Graffiti and right to expression

[TheNoNamedOne]

Skill of the "artist" aside, how do you feel about graffiti as a form of expression?

I think most would agree that vandalizing with paint private property with graffiti art (not gang sign markings) is wrong, but what about public property? Should the government put any considerable recourses to fighting it if you think it is wrong? After all, setting budgets working on rapes and murders should take priority over trying to catch some 13 year old boy or girl spraypainting a skateboard or flower on the side of a city bus or city office building, shouldn't it?

Should this kind of creativity and expression be stamped out? I mean, what is the harm and who is to say whose aesthetics for urban viewing paid for by public funds should be respected? Look at the Sunabe Sea Wall of recent times (stretching back for decades); that graffiti has often been an attraction to the area and honored, giving a certain feel to the site that others often have enjoyed and found interesting to view.

Why not let such things spring up naturally everywhere on public property?

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

It may have been Guilliani, but in NYC didn't they stamp out a lot of graffiti by just painting over it as fast as possible. Not seen = no fun, for these guys. I think he took the trains out of service if they got hit with the spray paint, and that way no-one ever got to see much graffiti after he was mayor. That sounds like a better way than chasing the perps.

But, it's rare to paint buildings here even as a maintenance/aesthetic thing. Don't know if the NYC type of program could work.

[TheNoNamedOne]

Yeah, E, you are right -- it was Guilliani and he did do that. I think everytihing you said above was pretty accurate. But what is your opinion on whether it should be allowed in the first place? I am guessing you don't think it should be. Right?

[Mad Hatter]

I don't think that it should be allowed, but I have to say that I like the way the Okinawa Opened up part of the C-Wall to the "artist".

I personally like the work that they do... I did alittle when I was growing up, but that didn't make it right. It was just a way to rebel, a form of expression.

[TheNoNamedOne]

Madhatter, perhaps every local government should open up some buildings' or structures' surfaces explicitely for the purpose of graffiti artists to do their thing. You know like a controlled outlet for the urge.

I think that that the Sunabe Sea Wall kind of serves that purpose eventhough it may not have originally been planned as such.

[dk]

I think nearly everything has a time and a place. Graffiti is fine as long as there are dedicated areas for it.

[dk]

Madhatter, perhaps every local government should open up some buildings' or structures' surfaces explicitely for the purpose of graffiti artists to do their thing. You know like a controlled outlet for the urge.

I think that that the Sunabe Sea Wall kind of serves that purpose eventhough it may not have originally been planned as such.
The college I went to had a rock on campus for just this purpose. It was a big rock. Everyday, someone would go paint something on it and take their picture. I think a wall would be better than a rock, but whatever. The rock was the best thing available.

[socalheart]

I believe that some grafitti is art. In someplaces, like L.A., grafitti artists are paid to paint murals on private walls of buildings (http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-3349193_ITM) and public walls of underpasses. Usually, grafitti artists don't get paid for their art though, so they paint whatever they want, where ever they want. heh. Although I think there is little harm in letting grafitti artists paint on public walls, somethings are a bit mature for a child to see. Grafitti art on private property is a crime, unless the owner has allowed an artist to paint on it. It's one of those things that has a large gray area.

[Go-Shay]

Madhatter, perhaps every local government should open up some buildings' or structures' surfaces explicitely for the purpose of graffiti artists to do their thing. You know like a controlled outlet for the urge.

I think that that the Sunabe Sea Wall kind of serves that purpose eventhough it may not have originally been planned as such.
I think that is a great idea. Graffiti can be a very positive outlet for some artists

[Mad Hatter]

Has anyone seen that building, the dance studio, next the Hambe Town San-A?

That is a great idea. Open up a certain place and time for people to let out this urge.

But i know that if I owned property, I would want any to mark it all up with something tha ti don't like, offensive or not, in the middle of the night... and i have to clean up after it. I think that is worng

[DoctorP]

Random graffiti on overpasses and bridges really ticks me off...that is public property paid for with government funding. I do think painting at the sea walls and such is pretty cool, and brightens up the drab concrete...and I am open to the idea of murals on buildings. I don't like the random "playaa" or other crap people put out there.

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

Speaking of graffiti, don't you think that Zep's best album was Physical Graffiti?

[Fonze]

I think that is a great idea. Graffiti can be a very positive outlet for some artists


The problem is and this is from aquaintances that were in graffiti gangs is that if you keep it in one place only you and those that go there will see it. They want everyone to see it.

There are also 2 types of graffiti. 1 is the kind i dont like and that is gang banger tagging and gang names usually done in black, blue or red. 2 is the kind i like which is bombing tags and bubbles even some block ones. I use to do them on paper but was never good with a can.

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

Graffiti vandals turn violent in LA
One man got stabbed. Another got shot in the chest. A 6-year-old boy was temporarily blinded when he was spray-painted in the face.

And they were the lucky ones among those who have had run-ins with graffiti "crews," or gangs.

Over the past 2 1/2 years in Southern California, three people have been killed after trying to stop graffiti vandals in the act. A fourth died after being shot while watching a confrontation between crews in a park.
"We have seen a marked increase in these graffiti-tagging gangs taking to weapons and fighting to protect their walls, their territory, their name," said Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Robert Rifkin.

Los Angeles County has battled graffiti for decades, spending $30 million a year to paint over or clean up the emblems, names and other images spray-painted on stores, concrete-lined riverbeds, rail lines, phone booths, buses, even police cars. On Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law requiring convicted graffiti vandals to remove their scrawl.
For some taggers, protecting their work is akin to defending their names and their honor.

"If we see someone calling the police, then we target them," said Mario Garcia, 20, who describes himself as a former tagger trying to become a professional artist. "You are trying to stop me from what I live, what I believe in and what I breathe? We are not going to let no one get in the way."

Workers who remove the graffiti say they take caution if they find a crew at work. They wait until the taggers leave before cleaning up.
"We won't say anything to them," said Rogelio Flores, whose company Graffiti Busters contracts with Los Angeles to blast away the markings with high-pressure hoses. "We don't know what kind of weapons they have."

Police tell residents to resist the urge to confront graffiti crews.
"It's not worth the risk," Rifkin said. "Take a deep breath, back off and call law enforcement."
Some of the violence has been between rival crews, which are increasingly acting like street gangs. And some of the bloodshed has involved real street gangs that mark their turf with their names or emblems. But some of the victims have been innocents.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D929LGMO4&show_article=1

[Isaak Brodsky]

i agree with socalheart that grafitti is art, but the canvases that these artists use are sometimes private properties in public spaces.

isn't defacement a form of vandalism? if artwork damages someone else's property, i wouldn't call it art. there must be alternative canvases for grafitti artists to focus their skills.

[CPOCPO]

I collect alot of mainstream art and right now, much of most desired contemporary art in the world is being produced by street artists. There is a huge range when discussing graffiti.

Though they are often times both illegal, the gangs and viloence are assotiated with 'taggers', basically gangs marking their territories with tags, and their crews trying to spray over other crews tags. While some of this, can be interesting, I personnally am not a fan of tagging at all.

Stencils, on the other hand and poltical street art is a different story. It has been used for thousands of years (I'm not condoning painting on someone else's property) before ideas of ownership were even evolved.

Try googling Banksy or to a lesser extent Blek le rat and Nick Walker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy

If you are lucky enough to have Banksy stencil one of his works of art on your wall, you could immediately preserve the wall and/or sell the house for 3x it's value.

Another type of street arist are the ones who paste up things on walls. Google Faile who was once three artists (now two after Aiko left them and returned to Japan)...

anyway, I have to run, but would be happy to expand on this later if anyone is interested...