There's different kinds of graffiti. What pisses me off about people who say "X isn't art!", is that they're making a huge value judgement. How anybody could argue [I]all[/I] graffiti isn't art, is beyond me. It's painting; just on a different, illegal canvas. You can't say something isn't art just because you don't like it.
It's like when people hear a song and argue[I]"that's just noise; it's not music!!!"
[/I]I'd probably compare tagging to writing, however. It's not really intended to be decorative so it's a bit more of a grey area.
[QUOTE=Schlinky;24512358]That just happens to be where Garry lives.[/QUOTE]
I go past his office all the time. :smug: I'll have to knock the door until he lets me in.
If it's just a simple tag of a name, fuck off that's a crime against art. If it's actual art with a good design, it should be left there.
I don't think people should be made to accept even beautiful graffiti. At that point it just stops being graffiti and it loses such a huge part of what it is.
That's why I argue Banksy isn't a graffiti artist anymore.
Depends what's being graffited and what it's on. Some expressionism on a stretch of wall is fine, a dick on a wall isn't. Some expressionism on a monument or sculpture is a crime, a dick on a monument is a crime.
I have to clean up graffiti on a daily basis, its illegal and its not any form of expression, its a crime. Kids need to find better things to do these days.
I blame the parents.
It's illegal if you tag someone else's property. Whether it's Mona Lisa or a dick.
[QUOTE=Triumph Forks;24505030]graffiti can be beautiful pieces of self expression, but thoughtless tags are ugly as shit[/QUOTE]
I dunno, the tags people just shrug off as shit thoughtless vandalism can often have alot of effort and thought put into it.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI6khC_bJ_A[/media]
it's like saying calligraphy isn't an art. (Or that's how I see it atleast)
[QUOTE=Adventbishop;24515344]I have to clean up graffiti on a daily basis, its illegal and its not any form of expression, its a crime. Kids need to find better things to do these days.[/QUOTE]
How can you argue that something isn't a form of expression? Even shitty tags are expressing at very least "I have nothing better to do so I'm going to vandalise this wall." You shouldn't argue something isn't expression just because you don't like it.
Art is art regardless of who owns the canvas.
[QUOTE=Godzillarr;24512093][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JalwW3KYrec[/media]
this is awesome.[/QUOTE]
if that isn't art then i don't know what is.
wrong? if it's shit and on someone else's property, sure. nothing in that video is wrong though.
I drive the train daily to school and back, and I fucking hate when people cover the windows with bad graffiti, such as this:
[img]http://images.bt.dk/node-images/102/608x403-c/102566-tog-fyldt-med-stein-bagger-hrvrk--.jpg[/img]
Buy a board from B&Q or something, and spray paint that. Put on the front or wherever on your house, voila. Instant graffiti that you can mount and un-mount on your house.
People can try and think of ways of making graffiti more legal or more pretty or whatever they want. Regardless people are going to find ways of doing graffiti that is still vandalism, because [I]they want to vandalise[/I]. That's what makes them [I]graffiti[/I] artists.
[QUOTE=kevlar jens;24515375]It's illegal if you tag someone else's property. Whether it's Mona Lisa or a dick.[/QUOTE]
This
Yes and no. Some graffiti can be nice to look at but if it is pointless it is wrong. I live in a small town so all the graffiti you see around here is SMOKE WEED EVERYDAY and YOU'RE GAY. Just pointless. Bigger cities show how graffiti can be looked upon as an art, not some 12 year old trying to be cool.
When I get my own house, I am totally going to have a spray room where I just graffiti every day and make the best thing in the world.
shame we live in a world where art is criminalized
[QUOTE=Jack_Thompson;24507195]That second one looks commissioned to me.
[editline]08:17PM[/editline]
[img]http://sfist.com/attachments/SFist_Jay/hibernia-bank-tagger.jpg[/img]
I like this, not because of the tag, but because the tagger had the balls to climb that building, and get up there and tag it where he could be seen by everyone.[/QUOTE]
I think that completely destroys the building, and I don't really care if someone risked their balls to do it. Personally, I don't like grafitti much, but those "optic illusions" are fucking fantastic.. But most just put a tag, and that's goddamn ugly.
