The Walls Are Talking

This paper is about graffiti.

Research Paper for an english class.

The Walls are Talking

Graffiti has been around for a long time and has always been a controversial topic, many have mixed feelings about it, from it being vandalism to it being art. Graffiti is great and is sometimes used to communicate social and political messages. But there is a time and place for everything, even though art is whatever a person perceives it to be and should not be banned, it should also not be imposed on its viewers. Graffiti that’s done on any persons private property is vandalism, if you’re a great graffiti artist and are really confident in your work, then you should place it in areas where people would want to go see it, like an exhibition. New York City has evolved graffiti from it’s early beginnings to what it is now, the graffiti phenomenon has became a world wide sub-culture, and has been commercialized.

New York City is one of the most interesting places to explore and see the graffiti movement, many modern day graffiti styles derived from New York City graffiti artists. The graffiti movement first started in the early 1960s, where many of the artist started writing their tags on the subways. The first person to receive media attention was TAKI 183, the New York Times wrote an article titled "Taki 183 Spawns Pen Pals", the article said “ His TAKI 183 appears in subway stations and subway carts all over the city … He has spawned hundreds of imitators”, there were people doing graffiti years before TAKI 183, but he was one of the first to do graffiti outside of his neighborhood which gave him media attention and many people followed his footsteps, he was one of the most influential people in the graffiti movement. Since those days many artists have left the subways carts and have moved on to what is now called “commercial graffiti“. Graffiti is now seen in music videos, commercials, clothing, and a variety of cultural settings, it has become more acceptable but itвЂ?s still an issue as far as vandalism.

The media has a strong hold on society and is sometimes not reliable. In article “Cultural Programmer”, by Bob Bryan, Big Time Magazine, he quotes “ вЂ?the audience or public perceives graff artist negatively because they get their information from the media. Once people see... (Graffiti Verite') they invariably turn their view around. It's just a lack of education-they're not educated as to what's really going on with the graffiti aesthetic’ ”. I agree, people don’t like what they don’t understand and the media gives people a one sided version on a topic or story, their side. While it’s fine to get your information from the media, it is wise to study the topic before blindly agreeing that they are correct, it might change your point of view. For many people that live out of New York and that don’t have graffiti issues where they live. View graffiti as bad thing and the media as a lot to do with this. Most movies that show scenes with graffiti in the background, relate it to crime or violence, which is not always the case graffiti. Even kid movies show graffiti in a negative matter. Growing up I remember watching “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” movies which were made believed to live in New York City sewers and in many of the fighting scenes you can see graffiti in the background, I was living in the Dominican Republic when these movies came out and as a kid, I connected graffiti as something bad or that was only in bad neighborhoods in America. Another movie that shows graffiti in a negative matter, which also takes place in New York City is “The Warriors”, the movie shows New York City filled crime and gang violence, dirty run subway carts, and the streets are made into a graffiti wasteland, some of the graffiti in the movie is used by the gangs or crews to mark their territory, in this film the character “Rembrandt” is the graffiti artist of the “The Warriors” gang. Graffiti is viewed and used negatively in movies and the media for various reasons. The obvious, it is illegal and by having graffiti in the background they are showing a law that was broken, I personally think another reason is the symbolism behind it, it literally is invading some ones property or space making them feel as though they can be reached or touched, that is why I think the media uses graffiti as means to portray violence, it shows people they can be reached whether its on the subway, schools, or where ever the film shows the graffiti.

Graffiti has been used for many causes, it extends from marking gang territory to political issues. After the 9/11 attack in New York City , there are many murals done by graffiti artist to show their respect for the victims and to remember the tragic day. There are also many pieces done to protest the war and to bring our soldiers home, and also the residents of Iraq graffiti their walls to protest the war, they call us the terrorists. Graffiti has less meaningful uses as well, many gangs use graffiti to mark their territory and send a threat to a rival gang, showing that they are not welcomed there. Latin kings members draw little crowns on top of their tags to represent their gang, in the graffiti sub culture gang graffiti is looked down on, graffiti artists say it shows no talent and it sends the wrong message about the graffiti movement. Most graffiti artist nowadays tag for fame, to get recognize in this sub-culture, their work can be seen in many places.

Graffiti that’s done on private property can and probably will be punishable by law, and even though it is considered a form of art, it should not be imposed on its viewers.

People work hard for the property they own and should not have to pay to have graffiti removed, when it shouldn’t