Graffiti

[Ninja12 3]

Do you think Graffiti is ART or a CRIME

I dont do graffiti but i think its Art the kids expressing themselfs not alot of Kids like Mona Lisa's and Picasso's. I love how they Try to fight the system (80's terms) I just want people ideas of it because I'm doing a little youth thing so i want it to be fun.

[Ninja12 3]

Sorry I messed up the polls just say if you agree or not

[sendarrow 3]

I like graffiti art as long as iot doesn't affect the beauty of cities. If the mayors of the cities set aside spaces throughtout all the cities to give them a little make up, i'm fine with it.

[Cjah 15]

I think last time I said it was art and my opinion hasn't changed....

It just sucks because I know a dude or two thats going to court soon and they have his taggings photoed....

 

what do you mean photoed?

 

Well at school people tag on books and such....

 

They (the shcool) took pictures of some tagged books and are using them to connect him to a series of other taggings on street walls and other fences....

 

I don't know if hes connected or not,but I think thats kinda weak....

 

trying to connect him with such unprovable evidence....

 

I mean he isn't the only one writing in books....

[lakeyboy 12]

GRAFFITI IS DEFINITELY A CRIME

Graffiti is everywhere in Melbourne and it is even rated as one of the top 5 cities in the world for graffiti so the goverment and the city of melbourne is hiring all these cleaners to clean all of the graffiti in the CBD, inner city suburbs and along the railway lines (which is worst for it). Every time I go into the city by train it is everywhere and it is disgusting. Graffiti is definitely NOT art.

[DuskTrooper 316]

It is both. If applied in a proper setting, it is cool. However, when used to tag, or vandalize property(such as in Melbourne), it is a crime.

It does however, contribute to the spray paint sector of the economy.

[sendarrow 3]

I will make my point more clear, 'cuz I was reading myself and I didn't understand me: I think that graffiti applied in a good sense it could be make-up for the city. How you like that?

[Meg 368]

In the vast majority of cases, graffiti is vandalism.  The exceptions are the cases such as having a mural painted on the wall underneath an overpass.  Some of the murals can be considered to be art.

They recently caught and sentenced one fool who wrote Borf in various places in Washington, DC.   He is being sent to jail.  Article here .  Should have given him a longer sentence, in my opinion.

[Cjah 15]

Date: 2/9/2006 11:05:42 PM Author: sendarrow I like graffiti art as long as iot doesn't affect the beauty of cities. If the mayors of the cities set aside spaces throughtout all the cities to give them a little make up, i'm fine with it. 

quote>

 

Venice Beach does such things....it has a really cool area to tag....

 

Also it is true it is make up in  sense....

 

Hmm I guess if it does look bad it could be a crime and I hate to sound ignorant or even challenging,but I wouldn't mind if somebody tagged my fence up....

 

Fat SANTA ANA all bold or an Los Angeles/L.A. logolike tag.... maybe a 420 or two,.....lol

 

Also yeah if you damage their property of course its a crime,but how is paint damaging unless it looks like crap?

[Meg 368]

Date: 2/9/2006 11:17:53 PM Author: Cjah

Also yeah if you damage their property of course its a crime,but how is paint damaging unless it looks like crap?

quote>

Tagging is an invasion of space unless the person doing the tagging owns the property.  That property is then damaged.  It usually has to be painted over or sandblasted to get rid of it.

 

The vast majority of graffiti, especially tagging, does look like crap.  What is the point of it in the first place?  To mark property that doesn't belong to you?

[sendarrow 3]

I remember now that near where I live, some bad people mark a building with the words: South Side in a graffiti writing.

[Cjah 15]

Date: 2/9/2006 11:23:25 PM Author: SkiGeek

Date: 2/9/2006 11:17:53 PM Author: Cjah

Also yeah if you damage their property of course its a crime,but how is paint damaging unless it looks like crap?

quote>

'Tagging' is an invasion of space unless the person doing the tagging owns the property.  That property is then damaged.  It usually has to be painted over or sandblasted to get rid of it.

