The Pros And Cons Of Graffiti

Even though graffiti takes talent, it is disrespectful to put on buildings and on trains. The most important building that should not have graffiti one it should be schools. School is a building that kids go to daily and they do not want to come to schools that has paint all over the outside walls of the building.

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.

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.

Since the birth of graffiti in the 1960’s many people were or are either thrown in jail, have to pay a high fine in graffiti damages or are either asked to do graffiti in many museums and art galleries because owners like the art they see and want others to see it too. Graffiti has been around for some time now, most people and the police just see it as a form of destruction and not art they should not just see it as something that is good or evil because these artists are expressing themselves through this art and trying to spread a message. The United States and the U.K need to accept the art and nature or meaning behind this graffiti because it is a way for people to do good things other than rob or go to jail it is also a way for people to get their message out and have others hear them or see them in an artistic way.

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.

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.

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.

While society may view graffiti as a negative aspect in communities even if it isn’t harmful, it also receives praise from many people. In “The Making of Space, Race, and Place” Dickinson stated that “Graffiti writers would be referred to as vandals, thugs, and criminals in the mass media, and their own voices would be largely shut out” (29). This is not completely true because even though graffiti writers are considered “vandals” and “criminals”, people are still treating them as people they can invest in. Graffiti writers are actually being acknowledged and paid to write. For example, “High profile graffiti writers and crews form relationships with spray paint companies through ad hoc and more enduring paint contracts, can be sponsored to attend invitational events and are often the subject of articles in the graffiti magazines that have grown with the subculture” (McAuliffe and

In the summer of 2013, a graffiti artist by the name of 'Lady Pink' had police barge into her house in Queens and arrest her husband for vandalism. They took her art supplies, photo archives, and many of her prized possessions. She had to sit there, helpless, watching police take away her things. In today's world right now, expressing yourself creatively is one of the most important things you can do to help figure out who you are. A part of creative expression is art. Art makes people happy. Graffiti falls into the art category. For some people, graffiti is what they do to express themselves. Graffiti is art and shouldn't be illegal. Expressing yourself creatively shouldn't be a crime.

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.

Graffiti artists should be able to express themselves without being fined for their own creativity. Unfortunately, cities seek clean-up for street art, in which artists find themselves being charged for a $6,500 fine or prosecuted (Newsela). Painters should not be charged for putting their time, effort, and heart into a painting for others to enjoy. Not only are these paintings for enjoyment, but bring attention to issues that need to be resolved. The skill of an artist should not determine if they can or cannot paint street art. Although it would be understandable if their artwork was inappropriate. Luckily, not all cities are banning graffiti, Buenos Aires is a city where the paintings on walls tell stories of the past and represents “resistance

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.