GRAFFITI

When you hear the word Graffiti, you probably think about gangs and other illegal actions. It is true that gangs tag buildings to mark of their ‘territory’, but not all artists have this intention.

Some graffiti artists are against any form of vandalism on private property such as people’s houses, schools or churches. Most

respectful artists are against defacing another person’s art by tagging on or over the piece. Most importantly, the majority strive

to make their art viewable by everyone, which means no excessive cursing or tags on stores in which you must be 18 or

older to enter.

The difference between art and vandalism is the vandal has no respect for another individual. They are focused on his or her concerns only, whatever it might be that concerns an individual or the group to which an individual belongs and is using the graffiti as a way of expressing that.Contemporary graffiti is, by its nature, a form of painting. After all, the person creating the graffiti (typically) uses the methods and material of painting (although the paint is typically spray paint). As such, specific examples of graffiti would be assessed as art or not art by the same standards by which a painting would be assessed.

Also, graffiti is a much more direct way of telling people about your thoughts. This is because it’s on the streets for free, you

don’t have to pay a single penny or take any time of your busy life to enter a museum.

Graffiti, as well as vandalism, is illegal. But telling artists to stop or painting over their pieces will not bring it to an end.

It is the voice of the streets. More people need to stop and appreciate the message rather than writing it off as a crime.

Every new wave of art starts somewhere. Our generation’s art just happens to start on a wall.