Graffiti vs. Street Art
Siobhan Boyle Research Paper
From cave drawings to hieroglyphics to the streets of New York, graffiti and street art have made their marks as the most ancient form of resilient communication. Whether viewed through the lens of skeptics or supporters, the practice remains in the gray area of legality, despite it’s remarkable positive artistic and creative worth. Graffiti has many unsung beneficial traits, and encompasses an entire urban culture, as is highlighted in The New York Times article “Writings on the Wall (Art is too, for Now)” by Robin Finn. Graffiti is portrayed as defacement and destruction of communities, however often times it acts as a positive influence to urban communities. The Australian Institution of Criminology defines the many dynamics and forms of graffiti. These include tagger graffiti, desk graffiti, gang related, political, and urban artistic graffiti (Louis). Often, all forms of graffiti are generalized into one category, and are all associated with tagger graffiti. Tagger graffiti is when the person forms his or her own “graffiti name”, usually a short nickname, and projects it into highly visible locations. This is done for recognition and notoriety, and is usually made up of condensed letters. Because the purpose of this form of graffiti is to be seen by many people, busy urban areas are prime location for tags. Billboards, shop fronts, trucks, and walls are all popular places for the tags, and thus tag graffiti is what is seen most often by society, leading them to automatically link it with all graffiti and urban displays of art in general (Louis). Many city and state governments have passed strict legislation against the practice of art in public places. New York City government states “No person shall write, paint or draw any inscription, figure or mark of any type on any public or private building or other structure or any other real or personal property owned, operated or maintained by a public benefit
From cave drawings to hieroglyphics to the streets of New York, graffiti and street art have made their marks as the most ancient form of resilient communication. Whether viewed through the lens of skeptics or supporters, the practice remains in the gray area of legality, despite it’s remarkable positive artistic and creative worth. Graffiti has many unsung beneficial traits, and encompasses an entire urban culture, as is highlighted in The New York Times article “Writings on the Wall (Art is too, for Now)” by Robin Finn. Graffiti is portrayed as defacement and destruction of communities, however often times it acts as a positive influence to urban communities. The Australian Institution of Criminology defines the many dynamics and forms of graffiti. These include tagger graffiti, desk graffiti, gang related, political, and urban artistic graffiti (Louis). Often, all forms of graffiti are generalized into one category, and are all associated with tagger graffiti. Tagger graffiti is when the person forms his or her own “graffiti name”, usually a short nickname, and projects it into highly visible locations. This is done for recognition and notoriety, and is usually made up of condensed letters. Because the purpose of this form of graffiti is to be seen by many people, busy urban areas are prime location for tags. Billboards, shop fronts, trucks, and walls are all popular places for the tags, and thus tag graffiti is what is seen most often by society, leading them to automatically link it with all graffiti and urban displays of art in general (Louis). Many city and state governments have passed strict legislation against the practice of art in public places. New York City government states “No person shall write, paint or draw any inscription, figure or mark of any type on any public or private building or other structure or any other real or personal property owned, operated or maintained by a public benefit