is recognized as art and vandalism. The individual is often faced with uncertainty when the topic of graffiti arises. The public often portray graffiti as a destructive act towards his or her surroundings however; graffiti can also be considered a form of self-expression. Many questions can be made pertaining to the graffiti movement, but the main question is graffiti a crime or an art? The answers lie in the complex phrase of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
The policy investigated throughout this project concerns graffiti. Graffiti is seen as a negative gesture towards communities as it signals the presence of gang activity and intimidation. The populace believes that graffiti causes neighborhoods to look unclean and disrespected, allowing others to think it is
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.
Whether or not graffiti is a form of artwork or vandalism has always been a subject for debate in Toronto. In this article, I will tell you why graffiti is in fact a form of vandalism, and that we should try to wipe out all form of graffiti in this city. Graffiti negatively impacts societies for several reasons. First of all, removing graffiti from walls and other structures are draining our tax funds. Money that could be used to build parks, community centers, and schools, are instead being used to clean graffiti.
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.
Graffiti is the act of inscribing or drawing on walls for the purpose of communicating a message to the general public. The term comes from the Greek term "Graphein," which means to write. Graffiti has been around since men first started drawing pictures in caves. However, the focus of this paper is not on pre-historic or amateur graffiti, but on the modern hip-hop graffiti movement that began in the late 1960 's. The graffiti has two versions: a "legal" aspect, in which artists are able to spray paintings and murals of great spectacle and technical. The illegal side, is where they express their painting in public spaces such as schools, metros, trains, posters, and wall Streets, etc. Graffiti are a poor choice for people who practiced this objective because it deny people in follow good roads which is seen a bad self-expression and they also may be expensive, putting pressure on low-income families. Controversial, secrecy, and taboo are some points that connect with graffiti argument where graffiti has changed over the years.
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
Since the late 1980s, various public and private-sector actors in the United States who do not write graffiti have practiced anonymity and sought fame to suppress and promote graffiti. Most non-writing public-sector actors have cracked down on graffiti as a criminal act that blights urban surfaces, while, in response, many non-writing private-sector actors have promoted graffiti as a profitable consumer good and art form. In the public sector, police officers and politicians in New York and then Chicago and Denver have prosecuted graffiti as the illegal vandalism of property walls and other surfaces; over time, police officers have learned to adapt plainclothes dress to patrol environments, capture writers, and destroy graffiti. In the private
Art: the ultimate form of self expression. But, what constitutes an art? And, who decides? These very questions plague society as it tries to decide and define the official status of graffiti--art or vandalism? Because it has found its way into art galleries and because of the community of artists who challenge and inspire each other, graffiti should be considered art and as a way to express oneself.
Linda Ngo, author of the opinion piece “Graffiti is a Beautiful 'Crime'” (2017), argues that graffiti should be legalized on grounds that it is an artistic expression of free speech. Ngo uses many comparisons between graffiti, which she claims is harmless, to many legal activities that cause people harm. Her purpose in writing this paper is to establish a legal form of graffiti to protect graffiti artists from legal action. Ngo's target audience for this paper is peers who may have different views on graffiti and its purpose.
When we are walking down the streets we sometimes see very pretty and magnificent art on walls and always wondered how people can draw that well. The U.K. spends nearly $1.3 million for cleaning up graffiti on street walls.A lot of people think graffiti is a bad thing, but it's actually not, such as, graffiti lets tourist embrace the art, there is a new bill for graffiti, and graffiti is now recognized for economic, cultural, and social good.
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.
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.
“Ishmael you’re on in 5!” I get a shock when I hear my best friend Barry Bagsley screaming in my ear.