Kaitlin KnoffFebruary 3, 2014The Power of Graffiti

When you think of major cities such as New York City and Chicago, what comes to your mind? Probably tall buildings, bright lights, traffic, and graffiti comes to your mind. Graffiti is a form of art that people have used to express their feelings and to tell a story of some sort. Or in some cases, graffiti is used to tag your name/nickname on a building or subway cart. It has been part of our culture for years now and personally I think that it is powerful in the animations, color, and nicknames. Every piece of art is unique and different. Graffiti is the heart of our cities. This past winter break I visited New York City for the first time in my life. Keeping in mind, I am from a small town in Vermont and going to the city was a change for me. One of the things that I was exceptionally excited about seeing in New York was the graffiti on the side of the brick walls of the concrete jungle or on the subways. I rode the subway into the city and immediately was looking for graffiti. However, I was a little upset that I didnt see any graffiti on the subway carts. When I got into the city I looked on the walls for graffiti and again was disappointed to not see any. There was some, but not what I was hoping for. In my mind, I was seeing these beautiful, big colorful words or cartoons on every side of a wall. Graffiti today is not as powerful as the graffiti in the past because there were actual graffiti wars where people would bomb each others artwork. Graffiti in the past was so powerful. It was a way for teenagers to express themselves, they let their minds relax and wonder through their artwork. The technique that these people had to create their piece was very thorough, with sketching it out on paper, going late at night, and spending time to perfecting their piece. Graffiti would not be so powerful if it wasnt a conflict. If graffiti wasnt illegal, I think it would still be powerful because its the story that is being drawn that really makes it influential.Without it our cities such as New York City would not be so colorful in the art of graffiti. I dont believe that graffiti is as big of problem today but in the past, for example the 80s-90s was an occurring problem. Graffiti is a huge part of our culture. Everyone has a different opinion about it, for some will say it is an eye sore and others will say it is fun and even get it framed in their house. Graffiti will always be a controversy but will always be part of our lives. In a way, it paints our cities.