Argumentative Essay On Graffiti

Graffiti is a controversial topic in some areas that would say that graffiti can’t be considered art. But how can’t it be considered art? Does the location or the message of the art make it any less art? How much do people even know about graffiti, which is judged upon so hard in today's era?

Today there are world known graffiti artists, Aryz, Kaws, and D Face are just a few. Any artist wants to be recognized and have their work appreciated. That is why public property is so appealing to the graffiti artist. A train car moving throughout the city with your mural on it will be seen by hundreds, even if its up for a small period of time. Most graffiti artists take time to create a piece. It takes a lot of planning and effort to make a great piece of art. Graffiti artists are all about techniques, you need to be able to show you are an expert in your medium. It’s also important for a graffiti artist to find an imaginative spot for a mural, so it’s obvious that it’s hard work. To make graffiti a piece of art it must have purpose and inflict emotion on its audience, which is why the forcefulness of the urban environment is as much as part of the artwork as the graffiti itself. Taggers have no real reason to create graffiti. Nor is what they do visually pleasing.

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.

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.

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

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.

Is graffiti seen as vandalism or a notable art that is used to voice the opinion of many artists? Many are quick to conclude that graffiti is an act of defacing public property, but few are in understanding of what real graffiti is. Graffiti is defined as art that is displayed or created in public spaces. So this presents the question of why some critics believe that graffiti should not be classified as a real subcategory of art. Below is the explanation as to why graffiti needs to be considered among the most prestigious and notable art forms.

Now driving to work or walking down Beale, I look for graffiti. I realized that I answered my own question, “Is graffiti ART?” Yes, it is no matter what my friends say or think. If was the only person in the world that considers graffiti art, then that is what it is. Thankfully, I am not

Is graffiti art? Yes, graffiti is art, through vandalism. By this I mean that graffiti artists are just as much artists as anyone else but their workspace is simply different than a Leonardo Da Vinci’s. Yes graffiti is unwarranted but anything can be considered art. Graffiti is art because it portrays a message and it lets voices be heard, graffiti lets youth express themselves through a unique way and it adds beauty and difference to our world.

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.

There is a lack of supporting evidence about graffiti information such as why people engage in vandalism and how it impacts on communities and so on. This article is useful for my research topic because this book’s focus is on street artists and legal street art. There was a lot of information about street

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.

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.