Is Graffiti Vandalism or Art?

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Since the appearance of graffiti, people have been disputing if it is vandalism or art. Many graffiti features compel the public to form negative opinions about it and question its creative nature. The first questionable characteristic is the history of graffiti, and associated with the street gang culture of New York in the 70s (Novak, 2017). The second trait is a specific way of execution, which involves intervention in the urban environment. Finally, graffiti’s unconventional and unusual nature differentiates it from traditional and widely-accepted art forms (Boyd, 2010). However, graffiti has been around for a long time as a creative expression that shakes the social fabric with its aesthetics and message. Therefore, graffiti meets all the parameters of art, despite its unconventional peculiarities.

Discussion

People often think that graffiti is not art because there are many mediocre, incoherent, unskillful examples. Everyone has access to self-expression through graffiti; potential artists only need to get paint and a little courage (Boyd, 2010). Thus, some people point to worthy original graffiti and say that this is art, while others, looking at mediocre drawings, call it vandalism. Both parties are entitled to their opinion, as damaging private property is indeed vandalism. However, belittling graffiti as an art style on the basis that someone with no talent can draw low-quality graffiti is wrong. It is similar to calling painting or sculpture “not art” because many people, having taken paints or clay in their hands, will not be able to create anything worthy of a museum exhibition.

People consider prehistoric rock art to be art without a doubt about the presence of a creative element. Seeing the rock art in the Spanish cave of Altamira, Pablo Picasso exclaimed: “After Altamira, everything is decadence!” (Davies, 2018). Thus, society and the art community are ready to recognize the high artistic value of drawings made in a non-traditional way on canvas and with paints. Graffiti, in this sense, is no different from rock art. These are images made on the walls of the housing in an act of creative personal self-expression. The best examples are admired; the worst, as in the past, are forgotten and erased.

Finally, graffiti is art because it is an emotional expression of human creative skills and abilities to comprehend the existing reality. Graffiti has a long history and is characterized by its conceptuality and the ability to break into urban space and challenge the ordinary. Art always claims originality and produces the effect of emotional shock. In history, graffiti has often become a visual image of the world’s pain, challenging problems, and inconvenient truths. There are many examples of legendary graffiti, such as “Fraternal Kiss” – the painting on the Berlin Wall, depicting a kiss between communist leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker (Novak, 2017). This satirical image conveyed the laughter and horror of ordinary people, whose fates were decided by fanatical old people. It is difficult to disagree with the fact that such paintings are art in their impact and creativity.

Conclusion

Summing up the above, it can be argued that graffiti is art if it combines the skill of the artist and their emotional message aimed at reflecting reality. The history of graffiti has many examples of paintings that shook society and made people pay attention to the acute problems of humanity. This type of art differs from others only in the means, techniques, and used space of the urban environment, which becomes part of the project.

References

Boyd, A. (2010). In defense of graffiti. Alex Boyd: BoydBlog. Web.

Davies, S. (2018). Can Westerners understand the art of other cultures and what might they learn by doing so? Journal of World Philosophies 3, 93-122. Web.

Novak, D. (2017). Historical dissemination of graffiti art. SAUC – Street Art and Urban Creativity, 3(1), 29-42. Web.

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Is Graffiti Vandalism or Art?

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