Is Graffiti Art?

3464 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Topics on graffiti

Is Graffiti Art?

Graffiti has loomed between the borders of true art, mindless trash

and a way of solely getting your name around. Is Graffiti the

everyday scrawlings of misdirected teenagers or

the well-laced masterpiece by a keen eye? For years the opinions have

changed and shifted. Currently there is not a consensus about whether

graffiti can yet be classed as art.

Art to some people would be the great works of Michelangelo, Da Vinci,

Bottachelli, Matisse, Van Gough, and Monet but in today’s world

anything can be classed as ‘art’. Different forms and styles have

arisen and most people have an opinion on what is art.

A splatter of paint on canvas; art? Brush strokes on a page; art? A

collage out of rubbish; art? Who decides what is art and what is not?

How can someone say “that is not art” when the creator believes it to

be exquisite? Why do some people perceive graffiti as nothing but

paint on a wall and not the true masterpiece that others believe it

really is.

The many forms and styles of graffiti make it hard to distinguish the

meaningless strokes from those that are clearly art if you choose to

see them. Can some writers go over the top and do too much? Or not do

enough for it to be classed as art? To understand this we have to look

back at the history of graffiti.

Graffiti originated with the Romans when they started to write on the

buildings of the towns they conquered and even before words were used,

the cave men painted on walls. The late 1960’s saw graffiti’s current

identity starting to form. It was used primarily by political

activists to make statements and also by street gangs to mark

territory.

The most commonly termed graffiti begins in Philadelphia Pennsylvania,

during t...

... middle of paper ...

...tists themselves. In Chicago their

numbers are high as they have the nation’s top graffiti blasting team

and equipment. New technology has enabled the removal of permanent

spray paint pieces from nearly any surface, through the use of highly

concentrated amounts of baking soda. The thought that graffiti can be

erased nowadays brings strong emotions to the writers, seeing their

hard work, time and money be washed away.

Graffiti can be considered art, because it denotes meaning for the

individual, and hopefully to the people that are viewing it. It is

said that graffiti is a language, an image, a voice and a vision

engaging the spirit when the soul of art is discovered.

There are so many hidden meanings in murals that it is hard for some

people to grasp because they can not relate to it. But for those who

can, the murals and graffiti are considered art.

Show More
Related

  • Capote/Krakauer Comparison

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    The most important thing any writer can do is to give their characters a feel of

    Read More

  • Tre Graffiti Paradigm: The Art of the Piece

    1911 Words  | 4 Pages

    What does the work consist of? Who authored it, and how? What is it based on, and how does it relate? What is it, and what will become of it? The answers to these questions, collectively, form an important response to a bigger question: What is art? What does it mean to describe a piece as “a work of art”?

    Read More

  • Graffiti Artist Identity Essay

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    The identity of a graffiti artist is hardly ever known, but the style of the art is. They can be identified by the way they express themselves. It can be broad and can be shown in many different forms. The forms can range from a simple tag of identity, an expression of protest and politics, to an alluring scene of art work. Although the graffiti writers work is their expression; they are trying to convey a message about the issues in the world around them.

    Read More

  • Bruce Springsteen Meaning

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    One can conclude that the flag waving, fist-pumping pride of the chorus completely betrayed the true essence of the song. The stark reality of the final words "Nowhere to run aint got nowhere to go," is not an affirmation of patriotism, but rather a voice echoed in despair and disillusionment. If interpreted as Springsteen intended, the words "born in the U.S.A." should not be considered a statement of pride, but rather a betrayal of the American dream, illustrating a country that failed and isolated many and robbed them of hope.

    Read More

  • What Is Graffiti Art Vandalism

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Graffiti-Art Exhibit Is Artless to Police Commissioner Bratton" by Pia Catton covers the opinion of a police commissioner about graffiti art being portrayed as vandalism. Police commissioner Bratton views graffiti as a destructive force that has defaced the streets and subway cars of many neighborhoods and considered to be vandalism. Needless to say that Bratton doesn't even think that it's appropriate for kids to see, because according to him it's an atrocious depiction of what art is supposed to be. On the other hand for graffiti, Susan Henshaw Jones only intended for graffiti to be looked as a form of art "not to glorify vandalism". From the different standpoints of the article, graffiti can be a beautiful piece of artwork or inappropriate vandalism. The form that graffiti takes when on the streets doesn’t make it art because it was placed without permission.

    Read More

  • Art And Vandalism In Graffiti

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    Equality is defined as being equal in means of status, rights, and opportunities. Inequality is mostly seen between the sexes, races, and also for graffiti artist. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Although these rights remain unalienable, today’s society has become an unjust and unequal one which places people at the top based upon certain characteristics; such as sex, race, or even wealth. We have a statement of this “scale of unfairness” on our very street. The art depicts two scales on one side is the male sex symbol outweighing the female sex symbol which is located

    Read More

  • Metabolism Factors Essay On Obesity

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Medical Association (AMA) has declared obesity a disease. Obesity means that an individual has too much body weight that could possibly cause a health risk. Having a body-mass index (BMI) of 35 or higher makes an individual morbidly obese. A healthy BMI would be from 20 to 24.9. The United States has one of the highest obesity rates in the world with an estimated of 36% of American adults suffering from it. It is important to not label obesity as a disease because it leads 78 million adults and 12 million children in America into feeling helpless, and takes them away from believing it’s importance as a condition that is the result of eating too much and living sedentary lifestyles.

