Defence Of Graffiti

Graffiti as crime or as art

Can graffiti be considered as an art or it should be considered as an illegal activity? When graffiti began to appear in art galleries in New York City since late 1950s, there has been debate over whether it is an acceptable art practice or not. Graffiti combines features of art with self-expression but media often encourage a negative understanding of graffiti by relating it to crime. Moreover, municipalities and government spend a huge amount of money removing graffiti in order to create a clean and safe environment.

In his essay “Defence of Graffiti,” Toronto writer Alex Boyd acknowledges that there are cruel and useless examples of graffiti such as “stupid racist remarks, empty slogans’ [and] illegalable signatures”

(par.2) , but he purposes that there are “more overtly political and useful examples of graffiti… everywhere too” [par.2]. According to him, graffiti can be divided in two forms, the obscure or rambling form and the offensive form. Graffiti is mostly associated with negative thoughts and ideas because of the perception people form when they view graffiti as a first glance. He believes that mostly people need to consider and think more about the second form of graffiti. Many graffiti artists seem to be leading a revolution and supporting freedom in speech. Graffiti showed how some people are inflexible in thoughts and in beliefs and they use art to pass on their dissent. Graffiti is considered as an illegal activity but it should also be viewed as a form of art crossing the boundaries of method, location and boundaries.
There are two main methods for creating graffiti in public places: tagging and murals. Tagging is the most popular form of graffiti which is found commonly on buses, trains, fence posts and street walls. Magic markers and spray paints are being used by the graffiti writers to mark their territory through a stylized signature of words and words symbols. The main motive to place their signature tag in as many places as possible is to receive recognition from their peers. The act of tagging is not only related to hip-hop culture but also with gang graffiti as they both show letters, numbers and symbols. However, Mark Halsey, professor of law at the Flinders University of South Australia and Alison Young, professor of criminology at the University Of Melbourne claim that it should not be anticipated “that the presence of graffiti (including tagging) automatically denotes the existence of gangs” (170). On the other hand, some writers will advance their tagging into more complicated form of murals. Murals are large elaborate works that can be found on the exterior of trains and buildings. Some people believe that the murals are more related to art as they require more skill, space, time, dedication and supplies which may not be required in tagging. However, gangs might use murals to make claim of their respective territory but most graffiti artists create murals to develop the community they live in. In addition, building owners, shopkeepers, and school officials use murals to make a blank wall more aesthetically attractive.

Considering graffiti as either vandalism or art is complex not only because of the methods used for creating it but also because of the different locations in which it exists. For example, in New York City the progression of graffiti moving from streets to the art gallery in the late 1970s and early 1980s created a misconception of graffiti. Graffiti was viewed as an art if it was displayed in an art gallery, but on the other as Toronto researcher Tracey Bowen writes, “outside the confines of the gallery it was vandalism” (35). In his essay “Defence of Graffiti”, Boyd told that there was a Stone Age tomb in Scotland which had some graffiti that was a mark of history. Cleaning graffiti from public places is a challenge for municipalities and business owners as it is very costly and a never-ending job. A painted over wall serves a clean slate for more graffiti. While cleaning is usually believed to be a good thing to do, Moreau and Alderman argue that “In other contexts, such as Neolithic cave paintings, cleaning the surfaces may well be considered inexcusable and can generate feelings of lost culture rather than gained cleanliness”(115). With that in mind, at what point does graffiti earn historical value of socio-political events rather than be deemed as vandalism (Boyd par 6; Halsey and Young 167)? Moreover, if city officials are concerned about maintenance of clean and hygienic look for their cities, they should be concerned about the number of images, billboards, logos and signs that clutter the urban landscape.
It is commonly believed that youth, unemployed and low income areas in cities are responsible for creating graffiti as they are bored, antisocial and indulge in criminal activities.

It is true that youth is responsible for much of the graffiti that is created but this can also not denied that there are as many graffiti writers from low income-families as middle-and upper-middle class families. Graffiti writers from all demographics are inspired by the opportunity for fame as well as recognition from their peers. They are not essentially motivated by the urge to rebel or boredom. Instead, they pursue to express their feelings, ideas or share an interest with general public. Furthermore, Boyd notices, “Graffiti becomes an affordable method of communication” (par.4) for artists to show their concerns, challenge the meaning of public space or to make a political statement. Aesthetic reasons also lead to graffiti creation. A black wall can look more attractive thought the elements of art including: colour, space, size, form, line, texture, space, value, interest, and style. Nowadays, many graffiti artists viewed their graffiti work as public art as it is a god-gift that is intended to improve the aesthetic surrounding their environment and

community.

The value of any message or work of art, no matter whether it is hanging on the walls of a gallery or on the streets, lies on the strength of the artist’s beliefs. Graffiti is an uncertain issue in respect to its virtue. It has very strong potential to convey a powerful and relevant messages. Therefore the advantage of graffiti depends on the circumstances present, how it affects society and the motive behind creating graffiti. Graffiti is a complicated phenomenon which can be better understood in terms of its style, place and purpose. If it is in an art gallery, it is accepted as an art which means that if graffiti is in its proper place and profitable, that makes it acceptable. Whereas on the other hand, graffiti is viewed as illegal or criminal activity if it is in an urban environment and it challenges or rebels the authority to be there. It is true that no matter how much legal enforcement is there to discourage graffiti, it is not going to disappear. Graffiti artists will continue to express their ideas, emotions through graffiti. The challenge is then for the municipalities, government and business owners to have a word with graffiti artists in order to recognise graffiti as art rather than crime.