The vast majority of graffiti, especially tagging, does look like crap.  What is the point of it in the first place?  To mark property that doesn't belong to you?

quote>

Yes you are right....100% on the money....

 

Living in certain areas can almost tottally change your views on things that seem like a bad thing...

 

I belive Graffiti if done correctly can bring a community together....

 

but Graffiti was invented for the soul perpose of marking places or items that the tagger doesn't own....even in WW2 soviets and other allied troops Tagged on certain german landmarks...not to say its there turf or land,but to show they were there or apart of that moment...

 

hmmm....

 

So actaully Graffiti is not even related to art....but then of course you do have people working together on morals and other walls and such....bringing the people together in culture/art and even a sense of nationalism....Many cities south of the border have those types of art or graffiti or morals or however you will name them....

 

Even the lonely tagger at the late hours of dawn realizes the Tagging isn't just for his gang or himself...if he or she does a good job and it is nice and tasteful..it represents the gang and even the community in a good way.....

 

I'm not saying gangs are acceptable.....but many fine arts have been produced by such people....

 

also just as many works of crap come from the same people....

 

In a sense Tagging is a crime,but you can't blind yourself from all Taggings/graffiti....

[Meg 368]

Date: 2/9/2006 11:29:44 PM Author: sendarrow I remember now that near where I live, some bad people 'mark' a building with the words: South Side in a graffiti writing.

quote>

That is a gang tagging.   They are marking their territory.   Kinda like how dogs like to mark their territory, only they are using paint instead.

 

The only remotely good news about most graffiti is it can be read to detect what areas gangs have moved into.  As if it wasn't obvious already.

[Zelgadis 638]

Art is art and graffiti is graffiti. And graffiti is garbage.

I consider the aforementioned murals art and not graffiti. This is my own, personal semantic distinction.

ISF

[Ninja12 3]

Gang

Gang graffiti is dangerous. Graffiti is how gangs identify turf. This type of graffiti may spell out a gang name, their geographic area or a numeric identifier. It can sometimes show an entire list of gang nicknames called a roll call or roster. Gang graffiti serves several purposes, all of which is understood by other gangbangers, even members of rival sets. Graffiti has been called the newspaper or bulletin boards for gangs and communicates many messages, including violent challenges, warnings, and pronouncements of deeds accomplished or about to occur. Gang graffiti make up about 20% of the graffiti in the City of Minneapolis.

The most common gang graffiti

Tagger or Hip Hop

This graffiti is the most prevalent in Minneapolis. Tagger graffiti vandals like to be called graffiti writers. Graffiti is a culture or away of life for most graffiti writers. Graffiti writers gain recognition and status from their peers by placing distinctive tags or graffiti monikers in as many places as possible, in the most high-risk places, and by how artistic the graffiti is. The intent is for other graffiti writers to see the graffiti.

 

 

Tags: Tags are what you see on doorways, electrical boxes, semaphores, etc. Graffiti writers basically write their graffiti moniker (tag) in cursive, print style.

 

 

Throwups: Throwups usually consist of one or two colors, may look like bubble style letters and are quick to put up.

 

 

Pieces: Ultimate drawings, or masterpieces of graffiti writers.

 

 

Crews: Graffiti writers form together in crews to go out and do their graffiti. These crews are usually depicted by a 2-3 letter tag.

 

 

Hate Graffiti

This type of graffiti expresses messages of hate against some members or groups within a community. Quite often, these are either expressed in symbols or in short messages putting down someone's race, religion or ethnicity.

Generic

Generic graffiti is usually innocent in nature, yet can carry the same expensive price tag for removal. Often expressions of love (Johnny loves Suzy), school name/year of graduation (Central High, Class of 2005), or defacing or unauthorized markings of public and private property fall under this category.

Snipe

This is the illegal attachment of flyers and other paper notices to utility or light poles, trees and vacant buildings. Besides creating an eyesore, snipe ads are difficult and expensive to remove. Items attached to trees with nails and staples cause wounds that can lead to disease.

