Cities are places of intense and dynamic cultural and aesthetic productions, and are continually changing to adopt a new self-image that matches with the behavior and attitude of its residents. These changes normally manifest through a range of various aesthetic practices, such as public art, architectural innovations, control of signage, renovation and modernization of public infrastructure, as well as changes in public order.
Graffiti as a means through which artists express themselves has become a an issue of great significant in public discourse and debate, with some claiming it is an art while those on the extreme opposite being of the view it is vandalism. As a form of art, graffiti does not conform to all the expected social orders, rather it enables artists to express their views and connect with the public on various significant social issues that affect their daily lives. There are some elements of vandalism in art just as they exist in all activities; accordingly, it is unfair and unjustified to judge graffiti simply based on the actions of a few dissident artists.
Graffiti is usually defined as unauthorized inscription on public or private property. There are various motivations for these inscriptions ranging from political, cultural, social, or social (Young 101). Criminological studies view graffiti as an ideological form of vandalism, while those in historical and archeological studies are of the opinion that is an analogous human behavior that entails ‘mark-making practices,’ which is also observable in historical artefacts.
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Those who are involved in art have a more lenient approach towards graffiti, and distinguish it into two separate forms “graffiti art” and “graffiti vandalism”. They acknowledge that graffiti vandalism entails the use of abusive and damaging texts that do not have any aesthetic value, while graffiti art has creative attributes that should be appreciated. Therefore, categorizing graffiti simply as vandalism can negate its creative attributes.
Due to the unique nature in which various forms of graffiti form, it has various subcultures, which make it a rich and diverse form of art. Most forms of graffiti are an improvement of subcultural graffiti, and they are mainly used as anonymous of been heard or establishing the identity of various art-groups. For the groups in particular, subculture of graffiti, enables them to have some group empowerment and an anonymous way of being heard or expressing themselves using a secrete language.
Subcultural graffiti came as an evolution of gang graffiti in the 1960s and Wildstyle graffiti in the 1970s. Graffiti later spread to other areas and diverse cultures in the global, which resulted in its domestication, cultural mainstreaming, and the commercialization. Given the diversity of graffiti, and its many international subcultures, it has no specific demographic characteristic of its members. Notwithstanding these diversities, its members are predominantly young men.
Although graffiti is demographically unique, its subcultures usually have various similar style and practices. First, most subcultural graffiti entail the used of signatures such as tags, throw-ups, and murals. Tags are stylized signatures, quickly executed monochromes, or stylized signatures that are usually written using a marker pen or spray paint (Burnham 140). Throw-ups are often more complex signatures that normally larger than a feet and are mostly made using two shades of spray-paint. Murals, on the other hand, are complex and more time consuming works that cover significant proportion of a single surface or wall.
The fact that most graffiti writers advance their skills from just the painting of signatures using tags to the making of murals makes it extremely difficult to establish a clear dividing line between graffiti and street art. To distinguish graffiti and street art entails the subcategorization of graffiti and the introduction of legal technicalities. People who specialize in graffiti can be categorized as graffiti writers or graffiti artists. Graffiti artists are those that predominantly express themselves through tagging, while graffiti artists are those that in addition to using tags create more aesthetically complicated pieces and murals.
The major difference between street artists and graffiti writers and artists is that they former usually targets a wider audience, are mostly legally and publicly accepted, and also usually use many forms of media to express themselves (Merrill 374). Since both street art and graffiti are largely the same, then the categorization of graffiti as a form of vandalism is unfair. A more positive approach should be identification of forms of art in graffiti that are vandalism and not generalizing the entire style of art as criminal.
The identification of the form of graffiti that can be categorized as vandalism can help in appreciating graffiti in general as an important style of art that emerged in the late twentieth century. Graffiti writers normally try to get public recognition from their peers through mischievous acts. Accordingly, they attempt to have a great coverage of their work, and will mostly attempt to establish their names in the art scene for recognition using tags.
On the other hand, graffiti artists and street artists usually put more emphasis on the aesthetic attribute of their work in an attempt to have fame and recognition. It is worth noting that individual values are not static and vary through one’s career. Moreover, it is important to consider that while new graffiti writers rely on tagging, those that are more experience rely on creating masterpieces and having their unique style while still maintaining their already recognized tags (McAuliffe 192).
As such, graffiti artists have more subcultural allegiance than street artists, which is mainly due to their earlier career as taggers. Given that tags are usually not creative and are written in texts that are not legible to the majority of the public, tagging and other abusive and forms of art that are not creative such as latrinalia –often found in public toilets- and political slogans should be banned. However, graffiti in general- especially work from graffiti artists- such as murals are a form of art. Since graffiti artists want to be recognized and appreciated for their creative pieces, it is appropriate for them to use tags.
Recent judicial findings on graffiti further re-affirm that graffiti is an art and not vandalism. In a 2011 UK criminal ruling of Tox, a known London tagger established that his work was wrong and unwanted since it lacked any creative attributes. An artist -Bein Eine- who testified before the court described the tags are “incredibly basic” and deficient of any skill, flair, and style. The prosecutor also noted that the tags made by Tox were inappropriate since he was not Banksy- Banksy is a reputable street artist. Suggesting that Tox works are inappropriate since they lack any creative appeal, the prosecutor said, “He doesn’t have the artistic skills, so he has to get his tag up as much as possible.” (Merill 373). This statement impliedly shows that any artistic work that has some creative appeal is acceptable, even if it is graffiti.
Given that there is no clear separation between street and graffiti art both of these forms of artistic expressions should be treated in the same manner. Actually, some popular street art that have received significant legal recognition and protection, such as those by Banksy share similar attributes with graffiti art. First, these art forms are usually both illegally painted on public or private property. Interestingly, these two forms of art have received permits for their paintings in specific public or private property. Even in cases where they have been illegally painted, most of artistic murals and masterpieces from graphic and street artists have received significant support from both private property owners and the public.
For example, although paintings by Banksy were made without the consent from property owners, most of them support these works. Some have used Perspex to cover these murals while have removed parts of their wall so that they can restore and protect the artwork. An overall look at the broader picture illustrates that the lack of consent of a property owner when an artist (street or graphic artist) is making any artistic work does not result in vandalism, rather he/she still creates an artistic masterpiece or mural.
Conclusion
In conclusion, graffiti is a form of art that should be appreciated and developed. Graffiti should not be viewed as simply the use of tags and other abusive and forms of art such as latrinalia and political slogans, rather it is broad and rich when properly examined. Graffiti artists that are more developed are more creative and usually make murals that have aesthetic appeal and are appreciated by the public. To prevent tagging, governments can create public spaces where upcoming graffiti artists can showcases their pieces and get more recognition, which they seek through tagging.
