Graffiti: Art or Crime - Case Study Example

Graffiti: Art or Crime? by Graffiti is a common way of expression for humanity since ancient times but the attitude to it remains controversial. To define whether graffiti is a crime or art it is important to know the difference between such graffiti styles such as “bombing” and “burning”. The last one serves as a means of self-expression and in most cases requires solid painting skills, understanding of composition, colors, and technique. This type of graffiti is connected to social protest against injustice in most cases. Serious pieces of “burning” can take different forms: black and white, colorful, depicting people and parodying known masterpieces. Simple “bombing” with huge tags can hardly be considered art because it lacks artistic sense and purpose. Nevertheless, for the law any intrusion or damage into personal or public property without permission is illegal. While the culture of graffiti presupposes drawing secretly graffiti paradoxically remains both: a criminal act and a piece of art. However, a slow process of adaptation of this type of street art to the global cultural process is taking places with graffiti being exposed in museums and sold on auctions. Introduction The époque of technological progress gives people countless possibilities of self-expression: traditional forms of art remain accessible while a number of absolutely new ways, such as 3-D painting, comics, and animation for example, appear day by day. Art is taking different forms in the era of postmodernism, and what was yesterday considered to be trash today is highly valued due to its originality and non-conformism. In the postmodern époque the initial understanding of pieces of art as those depicting reality and conveying serious message to the society has become irrelevant. We live in the age where form is also a message, moreover, where the message is not compulsory that is why graffiti asa pure impulse of people from the poor districts of big cities is becoming interesting to the owners of the galleries. The museums of modern art in London and New York compete in exhibiting the strangest, the most unexpected pieces of art, and graffiti is gradually taking its place in contemporary art world. Moreover, graffiti was anonymous earlier while now authors, painters become celebrated people and are called real artists. It is possible to recall the success of Banksy who became famous and started selling his works without even disclosing his identity. This fact proves that for real art the personality of the author is secondary compared to the power of his artistic expression. That is why graffiti is flourishing in the époque of postmodernism with its ironical world perception, love to the various forms of expression, and anonymity. Humanity still continues drawing on the walls as it did it hundreds years ago, and it seems that nothing can influence this so graffiti is not new by all means but it is now when it is becoming celebrated, And though earlier our ancestors did not have possibilities of self-expression today painting on the walls looks strange and provoking for many of us. Young people around the world take cans and go painting on the buildings in their blocks despite the level of their income or prohibition from the government. Many people looking at such expression wonder why they are doing that despite the possibility of being punished. And there are numerous reasons why they do it: as a negative reaction to what they see around as citizens, as the way to attract attention of others, as the way to pass positive emotions with the help of a color, as a protest, or purelybecuase of creative impulses in them. That is how graffiti appears. Some of us already perceive it as art while for others this type of creativity is associated with crime and vandalism because it involves damage of property. As long as graffiti will require the space that must be filled anonymously and without permission, this type of art will be regarded as vandalism. So graffiti remains a controversial subject worth attention, and it is hardly possible to say what exactly graffiti is: art or vandalism which is defined as crime. It seems that this new type of visual expression managed to become both: art and crime in the époque of postmodernism. Body How is graffiti connected to vandalism? According to Oxford English Dictionary vandalism presupposes senseless but deliberate destruction or damage of property belonging to individuals or public. But in a broader sense vandalism means wrecking, antisocial and destructive behavior directed to the material objects. For example, somebody threw away garbage in a public park, broke flowers in a flowerbed near the school or crushed a window in a shop – all this deviant behavior can be considered acts of vandalism. Teenagers and marginal people are usually engaged in such activity and adolescences are most often those who start taking interest in graffiti, and that is why graffiti acquires negative sense in social perception because it is associated with other acts of vandalism committed by irresponsible young people. So what is common between vandalism as a crime and painting on the walls? Heather McDonalds who writes for The New York Times claims that graffiti is vandalism or a crime under any circumstances. The reason is that graffiti is done without consent of the property owners therefore it is always done illegally. So basically every intrusion into someone else`s property even by tagging walls requires permission and when there is none, it leads to administrative or criminal responsibility. The author refers to the famous museums such as Contemporary Art in Los Angeles or the Museum of the City of New York which celebrate graffiti and suggests that their reaction would change dramatically if someone “bombed” the walls of the buildings (Heather, 2014). So basically graffiti is supported until it appears on the walls of personal house and then it is perceived as intrusion. Another New York Times correspondent who was a graffiti writer for a long time has similar opinion. According to Felisbert, it is impossible to treat graffiti otherwise than a usual crime because for the law it does not matter whether the painting was made by the next Rembrandt or it is a simple inscription or a phrase made by a student of nearby university, and such approach is absolutely logical because law must be applicable to each case under any circumstances (2014). America was one of the first countries which experienced real boom of graffiti beginning from