 

Example of Snipe

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/graffiti/images/snipe-7.gif width=639>

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/graffiti/images/snipe-8.gif width=639>

 

[____----____ 37]

I 100% support the b-boy hip hop culture including graffiti

[Ninja12 3]

I agree with Aleking

[Micah 16]

It is both. If graffiti is put on something like a store, highway wall, bill board, or etc.... then it is a crime. But if it is done in the right setting (if you know what I mean) like something you would paint on (a board or w/e) then it is ok.

[Ninja12 3]

Gangs Really Kill graffiti

 

Its a way of life for some people trying to be recognize not to be some average joe he wants the whole city to know who he is. To express his way he thinks, his mind and his soul.

 

a graffiti artist said:

This City will Kill me if the Aeresol Fumes dont burst first some peoplewant to bring me down Now, the police. Everywhere i tag they watch me, stressing me, now all of this just to get a Rep for what i just want to Get up, Get my name up for all city but this battle it aint just about me its bigger than me its about us!

 

Graffiti is like the Mouth of the Community if there none its youth will never speak up

 

 

I think the ones you dont like is Gang Graffiti

 

Taggers or hip hop mostly have the nice ones that express the community

 

[Joesocwork 4]

Regardless of whatever the type, I think the person/group doing it should get permission of whomever owns the property that want to do it on.

[Duke87 1,070]

It really depends.

First of all, there has to be some actual effort put in and some quality to the work. Quality graffiti is art. Quick one-color scrawls, while still officially art, are crap IMO, and are bad graffiti. What I also find annoying is that some places become so popuar that the wall gets covered and people start painting over other people's work. That's just obnoxious.

 

Also, it has to be in the right kind of place. Places that are okay to graffiti include:

-on or in abandoned buildings

-in out of the way places (subway tunnels, alleys, rooftops, etc.)

-in slums or ghettos, in plain sight, to a limited degree (one work per wall is enough)

-places where the culture is centered or encouraged (e.g. skate parks)

-on the back of road signs, never the front.

 

Graffiti also must be done in urban areas. It's urban art. Graffiti on exposed rock faces, or in suburban or rural areas just isn't the same. It's out of place.

 

Still, I would never do it myself (I'd suck at it), but If I cought someone doing it, I'd leave 'em alone.

 

[psteverific 8]

Date: 2/10/2006 12:49:36 AM Author: Joesocwork Regardless of whatever the 'type', I think the person/group doing it should get permission of whomever owns the property that want to do it on.

My thoughts exactly.

Graffiti can be two things, sometimes it is artistic, sometimes it's nothing more than vandalism, and sometimes it's both.

Personally, I think graffiti ( in the vandalism category), is a particularly self-centered and egotistical crime, it says that the artist belives that only his (or hers) sense of ethetics has merit, the property owners personal taste is irrelevant.

Furthermore, when such crimes are commited against smaller buisneses (as they often are... I'm thinking not only of buildings but also delivery vans and such), the perpetrator has no idea of the effects of his actions. Many small buisnesses walk a very fine line between profitability and bankruptcy, and a costly cleanup every weekend could mean the difference between the owners children going to summer camp or not.

I realise that is a somewhat emotionally charged example, but this kind of thing really ticks me off.

 

However, I don't want to be totally negative, so I'll give an example of a graffiti artist from my towns past whom I very much respected (and kind of miss today).

His pen name (can name?) was 'Puzzle', and to my knowledge he only painted one piece of graffiti, however it took him a decade to paint it, and it was scattered all over town. In theory, had you gone around town and took a picture of every last one of them, you could arrange them like a giant puzzle to reveal the whole picture.

You'd see a six foot high eye one an abandoned building, a huge chin somewhere else... a friend of mine lived in an appartment that had a puzzle piece covering her living room wall ( she knew him, it's not like he broke in or anything!)