    Read More

  • Essay On Japanese Internment

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    On December 7, 1941 the Japanese Empire had declared war on the United States by planning and carrying out a devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor killing 2388 people and wounding 1178. (I) This horrible act provoked the U.S. to take part in WWII and because of the threat of espionage by Japanese Americans on February 19th, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This order authorized military commanders to designate areas for internment camps where people of Japanese ancestry who might pose a danger would be held. “…The Roosevelt administration was pressured to remove persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast by farmers seeking to eliminate Japanese competition, a public fearing sabotage, politicians hoping to gain by standing against an unpopular group, and military authorities.” (II) Congress supported the Executive Order by authorizing a prison term for those who do not obey.

    Read More

  • Obesity: A Media Created Epidemic

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is obesity really a serious health concern or is the “epidemic” merely a result of highly fabricated, misleading ideas of politicians and the media? The article, Obesity: An Overblown Epidemic? By W. Wayt Gibbs featured in the May 23, 2005 edition of Scientific America, raises this question. Most health experts and average people believe that obesity is one of the most prevalent health concerns today, resulting in increased risk for other major health issues; such as; heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and the chance for early loss of life. However, other researchers are suggesting that the consequences of being overweight are being blown out of proportion. Naturally, they do acknowledge that obesity rates are increasing and being overweight can play a role in other health conditions.

    Read More

  • Graffiti

    431 Words  | 1 Pages

    When you hear about graffiti you usually just think of vandalism or gangs but that

    Read More

  • Understanding Graffiti: Art, History, and Expression

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    Vandals; Cornbread, Taki 183, Phase 2, Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat are only a few of the OG street artist who were able to take claim of their identity and express their art through their graffiti.

    Read More

  • Graffiti is a Beautiful Crime

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    Graffiti is a form of art that people use to express themselves and to convey various messages to people in a particular community. In the movie "Graffiti Verite':. One of the graffiti artist explained that his purpose in doing graffiti is that it allows him to "express his anger' on the wall. Another kid by the name of "Jipsie" said that graffiti is a "form of growth". There were several different explanations that artists shared as well as several different reasons why they like graffiti. The common theme among the graffiti artist and taggers was that graffiti is simply a form of self-expression (Bryan). At the end of the film one tagger made a comment and said, "graffiti is not vandalism, but it is a beautiful crime". This comment did not make sense to me. Committing a crime, a hideous act, is not a beautiful thing to do by any means. Graffiti does not mean people can go around and draw and spray paint on other peoples property. Regardless of what types of graffiti are being expressed by the tagger, this type of self expression is considered vandalism when people decide to draw, destroy, or violate any persons property without consent. As a result of taggers committing the crime of vandalism, property owners, concerned citizens, and law enforcement officers spend too much time, money, and energy trying to put an end to the unlawful act of vandalism.

    Read More

  • Graffiti Vs Graffiti Essay

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    The majority of people if asked, would not be able make any distinction between street art and graffiti art. Though in reality they are actually quite different; Graffiti writing and street art are often confused with one another. They both display their work out in the open instead of in a gallery. Though, graffiti artists display their work publicly, they are really only concerned with relating to other graffiti artists; rather than the general public. On the other hand, street artists just want to catch the attention of the general public by making a statement with their art. Although street art and graffiti art seem very similar, upon closer examination the differences in technique, function, culture, and intent are revealed (Weisburg.)

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Obesity

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    In recent discussions of obesity, one controversial issue has been if the medical condition is a disease that needs treatment or if people themselves are the cause because of poor lifestyle choices. On the one hand, many organizations including the AMA (American Medical Association) argue that obesity is a disease and people diagnosed with it should be treated by doctors and prescribed medicine. On the other hand, many people argue that obesity shouldn’t be considered an illness because they say it is only a risk factor to other life threatening problems and it is preventable. My perspective is that obesity is a preventable risk factor to other diseases, but the condition of being extremely overweight itself is not because it is controllable.

    Read More

  • Anti-Crime Programs

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    A sex crime program that attacks the core of child pornography is the programs ACPO (Anti-Child Pornography Organization). This program was set up to rid the Internet of loose links. By loose links, meaning the links that transfer an online user to a site that they are not looking for. For example, if you typed in ‘car’, and were sent to a pornographic site, that would classify as a loose link. The people who shut these sites down are called net nannies. They surf the web looking for sites where average words will send the link to a pornographic site. This is especially aimed at the types of words persons younger than 18 would look for. This program has been extremely effective because it attacks the source of the problem. Once the net nannies find a site that violates this conduct they contact the site provider, and shut it down. This penalty may be harsh, but the web providers know the rules, and if they violate those rules they should be shut down.

    Read More

More about Is Graffiti Art?

Open Document