The Wide Spread Problem Of Graffiti Culture

Art. Art is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” (google). That’s kind of a lot. Basically, art is anything created as a product of human creativity and imagination to portray a message, trigger an emotion, or just, look good. That being said, what isn’t art? Anything, from the mona lisa to the projects sitting around this room were made by human imagination and creativity to portray a message or just be beautiful. What if you were told, that all of the hard work that was put into those projects and paintings, was illegal? Not accepted by some people as art, and frowned upon.

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

Graffiti is a hobby that many people loved to do, but the other half of most people dislike graffiti and want it gone.

Another reason why people engage in graffiti is to shape their identities. They wish to leave a mark in a permanent environment exclaiming to the rest of the world that they exist, that even though their voices may be lost before politicians, parent, and peers they are real and the spraypaint is proof of this. This form of graffiti is easily passed off as mere vandalism and considered an annoyance to our society but when viewed with more compassion, it becomes clearer how important of an outlet this form of graffiti is. Especially for today’s youth (a generation that often feels insignificant) it is psychologically important for them to have solid, material evidence of their own existence. Correlated with identity-based graffiti is another type called tagging. Tagging refers to types of graffiti that “range from stylized signature [tags] to mural-size [pieces] that elaborately blend fanciful script, cartoon characters and messages with the artist’s street name” (Beaty 43). This is a questionable form of expression for it does not actually exhibit a need for acknowledgment but rather a recreational engagement, an act of boldly testing the boundaries of the law in

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.

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.

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

In most states, graffiti is considered a criminal offense punishable by fines and community service. Of course, it is mainly committed on private or public property without permission and is, according to NYC.gov, “ Criminal mischief”! In fact, graffiti leads to many other crimes such as shoplifting,

Cities combine an interesting array of persons with varied ethnic backgrounds, towering skyscrapers with fascinating structures surrounding their limits, and provide a haven for unique ideas to be cultured. It is unfeasible to clearly define what exactly a city fully encompasses; however, they involve more than simple establishments for the human race and contrast greatly depending on location. Within these massive metropolises, various forms of art can be typically found in museums, private galleries, and even on the crowded streets. Certain urban environments can become flooded with countless forms of graffiti and are created by numerous artists tagging a multitude of locations. Even through overwhelming controversy, graffiti remains an art form that allows certain communities to communicate through a medium that expresses their political and social philosophies, provides particular urban environments with beauty, and includes an assortment of artistic variations that make the art form difficult to label under a singular term. Graffiti of this nature should be reevaluated for its consideration as a crime in particular instances.

”Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases.’’ By: Banksy‘’Graffiti first began in Philadelphia in the 1960s.’’ ’’ Since then, city leaders have tended to condemn it as mindless vandalism. The U.K. spends $1.3 billion on cleaning up graffiti each year.’’: I believe that graffiti should be legal but only in certain parts of the world. Graffiti is people's feelings on walls and there will be no more plain brown walls. There will be beautiful art that people have talent to do.My reason is because many people have talent and I agree it should not be every like not in cities but in little countries i don't see anything

I strongly believe that people think Graffiti is a crime because of the imagery and placement of the art. I have read about people getting Graffiti mixed with tags. Graffiti is usually an

The origin and history of graffiti is not what one might expect. Believed to have been created by a Philadelphia high school student named Cornbread in 1967, it was a bold effort to catch the attention of a girl (De Melker). In this same time period, graffiti sprung up in New York as well. It was “one among many forms of social protest” during

pop into one’s mind after reading this definition. Graffiti is not only a work of art, it also includes the underground culture that surrounds and reveres that art. Graffiti has been found in early societies, but is most commonly associated with modern, urban environments.

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.