Challenging Modest Culture : Society 's Tolerance Of Public Art

Art galleries are essential to the art world, however, is not the only source for audiences to view art. To begin with, art and artwork is defined as the application of human skill, creativity and imagination. Taking this into consideration, individuals need to examine the nature and purpose of art galleries as a facility to collaborate, organize and display a collection of artworks. As art however, is any expression of human creativity, its presence is not bound to art galleries and is evidently present in the world around us be it in photographs, the internet or even in graffiti.

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”.

One interesting thing about street art is that even with the negative connotations of illegal tagging and painting on public property, there’s still a huge market for public art. However, some artists do not want to be paid because they think street art is supposed to be a more free way to create art, and being paid for it would be “selling out”. While graffiti just used to be created in order to be known, both modern graffiti and street art has become a way for artists to break out of the conventional art world. The accessibility of street art often prompts artist to use it as a way to influence the viewer, and send a message. It differs from artist to artist what topic they want to convey, but the majority of artists do seem to use their

In contrast graffiti artists are more interested in presenting a statement in the spontaneity and minimalism of their work. Graffiti artists are also seen as being more invested in the art on a more personal level; by nature it rejects the concept of commissions. The culture of street art and graffiti has been threatened by the blurring of the lines within art and has caused underlying discourses in the public art community (Province of Western Cape: Provincial Gazette,

According to Boyd, through Graffiti is essential to understand as a form of art that crosses the boundaries of location, method, and motivation. He acknowledges that graffiti might include “racist remarks, empty slogans and illegal signatures.”(Boyd 251) Boyd’s piece is also very informative because according to the author, there are two methods for creating this form of art: murals and tagging. The most popular one is tagging because it can be found almost everywhere from fence posts to trains, street walls to buses. The main goal of graffiti writers is to put their signature tags in places to be recognized by their

Art has been around ever since the ancient city of Pompeii. The people of Pompeii used graffiti as a way to display their cleverness; from poetry contests to playful recombinations of the letters that form Roman Numerals. In the early ‘70s, graffiti was used as a way for young teens to mark their territory. During that time, many people – especially in New York City – saw graffiti as vandalism and prohibited it. Even though graffiti has been misused in some occasions, as long as the purpose is not to deliberately mischievous or malicious destruction, graffiti is art.

There are many associations with graffiti writing, Hip-hop being the first. Though the emergence of graffiti can be attributed to street gangs; which, they used to mark their territories (Chronopoulos 2011, pg. 79), graffiti began to merge with hip-hop culture in the 70s (Chronopoulos 2011, pg. 82). Ultimately, this combination promoted the public domination over public spaces in New York City through the use

The term graffiti art essentially describes the post-1960s for decorating the urban environment through the use of aerosol spray paint. The development structure links with the underground hip-hop culture and b-boying. The B-boys, the first examples of hip-hop used graffiti as a way to express frustration with life.

From the early humans who painted on cave walls to the angst-ridden teenager getting their kicks from spray painting profanities on the side of a small business, human beings seem to have an intrinsic desire to paint images on the walls that surround them. This has led to many individuals painting on walls without permission. Although the walls cannot speak, city officials and the owners of businesses can and when they do, “Graffiti” is usually one of the words used to describe the images produced. However, although often overlooked, a line does exist between graffiti and street art. Christine Graff writes “Graffiti is defined as ‘writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public

There is a lack of supporting evidence about graffiti information such as why people engage in vandalism and how it impacts on communities and so on. This article is useful for my research topic because this book’s focus is on street artists and legal street art. There was a lot of information about street

To understand graffiti, we shall open up our mindsets to the perspective that it is typically seen as a form of street art which involves tagging, but also involves the creation of more complex paintings. Graffiti and street art are the most globally operating forms of art we have seen so far: influenced by every culture they visit, graffiti writers and street artists travel the world to paint together and learn from each other. From its earliest days, it was done outside the law, with writers taking big risks when making their works, this sometimes leading to their arrests. Joe Capozzi, author of the ‘Mural Mystery: Was Graffiti Vandalism?’ article for The Palm Beach Post, asked “was it vandalism or a publicity stunt by the artist? And if

This negative shadow on the art form of graffiti has caused the decline of the graffiti movement. As many have predicted, “graffiti may eventually disappear” (“The Writing's on the Wall; Graffiti”). Graffiti has already begun to dwindle from what was once a flourishing art movement, to an almost disesteemed hobby. However, a soiled reputation is not the only culprit in the murder of authentic graffiti. The occupation of the current generation with technology and social media has caused many artists to focus solely on selling their work and gaining attention through social networking platforms. Another, perhaps more common, reason for the decline is the improvement of police work and punishments for those indulging in the illegal form of graffiti (“The Writing's on the Wall; Graffiti”). Because of this decline in authentic and prohibited graffiti, artists have channeled their work into new forms and established their own artistic community.

Art can also be a controversial at the same time. There are many people who express their idea of art in a way that, in my opinion, should not be seen by the public. For example, many people consider paintings of naked women to be art, as do I, but I do not think it is appropriate for a painting of that nature to become a piece of public art. Another example is people who use profanity in their art. Swearing is not appropriate for a child to see painted on the side of their neighborhood buildings. The thing

Communication through expression of the arts is a meme that can eventually invoke a response or prompt an action that needs to be taken. The mural movement and graffiti are recent adoptions for expression that have lent themselves primarily for political commentary. Murals evolved from its roots of only being circulated amongst aristocrats and other high class individuals to merge with the modernist invention of graffiti art to create two dominant forms of art. These were primarily used as criticism against establishments and to speak for environmentalism. As a result of so many people having investment in their society, graffiti art leads to politicians, advertising executives, and graffiti writers being in danger. Graffiti art has been a successful force in pushing their messages to their audience. This is because of the divisiveness of the art, the success in pushing ideas on people, the force of the art, and because graffiti art embodies the counter-culture.