What´s a Literature Review? Essays

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

The value of any message or work of art, whether it is hanging on the wall of a gallery or a subway, lies on the intensity of the artist’s or vandal’s beliefs. Graffiti is an uncertain issue in respect to its virtue. While the voice of the individual must never be lost in a society of shouts growing larger and louder every second; graffiti is such a public medium that its integrity must be of great concern. Graffiti is a vast wasteland of indefinite opinions. Foremost graffiti is illegal and a form of vandalism, it invades peoples privacy and destroys their property. However, graffiti can be a means by which one may permanently express one’s self. It has the potential to convey a powerful, relevant

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”.

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.

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

For most people, graffiti is nothing more than splotches on a wall. But to those people who admire it, graffiti is a technique that is changing the way we look at spray paint.

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.

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

The authors describe the street art, artists and graffiti. The main ideas expressed are what is different between graffiti /vandalism and street art.

We seem to come into contact with a form art every day. It is all around us and sometimes we don’t even notice. One of those art forms is street art, better known by the name graffiti. Graffiti can be recognized for having a bad connotation associated with it, for example some people view it as offensive, vulgar, a nuisance or a form of vandalism. For some people graffiti is a way of life, a culture per se. There are many ways that culture can be defined for example culture can contain the use of symbols, it can be learned and shared, it has values and purpose. Graffiti as a culture contains all of these things and in this paper I will be looking at some comparisons and contrasts of graffiti culture in America from when it started and its evolution to mainstream artistic culture.

Graffiti was once deemed as an empowering art form when it derived in the late 1960’s. It brought attention to many social and political issues through the use of various such as spray paint in urban places. As time

Next is wildstyle this form of graffiti was developed by graffiti artists like Tracy 168, Stay High 149, as well as Zephry in New York City. Wildstyle is leaps and bounds more complex than the previously listed styles it’s characteristics are that it’s hard to read, can look three dimensional, and it is aimed more towards looks over function. After wildstyle is the graffiti form referred to as piece, piece or street art contains an array of colours piece works can contain a deeper message than a tag. These pieces take more time and effort than tags making it difficult for street artists to complete without being caught, sometimes street artists are commissioned by land/building owners to paint these pieces onto their businesses or other blank surfaces that could use more colour. Blockbuster, the goal with blockbusters is to cover up other artists works or blockbusters and take up as much space possible doing so fast. Another form is heaven graffiti, this graffiti is found in places at are dangerous or hard to reach (Delana, n.d.), lastly is posters or paste-up which is when an artist creates a piece and then puts it up or ‘pastes’ it wherever they please (GraffitoCanberra, n.d.). Graffiti comes in many shapes, sizes and forms it is not limited to one style or characteristic neither are the people who create it.

The graffiti art movement was first introduced during the mid to late 1960s in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the most fundamental contemporary art movements. Artists used bold and thicker letters to enhance their art and make it stand out. Graffiti artists spray painted subway cars which led to a new style called, “the throw up”. Although it is a well- known form of art, it is still considered to be vandalism and it can be punishable as a criminal offence.

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.

“According to Kim Dovey, Simon Wollan, and Ian Woodblock, graffiti is a type of art as well. She claims that there is different type of graffiti. They first talks about the different types of graffiti. Some of the types listed are stencil tags, throw up, and slogans. There are free handed drawings that are called stencil drawings. Stencil graffiti combines elements from spray-paint graffiti and from street art. Stencil artists carefully prepare stencil blueprints on hand-made sheets, which they then place on a surface and cover with spray paint. Stencil graffiti works are the easiest and quickest pieces to replicate” (Lerman 299). “Throw up are just free handed paintings. Slogans are when they