Is Graffiti Art Or Vandalism In America?

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.

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.

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.

Graffiti portrays a message whether it’s spelled out on the concrete or hidden behind a sort of code. It lets unheard voices, be heard. There are many different forms of graffiti, tagging is the form of street art that most often results in consequences (Eickmier). This is because tagging is basically signing your nickname on a wall, and once the police figure out your pseudonym they will most likely find you. Graffiti is not always considered to be ugly though, some artists work actually ends up in museums (Wark) A manchester artist who goes by the name “Banksy” ultimately avoided jail because his work was deemed “artistic” He was later given an opportunity to showcase his work in a museum. Graffiti does not

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.

New York City in the 1970’s was the birthplace for an expression called graffiti. The artform known as graffiti was a way for artist much like myself to express themselves to the world using a painting, mural of their name, or characters. Leaving an anonymous work of art leaves the world wondering. The idea of art being spray painted on the side of subway cars and practically broadcasted to the world was profound. On the other hand, the state and city found graffiti as defacing property and vandalism; however, an artist like myself does not see it that way. Due to many hardships faced by communities on the streets of NYC most teenagers and adults see graffiti as a way to paint their town with their story. As far as vandalism goes, you can

It is there to show the people that they are not alone in what they feel. It is there to tell stories, make announcements, make statements. Therefore, graffiti functions in unison with time. The art is there to serve a single purpose: to affect the viewer. It is there for a reason, just like the passerby. The public discussion it causes should occur there and then for a reason. Graffiti is quite similar to architecture, they are both of the moment. Funnily enough, architecture receives far less criticism than graffiti - both current to trends, making a statement, to be seen by the public. Graffiti carries the disadvantage, though. It lacks understanding. People incorrectly refer to graffiti art as tagging or street art. Graffiti is there to serve a purpose, start a movement. Tagging is tedious and destructive. Street art is the technical and artistic styles of graffiti, but used for the sole purpose of artistic creation. The misuse of terminology often creates a bad name for graffiti

If the Mona Lisa were painted on the wall of Da Vinci’s neighbor’s house instead of on his easel, or if any classical painting commonly admired as genius were made without permission of the owner of the property it was made on, would you look at it the same way you do right now, or would you spit on it for being illegal despite just as beautiful? Graffiti is seen as “vandalism” and it’s illegal, and for those who are caught can be charged with a fine, community service, probation or even jail time at extreme cases. Most communities do not stop think about what the artist is trying to display, but rather choose to ignore it because in their minds the people who have done them are seen as “thugs”, or more technical, “taggers”. Graffiti in fact displays the truth about our society behind a picture, and these artist, their key purpose is to get people to think in a new light.

I think graffiti is vandalism because putting things where your not allowed or you don’t it it is vandalism. Putting drawings and tags in bathrooms or on other peoples property isn't right. That takes time out of other peoples lives to clean it up. If you don’t have permission to paint on something even if it’s a amazing piece of art its vandalism.

"The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules, but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages." -Banksy. The topic of graffiti is a highly controversial, and Seattle is preparing a statement on whether graffiti is an art form or whether it's vandalism. But I'm here to tell you that all graffiti is street art not vandalism because, it takes lots of skill to do. It also uses lots of color and detail in it. Finally graffiti art because it is beautiful and gives people lots of happiness and joy.

Have you ever walked down the street and seen graffiti? What did you think? Graffiti has been a hot topic lately. The city of Seattle is currently debating if graffiti is vandalism, or art. Graffiti is not art it is vandalism. It is often done on private property, it's against the law, and it lowers the property values and sends the message that people of the community are not concerned about the appearance of their property.

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.

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.