I will show you all when it is retarded. Probably 2 days from now
In London there's a place called south-bank - You are allowed to graffiti there for free but all your work gets sprayed over within 1 day - Its sort of' worthless.
If there where more places like that it would be great - like if you could buy a area.
Also, tags suck major donkey cock.
Oh yeah, I went there a couple of months ago. The place was filled to the brim with graffiti, some of it was art, and some of it was just the random crap you find on the streets.
[QUOTE=Robbobin;24511840]so you're saying the difference between a good piece of art is who owns the canvas?[/QUOTE]
No, he's not saying that at all.
He's saying who owns the canvas is the difference between okay and not okay.
And I agree.
[QUOTE=BobbyHill;24505353]This is not art: [IMG]http://media.drunkenfist.com/img/art/graffiti_art/canvases/react_graffiti_style_canvas.jpg[/IMG]
This is art: [IMG]http://www.graffitiarts.cn/graffitiart/493715892_05509c6f23.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
They each took somebody a fair amount of time to produce, both were made from someones will and creativity. You have no right to judge what counts as art and what doesn't count.
[editline]11:03AM[/editline]
I'm a huge advocate of street art, we need more colour in our lives. And we need people who challenge the legal system.
[editline]11:05AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=FreddiRox!;24538615]In London there's a place called south-bank - You are allowed to graffiti there for free but all your work gets sprayed over within 1 day - Its sort of' worthless.
If there where more places like that it would be great - like if you could buy a area.
Also, tags suck major donkey cock.[/QUOTE]
South Bank is literally my favourite place in london.
Fairly recently, some local twats decided to get pink flourescent spray-paint and spray "Finacle Terrorists" (Financial Terrorists)and "Where is my money?" On banks.
Also "Hitler Youth" was sprayed on the local Private School. And a massive dick drawn on local shops to name but a few.
This is why graffiti is bullshit, unless someone actually does something creative rather than telling schoolkids they are Nazi's.
[QUOTE=FreddiRox!;24538615]In London there's a place called south-bank - You are allowed to graffiti there for free but all your work gets sprayed over within 1 day - Its sort of' worthless.
If there where more places like that it would be great - like if you could buy a area.
Also, tags suck major donkey cock.[/QUOTE]
Fucking love south bank, best place in London period.
It depends. You can't define it, or anything in life, with a yes or no, or within a few sentences.
The question everyone knows the answer to, is "Is it legal?". No. The remaining questions are: "Is it ethical?", "Is it art?", and "Which kinds of graffiti are art?".
Ethics. I see it as wrong when it's, without permission, on a house / residence, monument, place of worship, or unabandoned car. There are other details like placement, but I'm leaving them out to keep it simple. Some criminals can and do have morals. Some abide by this code or similar, and some don't. The latter believe that "the game" is a free-for-all since they're already breaking the law.
Artistic. If the content is genitals, racist, "I love FP", "FP was here", or gang-related; I see that as pure vandalism and zero art.
What kinds of graffiti are art? All of it. Graffiti is a combination of vandalism (damaging) and art (beautifying). The types, in order of least to most artistic degree are: tags, throw-ups, and pieces. Wheatpasting and stenciling are considered seperate, and called "street art", since they don't use spray paint alone.
I'll address this since it's the most hated - tags. This is where graffiti started. They are signatures. Graffiti is not only about artistic prowess. Recognition and fame are also objectives. But that doesn't mean quality is thrown out. Tags need to be pleasing to the eye, and quickly executable. You might have had a bad experience, but they can look good.
- Former writer
Personally I love it. There's tons of great artwork thats put onto the sides of buildings. then again there's a lot of crap too. it just depends on the artist.
I really Love all the stuff Banksy does
[IMG]http://www.pastymuncher.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/banksy.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.clashmusic.com/files/imagecache/big_node_view/files/banksy11.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.rebelart.net/diary/wp-database/uploads/2009/banksy1.jpg[/IMG]
I think its a beautiful art form that gets abused and gets associated with just writing you're name on the wall
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