Graffiti Tagging Writing Letters

Graffiti - Graffiti Tagging Writing Letters

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.

1. Sitemap of www.greek-alphabet.biz
... alphabet discovered versus tagging alphabet doubled upon ... abbreviations rose on to writing old english alphabet recast ... regardless of alphabet graffiti letters fought instead of ...
http://greek-alphabet.biz/sitemap.html

2. LDP Leadership - Service
... to help with name tagging at booths for lost ... Help seniors write letters and cards. Help to ... church pews. Clean up graffiti around your ... Days. Help with letter writing campaigns - Re. land ...
http://www.guidesontario. ...ing/LDP2_PS_01SER.htm

3. microsoft access alphabetize combo box
... Pattern Alphabet In Graffiti Form Caligraphy ... Animations Alphabet Tagging Alphabet Alphabet ... and email in greek writing and printing in, if ... has twenty-four letters microsoft access ...
http://www.greek-alphabet ...betize-combo-box.html

4. Flavorpill
... Morning News Arts & Letters Daily NPR The Onion ... Gastronomica Food writing can often leave one ... Freight Train Graffiti From the history of ... artists and writers tagging freight trains today ...
http://beta.flavorpill.ne ...e&scope=all&offset=10

5. DenverPost.com - The writing on the walls
... OPINION COLUMNISTS EDITORIALS LETTERS PERSPECTIVE KEEFE CARTOON ... MDT style The writing on the walls A spike in graffiti sparks anger ... free expression. What is some tagging were legal? By Sheba R ...
http://www.denverpost.com/style/ci_3750781

6. B&W Photography Blog: Beckerman's early years
... the eggs, and wrote the phoney letters, and that we're really really ... someone else freed you by tagging you) President Tag (if ... 5-5-02 Most of my writing energy is going into the ...
http://www.davebeckerman. ...ral/JournalMay02.html

7. Graffiti
... leaving images and writing on wall surfaces ... non-gang-related tagging became more common ... as a "writer" or a Graffiti artist. Taggers ... s initials or other letters, sometimes become a ...
http://graffiti.iqnaut.net/

8. OnlyOneNativeSpeaker
... the monument with ordinary letters because these are desecrated ... time tagging your name, Rammelzee wanted to take graffiti ... understanding through reading/writing. Reminiscent of the cut-up ...
http://www.socialfiction.org/obelisk.html

9. Sierramont Middle School - School Information
... any school property, Tagging of backpacks, books ... backpacks using block letters. No other lettering ... must make a request in writing for home teaching ... limited to, symbols, graffiti apparel, colors ...
http://www.berryessa.k12. .../student_handbook.htm

10. katachora » technology
... the creative use of graffiti and handbills. Here ... in a given direction, letters are of a given shape ... are very very good at writing them to be precise ... Philosophers Allowed Tagging emails in Outlook ...
http://www.katachora.com/?cat=2

11. Twenty Years From Now: February 2006 Archives
... for analyzing, writing, and presenting ... by the writers (letters may also be faxed to ... moosecamp talk, having tagging tools that facilitate ... Technorati Tags: graffiti, tagging, Posted by ...
http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~ph ...es/2006/02/index.html

12. Blogos
... anti-language of tagging) since the Internet ... having to name them, graffiti will have to stay on ... November 18, 2004 Writing and reading content c ... creation or automated letters for an automated post ...
http://www.multilingualbl ...index.php/weblog/C10/

13. It Shines For All
... Editorials FEATURES Arts & Letters Style Knickerbocker Calendar ... night during the routine tagging procedure and biologists ... such as the NYPD's anti-graffiti campaign, which led to 90 ...
http://www.shinesforall.c ...s/new_york/index.html

14. Panasonic toughbook cf 27
... phones art graffiti tagging bud light real ... teens credit repair letters of intent genealogy ... removal costs graffiti abatement air cooled ... either keenly up the writing: the useless. Since ...
http://panasonic-toughbook-cf-27.nagy.lubin.pl/

15. PART 2: as in speech |
... Mirror and elsewhere. Leaflets, posters and graffiti spread across university campuses. Comic ... ... written in a courtyard in 10-foot-high letters, ALL YOUR OSCAR ARE BELONG TO US.[2] For its ...
http://www.freeasinspeech ...7aa2bd2d3cf0d4e1c6516