But he mostly stuck to abbandoned properties in off the beaten path locations (not right out front, around the corner a bit). When he did paint on private property that was occupied, he did so with permission of the owners. I seem to remember an underpass or two, but it was rare.

Was he breaking the law? Yes, in some cases he was. But there's no denying the artistic merit of this giant project, at least not in my opinion.

 

[defcon pilot 0]

Graffiti is not art.
OK. Sure, it sends a message out. That's really the only thing that it does: send a message out. Making 3D lettering and weird styles of handwriting and all that does not count as art. Even that modern art stuff is better than graffiti.
Graffiti is vandalism. Why? Well, would you want your house spray painted with **** YOU in a big, bold script? I know I don't.
You know, if you ask me, hip-hop culture should really be considered a degradation of society. We're going backwards... Everyone is always being rude and inconsiderate, violence is considered common and is even encouraged... Whatever happened to our old values?

[nealos101 20]

Its an art when put in the right place, for example, have you seen these in ireland?

align=baseline>

 

They're littered around in Belfast, promoting either religion or political views of the 'Turf.' I think they were painted on with the building's owner's permission, but this type of graffiti is a more peaceful version than the ones in the US, I think...

 

But that type of graffiti IS art, but the lazy, quicky ones just disgust me.

 

Swearwords - bah, get out of town, you don't need to sware to express your views through a painting, why should you express your views illegally AND sware on some one's property?

 

IMHO, keep the graffiti clean and on places asking to be graffitied, becuase I know that some cities actually promote graffiti artists...

 

Nealos101

[villarule 2]

^^those aren't graffiti, they're murials
i think some graffiti is very clever and it can brighten up a dull wall, i ma not in favour of just vandalism for the hell of it tho

Clicketh ye here

[wolverine 12]

Graffiti has been an issue in Detroit. In fact, it is a reason some very historic early 20th century buildings have been demolished. Some kid under the tagname Money Eggs/Eggs Money painted his name all over the top of the building so that you could see it from blocks away. The building was then deemed an eyesore for the Superbowl, despite the building showing very little signs of decay, and was immediately demolished.

That doesn't mean I hate graffiti. I think it has a place in areas that are out of public eye. I do a lot of urban exploration and see it all over the walls of abandoned factories and abandoned viaducts. This graffiti is virtually impossible to find unless you go into these places, and because they are not visible to law enforcement, they are well executed art that has usually taken the creator weeks to do. If the factory was to be renovated into condos or something, the grafitti would be sandblasted or painted over... no harm done.

[ephorex_77 0]

Date: 2/9/2006 11:08:25 PM Author: lakeyboy GRAFFITI IS DEFINITELY A CRIME Graffiti is everywhere in Melbourne and it is even rated as one of the top 5 cities in the world for graffiti so the goverment and the city of melbourne is hiring all these cleaners to clean all of the graffiti in the CBD, inner city suburbs and along the railway lines (which is worst for it). Every time I go into the city by train it is everywhere and it is disgusting. Graffiti is definitely NOT art.

quote>

As a Melburnian...

 

GRAFFITI IS DEFINITELY A CRIME!!

 

Seriously, graffiti or any sort without permission is a crime and is more often than not, ugly. And what's the difference doing it in front or behind a road sign?? People still see it; only motorists don't.

 

Some graffiti is nice though, but I doubt they were done with the owner's permission.

[Micah 16]

Date: 2/10/2006 12:49:36 AM Author: Joesocwork Regardless of whatever the 'type', I think the person/group doing it should get permission of whomever owns the property that want to do it on.

quote>

That is true. Sometimes it is ok even on the side of a store if the store gives permission. I don't know if anyone else is thinking this, but they (contestants) actually put graffiti on the entire side of a building on the Apprentice with Donald Trump.

[Dolfan348488 0]

Graffiti is illegal. Art isnt. If it was art, it wouldnt be called graffiti.

[Bach2Baroque 168]

It depends actually, some graffiti is art, if it has a meaning/purpose and of course looks good.
Not like those lousy ones that you see on public bathroom walls.

I support graffiti art 101%.