the 1960s. The ex-mayor of New York John Lindsay emphasized that graffiti was dangerous because it manifested inability of authorities and law to control society. This makes public spaces “vulnerable to even greater levels of disorder and law-breaking”. Many social scientists connect graffiti to a curious theory of “broken windows”. According to this theory created by Wilson and Kellig serious crimes were the final results of the existence of disorder in the society. The disorder which takes the form of broken windows, graffiti on the buildings or garbage creates the perception of the place as unsafe and unsuitable for community. This illusion pushes criminals to committing petty crimes or vandalism and the process starts feeding itself (McKee, 2013). The theory is widely accepted among sociologists and police officers. So accepting graffiti as a crime is reasonable and justified because it can further lead to more grave crimes on a psychological level of perception. The places bombed with graffiti are not perceived as safe by people and they can signify that the total area is favorable to crime as it lacks control. And though some people consider that it is progressive to give space to graffiti painters and allow them working with public amenities; it can actually lead to regress in society. When people hear the word “graffiti” they usually imagine colorful tags but in reality graffiti can look very differently: it can be a detailed picture speaking about racial tolerance or black and white conceptual pieces against the pressure of a system. Nevertheless, it is also impossible to deny that graffiti has its sense and artistic value depending on the type and purpose. In most cases graffiti has its social or individual message because people painting it usually risk their freedom to do it (Graffiti as Art). Graffiti is the way of communication in society, the way of expressing opinions or informing of something urgent and crucial making it incognito. In recent decades graffiti acknowledged its protest meaning: people belonging to subculture praising graffiti often fight against established system with its imposed values and control. Depending on the mission of graffiti can be public and personal, or it can be some meaningful inscriptions made in hip-hop style (Felisbert, 2014). Therefore, subject to the complexity and performance graffiti can be considered art or act of vandalism (Graffiti as Art, 2012). Simple tags surely cannot fit the category of an art pieces but more serious works can as require artistic conception and understanding of the principles of painting: knowledge of materials, colors, composition. Eric Felisbert differentiates between two types of graffiti: “bombing” in which painters are trying to capture all existing space on the walls with tagging and there is also “burning” which involves artistic decoration of walls with ornaments, inscriptions or pictures. These two styles are completely different and have various targets (Felisbert, 2014). Public got used to perceiving graffiti solely as a street art: it usually appears on the walls of abandoned buildings, and that what makes this type of expression what it is. Nevertheless, the concept of culture is changing due to postmodern tendencies, and graffiti is gaining its legitimate status. Pieces of art are exhibited in major galleries of art capitals of the world such as London and New York. Moreover, many yesterday street graffiti writers become acknowledged today by art critics and are invited to make live performances or decorate premises (Graffiti as Art, 2012). Banksy paved the way to graffiti as a form of art with his eloquent and beautiful works that raise a number of social and even philosophical questions. Remaining incognito he managed to become exceptionally popular and influential. His works were sold through one of the most prestigious auctions in Britain and bought by celebrities for a high price. The success of Banksy inspired many graffiti writers around the world. After recognition of Banksy`s work in artistic circles, people started speaking about graffiti as about art (Graffiti as Art, 2012). Felisbert suggests that disputing whether graffiti is art or it is vandalism is senseless because it is definitely both. They are united with the message as every graffiti writer risks his freedom to paint something decent that is also can be destroyed in several hours (2014). Conclusion Graffiti appeared as soon as humanity learned how to draw but only today it has become celebrated by society. Postmodernism with its devaluation of canons and traditions of realism paved the way to pronouncing graffiti a kind of art. Anonymity, celebration of the form, ironical and paradoxical character allowed graffiti to be perceived as a new form of art. Postmodern art is absorbing graffiti as deviant but still worth form of expression. Legitimization of graffiti is happening around the world with influential galleries exhibiting graffiti murals as pieces of art and works of famous artists sold on auctions. However, for the law it does not matter what and how you were trying to express as a painter as long as you use other people`s or public property as canvas. So paradoxically graffiti remains vandalism which is crime that has to be punished accordingly. Moreover, graffiti leads to disorder because it often appears in the districts with less of social control and order which leads to further deterioration of criminal situation. As graffiti is often performed by marginal layers of society its social perception affects negatively the image of art. So as long as graffiti can play two roles simultaneously it is really difficult to decide how to deal with graffiti. It is important not to let it vanish completely and control it at the same time. Graffiti must take its decent place in the world of art by winning its space in city area. . References Felisbert, E. (2014). Graffiti New York. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/07/11/when-does-graffiti-become-art/legal-venues-celebrate-graffiti-as-an-art-form Graffiti as Art. (2012). Interactive Library of Florida University. Retrieved from: http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall07/Sanchez/art.html McDonald, H. (2014). Graffiti is always vandalism. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/07/11/when-does-graffiti-become-art/graffiti-is-always-vandalism McKee, A. (2013). Broken Windows Theory. Encyclopaedia Britanica. Retrieved from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1929803/broken-windows-theory Read More