"Graffiti - art or vandalism?'
Graffiti – art or vandalism there are many different opinions about this subject but there does not seem like there is a definitive answer to the question. If people took the time to look at street art in the same way they took time to look at work in galleries or watch TV them they might appreciate the fact that graffiti maybe is art. Graffiti artist follow just the same process as any other artist. Many people who see graffiti on the street just look at it as simple acts of vandalism, but is that what it really is? Do any of these people stop to take a closer look to really see the meaning behind the work, or the effort, planning and imagination that goes into these pieces they produce.
Many people would look at the art differently if it was in an art gallery.Urbis in Manchester has created the U.K’s largest ever exhibition of street art with work specially created for a gallery space, most people would not have a problem with street art in a gallery but on the street where it can create the biggest effect people say its vandalism.
I have to agree that there is a time and a place for street art but the reason people do the pieces on the street is because that’s were they work best and create the biggest effect. Why hide away exceptional pieces of work in art gallery when you can have them on the street were they are accessible to everyone?
Some graffiti like tags often can just be described as vandalism because they are just simple lettering on a surface. But there are other tags were the artist has taken a letter and destroyed the letter form to create a totally unique font. Much like typography’s Neville broody, who produces work for fuse, produces similar work, is there really any difference in the work they do? The only difference, which is evident, is the place where they display their work, the thing with street art is that you cannot display it in a gallery, as the effect would just not be the same, the piece as a whole would not work. Most street artist use the background as base for there design Swoon who is an street artist in new York produces work using most stencil and prints, if her work was displayed in a gallery there would be excellent reviews about the work but on the street its vandalism, why? Swoon recently exhibited with many other artists at Urbis they took street art and put it in a gallery, surely if they feel is worthy of putting in a gallery then what’s wrong with graffiti on the street.
The thing with street art is that it is accessible to everyone; there is a snob value of galleries, whereas street art is more accessible. There is also an immediate effect with some pieces and also some of these pieces have hidden meaning, which could be described as interactive art. The thing with street art is that it is often layered with loads of different people’s art or tags so you get something totally unique piece and something, which you could get if it wasn’t done on the street.
They say art has not boundaries and that it can be almost anything the artist wants, so then you can say that graffiti is art, the graffiti you see that is produced by young kids maybe does not fall in to this category, the people that produce most of the street art are older people who just love the effect you get when creating art on the street, they do it because they love it not to rebel.
“Suppose that Leonardo, Monet, Picasso, or any of the recognized artisans of Western European culture were alive in the present day. Then, suppose that one of these famous artists decided to paint a masterpiece on the side of your house or on your front door or on a wall in your neighbourhood. Would Picasso or Monet's markings be graffiti or art or vandalism or graffiti art?”
That summarises the way we view art today if its produced by a well know artist would it be described as vandalism or art. It is fair to say that graffiti is a criminal offence to deface someone else’s property, but yet it can still be described as art, for the effect that it has on the eye. Can we really say weather it is art or vandalism?
posted by monkeynic @ 9:06 am
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