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Graffiti - Graffiti Bests
It doesn't matter where you live in the world, chances are
you've seen graffiti somewhere around your local community.
It seems to spring up in every culture, although it tends to
be more prevalent in big cities.
But is it vandalism? Or is it art? That's a difficult
question to answer, mainly because there are so many
different types and styles of graffiti. The most basic form
of graffiti is "tagging" - which is usually a simple
graphic, usually letters, perhaps a play on the creator's
initials or nicknames. Often small and monochrome, it's
probably one of the most annoying and frustrating types of
graffiti, because it is small enough to deface almost any
surface, and is almost universally condemned as having no
artistic merit.
Graffiti, however, isn't restricted to tagging. On larger
surfaces, many graffiti artists employ multiple colors and
intricate designs to create their pictures. This is the type
of graffiti that starts to cross the line into being
artistic. It's this type of graffiti art that is now being
showcased in a number of art galleries, both in the USA and
around the world.
The other problem with graffiti as art is that the issue is
clouded by the location of the art. If some of these
stunning designs were created on a canvas, or a wall
specially set aside for the purpose, then it would be easier
to recognize them as art. Unfortunately most graffiti is
placed on private property, without the owner's consent, and
so is less likely to be viewed as a welcome addition.
Around the world, communities and governments have become
more vigilant in their attempts to reduce the amount of
graffiti. In many places there are community groups or
government funded teams who guarantee to clean up graffiti
in 24 hours after it's reported. Trains in New York were
given new coatings that allowed paint to just be "dissolved"
off their surfaces.
In my own local area, the sale of spray paint to persons
under 18 is illegal, and all spray paints are kept in locked
display cupboards. Another area has a team of painters who
regularly go around and repaint any fences that have been
covered in graffiti. One homeowner I know has had his fence
repainted 7 times so far! Over time, however, the amount of
graffiti reappearing is reducing, which is a victory for the
opponents of graffiti.
Still, simply removing the problem may in fact be a loss to
the artistic community in general. If graffiti is considered
in its most highly refined form, then are we in fact
stopping artistic development in its tracks by making it
impossible for budding graffiti artists to practice their
craft?
When you illegally deface someone else's property, no matter
how beautiful the art you create, you have still committed a
crime. Maybe what we need to do is find ways that graffiti
artists can learn and practice their craft, without needing
to deface hundreds of properties in the process. Some
communities now provide blank spaces and invite local
graffiti artists to paint them. Others have graffiti walls,
where anyone can paint whatever they want.
Maybe there needs to be a shift in the thinking of graffiti
artists, so they can discover the value of painting on
paper, rather than walls. Would the great painters of the
past still be as famous today if they had painted on walls,
rather than on canvas? The problem is complex, so finding a
solution that makes everyone happy is unlikely to be simple.
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Some Other Useful Web Resources
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1. The Ramblin' Rowes Guestbook
The Ramblin' Rowes Guestbook Thank you for visiting our pages. ~ Don and Patricia ~ Back to our ...
http://www.roweweb.com/ra ...stbook/guestbook.html |
2. Mideast Outpost: November 2005 Archives
... As CAMERA points out, ìThe New Yorker Bests (The New York) Times on Anti-Semitism Coverageî. The experts at CAMERA point out that the New Yorker takes notice of the extreme anti-Semitism of Hezbollah ...
http://www.mideastoutpost ...archives/2005_11.html |
3. Go skydiving on 43 Things
... Cancel) This item is on the following Lists of Bests lists Katrina's "1001 things to do before you ... ... to have a crush on me!!! be spontaneous Graffiti a wall with my name 2baqtu wants to run a ...
http://www.43things.com/things/view/2066 |
4. Neighborhood Public Radio » Blog Archive » Barcelona /history-an...
... Hackitectura and Riereta as well as in the graffiti from labor actions and squats and just for ... ... yesterday i was wearing your n p r t-shirt) bests from bcn Leave a Reply Name (required) Mail ...
http://www.conceptualart.org/npr/archives/54 |
5. ~Recycle Plus~ Web's Most Intelligent Source For Recycling Facts ~Recycle Plus~
... One to Choose Since air filters are one of the bests tools for eradicating allergens from your home ... ... cave drawings to rock piles near road ways and graffiti on rock formations. The idea of drawing on ...
http://www.recycledir.com/Recycle6/ |
6. WOEBOT: The Wire Archives
... isms), ÄúMilleÄù (gyrating electro-harmonies) and ÄúWlochyÄù (ÄúDarkÄù fangless post-Fungle bests), while unassumingly excellent, donÄôt exactly burn down the house, mess meaningfully with any ...
http://www.woebot.com/the_wire/ |
7. City Mayors: Joan Clos - Mayor of Barcelona
... over 60 fines per day, half of which were for graffiti. Widespread support for the Civic Code has ... ... cynical city residents that he truly has their bests interests in mind. Joan Clos has been Mayor of ...
http://www.citymayors.com .../barcelona_mayor.html |
8. Notes From Coode Street » 2004 » June
... of Postscripts, which has to do with nanotech, graffiti, gangs and courage. Again, I really liked it ... ... done. Ive got five months to get two years bests finished, and will probably have the first ...
http://www.jonathanstraha ...au/wp/2004/06/page/2/ |
9. SvenOnTech
... Pack, Phone, Home, Spyware A Better Mac PIM That Bests iCal and Mail&and It Plays On Windows and Linux ... ... time getting my text into the PDA via Graffiti. Slowly I learned it and the quick tricks ...
http://svenontech.com/tag/windows |
10. Being There
... All I know is that there is something more to it than the graffiti cut-and-paste comic-book appearance. It grows on you, like acne and armpit hair, creeping up slowly and taking root. After a while ...
http://www.beingtheremag. ...06/reviewsalbums.html |
11. Pompeii on 43 Places
... eerie bodies, the pornographic and political graffiti, the decaying buildings, the Beware of Dog ... ... entries This item is on the following Lists of Bests lists Patricia Schultz's "1,000 Places To See ...
http://www.43places.com/places/view/196088 |
12. news
... collages. His film "The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal", an experimental documentary, is a ... ... your initials! The program will include animated bests, narrative feats of accomplishment, computer ...
http://www.microcinefest.org/news.html |
13. Eugene Jolas's Multilingual Poetics and its Legacies
... who bests us all; in other words: Grandfather Time-here Zeuts suggests both Zeus and Zeit, German for "time"'). Joyce is thus the presiding deity of the Dictionary, but Jolas includes writers from ...
http://www.wings.buffalo. ...rs/perloff/jolas.html |
14. Cool Hunting: Art
... first book, "Autograf," where he documented NY graffiti artists, at their Melbourne gallery. Images ... ... Paris and Avril's, Steve Shein's bunny necklace bests standard pop-bling with a reference to the ...
http://www.coolhunting.co .../art/index.php?page=7 |
15. Le Parkour: An Introduction - London, UK : citynoise.org
... one academi.in spain we do parkour i am 1 of the bests of spain childrens im 12c years old alvaro ... ... sine Cromwellian B'stards! from: Lawrence Graffiti Stencil Making a Statement... from: Skulz ...
http://www.citynoise.org/article/787 |
16. Beatles Fact Sheet - Some Beatle Facts
... lyrics on "Across The Universe" as one of his bests, if not, his best. He described it as a "piece ... ... across the famous 'zebra' crossing, and where graffiti has adorned the studio walls since the ...
http://www.beatlesnumber9.com/fact.html |
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