The walls of our buildings don't belong to advertisers, they belong to us. Graffiti is a public artform that can be provocative, tasteful and brilliantly crafted, and it deserves a recognition as such. We waste money and manhours in painting and policing the activity in a futile attempt to keep up with the artists.
Obviously, a lot of graffiti is crap. Citizens see that, and other artists see that. Is there a way to mediate spontaneous art so that crappy graffiti is targeted for removal instead of just blindly condemming all of it? What if there was a public panel of artists and citizens who were actively enganed in creating and criticising the existing work? They could continuously catalog and critique graffiti and offer tips to other artists and even police when they find ugly, hateful, gang-related or just plain bad graffiti. Obviously it wouldn't be an arm of the government because it's impossible to legislate taste, but it could provide a hands-on engagement with that lets citizens manage and be responsible for the look of their surroundings.
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the walls belong to the people who own the building. if you don't own the building then don't graffiti on it.
when you get round to owning something then feel free to make it look like sh#t. but leave our walls alone.
Hate to tell ya, Ty, but I spent over $6000 removing your "art" from public view because it seems a vast majority of the people think all graffiti regardless of artistic form & merit, is "crap". And I'm in the majority. The buildings, retaining walls, tunnels, bridges, streets, sidewalks, signs, and light poles are not "yours" to deface and vandalize. And if you get caught rendering your visions on the property I take care of you will "pay" restitution and have the privilege of hearing the methods I used to "restore" the property in court.
I have personally "critiqued" approximately 50 "showings" a year for the past 15 years and have not found one that wouldn't be deemed "crap", though there were a few that approached, "crap & garbage". In fact, most of them were downright offensive and racist. Some were gang related. Some were done just for the sake of wrecking whatever it was painted on. A few were inflicted by egomaniacs that have to scream, "Look at me!" to their peers to gain acceptance.
If you want to buy a billboard for all your "tagger" friends to mess up then I say , "Great!" Just be sure to check with the zoning commission first . . . Anything else is "criminal".
Yes, the buildings or structures belong to the respective owners. It is their right, usually, to sell or rent their surfaces to advertisers, or otherwise decide if they want it graffitied. In the case of city or other government owned properties, despite you essentially owing a share of the building in a fashion, you have no right to graffiti on those either.
You know what? I say that idea rocks! But of course im not on the recieving end of the grafitti...but then again, I dont care about how much money it costs you or if its illegal i say go ahead because thats one aspect of the art form that is grafitti, the thrill of getting away with doing something you shouldnt. W/E im done rambling....
Let's clear this up before there are any further misconceptions about it. Graffiti is not art. The vandals that do it are not artists.
It is criminal destruction of property and the idiots that do it are criminals.
Simple enough?
It has been shown that vandalized property will attract additional graffiti, whereas property which is kept up and which looks nice will receive less attention from the graffiti vandals. It may be that the vandals perceive that vandalizing pristine property is more likely to result in punishment.
If a graffiti "artist" considers himself such, let him find a legitimate outlet for his talents - on a piece of canvas.
In Los Angeles, graffiti is used to mark gang territories. It's imperative to paint over it immediately. One man's art is another's graffiti.
Oh, graffiti. The same word for magnificent works of street art, and for modern-day piss stains by misguided territorial youth. The fact remains that the majority doesn't understand either sentiment, and regards all graffiti as a degradation. There indeed should be venues for the artistic form—there are windowside exhibits and free-standing concrete canvasses in many cities—but still not on your everyday office building.