GraffitiArt

FinalDefinationalPaper

Karen Brooks

Mariela Hristova
RHE 306
April 24, 2005

Socially Acceptable

art please, every one with style knows,
where else are you going to get this free art show.
the way it stands out and glows,
look at the lines and how well they flow,
graffiti artist are the most talented and creative, but this we already know.
-Jayson (RED) from the Art Institute of Colorado, Colorado Springs (Is Graffiti Art?)

You see it in subways, walls and museums. It is loud, bright and socially unacceptable. It can be legal, or not. Is it art? Graffiti has been banned and shunned, yet is cultivated and sold as high-class art. In the past, judgment to determine art was held by the select few that commissioned and taught art. Current perceptions of art are formed in the minds of the general public. The variance of individual tastes and opinions make a set definition of art problematic. My case is not all-inclusive capturing the essence of art, but focusing on the characteristics that are relevant to the controversy of graffiti. No single criteria includes or excludes a piece of work as art. Graffiti is art based on the following criteria: artistic elements and techniques; artist's intention and meaning; recognition by the professional world; history and culture; and other subjective characteristics include aesthetics and beauty. Arguments against qualifying graffiti as art: its legal legitimacy, rejection, and public misinterpretation are all founded on flawed perspectives.
Graffiti is art because of its artistic elements and techniques. Graffiti art typically emphasizes the artistic elements of line, movement and color, but can include perspectives and shading. Graffiti art, known as graffiti writing, is a complex process starting with an outline, then the fill in, color, three-dimensional shade and an optional background. During the late 1960's lettering styles emerged from New York; types of graffiti include bubble, computer, gothic, 3-D and wildstyle, an elaborate interconnecting pattern that is almost illegible (Silver). In addition to the many forms of calligraphy, blending colors and cartoon characters are another part of graffiti's form. Arrows are a large element in graffiti, accentuating letters' slant and energy. The graffiti movement has expanded beyond New York and traditional lettering. Some artists have become known for their iconic graphics rather than lettering, others deal only in abstract colors and patterns. On the other hand graffiti artist, or graffitist for short, El Kitsch Tasso's style is almost photorealistic. Tasso's work is so popular that most of it is commissioned and legal (Harrison). The unique style, process and artistic elements qualify graffiti writing as a class of art.
Graffiti's art status is affirmed by its intentionality. Although a piece of art might appear haphazard, artistic styles have their own meaning. "It is art because it is engaged for its own sake" (Harrison). Even though many ignorantly believe that graffiti is casual and inadvertent, "graffiti art is not a spontaneous activity like tagging in the form of fancy scribble" (Stowers). Writers give much consideration and planning to their work. Their intent may be political, social, revolutionary, cultural, creative and assertive of identity. Graffitist's motivation is often dedicated and strong, often a mission. Now in the Army, Skeme, a former graffiti artist, said the determination and mission-mindset graffiti prepared him for the tactical military mind-set (Silver).
Once a style is accepted by the accredited art community, many will consider it as art even if it does not match their personal taste. Graffiti is art because of its recognition in professional artistic galleries validates it as art. In the 1970's galleries in New York and Europe brought graffiti art to an international level. For example, Lee Quinones, a renowned graffitist, was invited to exhibit his work on canvas in Claudio Bruni's Galleria Madusa in Rome. Also, an art dealer, Yaki Kornblit of Denmark, helped establish the careers of a few graffiti artists between 1984 and 1985 at Museum Boyanano von Beuningen in Rotterdam" (Stowers). Barry McGee, "Twist", completed a mural for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Every art genre has a past and a culture. To fully understand and value a style of art one must recognize or know its history. Graffiti's rich tradition and roots strengthen its qualification as art. Modern graffiti originated in New York in the late 1960's and was first know as "New-York" graffiti. The largest promotion of graffiti has been the sub-culture Hip-Hop which originated in the Bronx. Graffiti is an equal part of the four elements of Hip-Hop culture. Rap is the spoken musical form, DJing or spinning records is manipulation and compilation of Hip-Hop music, break dancing also known as B-Boying is the dance mode and graffiti is the visual counterpart. Initially these components were integrated tightly; many graffitists were also break dancers, rappers, and DJ's. Hip-Hop's culture is unique in that is has spread all over the world and graffiti knows no racial, gender, economic, ethnic or age boundaries. One graffitist, Johana Guerra, says the graffiti he creates is an ethnic and cultural expression, "Graffiti lights up the community. It makes "el barrio" more colorful. When I draw, I try to show my love for my "Raza", my people, my art, my Mexican pride. Through graffiti I can express [the] feeling that I have so strongly for my culture" (Is Graffiti Art?). Whether in the barrio in Los Angeles, the ghetto in New York City or Latin America, graffiti expresses the culture of its creator and holds an artistic past in the heart of Hip-Hop generations.
Just as graffiti art's culture is diverse and showy, equally is its appearance. Graffiti art possesses copious artistic and aesthetic properties. Graffiti art is highly geometric emphasizing artistic elements such as line, form and arrangement combined to parallel the strong rhythm and emotion in rap music. Bold colors, energy, intensity contribute to the emotional draw of graffiti. Graffitist Doze says graffiti art is pure and unapologetic; its creation of motion is fundamental, "tilting letters makes them alive" (Style).
Despite the overwhelming evidence that graffiti qualifies as art by these characteristics, graffiti is unwelcome and misunderstood by conventional society. A challenge to graffiti art is that it is "forced upon the public" by appearing in nontraditional artistic settings (Stowers). However, many businesses use graffiti as attention-grabbing advertisements, recognizing the public's positive reaction to this art form. Rheingold Brewing Company paid graffiti writers to paint their window shades as innovative commercial advertisements. Another business owner Nelson Plasencio, of a New York tailor shop has utilized graffiti as a marketing tactic. He says that graffiti brightens up the appearance of the building and attracts costumers (Barron). Graffiti can be found all over the marketplace, including fashion design. Although clothing style does not dictate art, it reflects the public's aesthetic appreciation. Graffiti fashion can be found on shirts, shoes, hats, purses and jeans; Escada has a perfume called "Sexy Graffiti" and Nokia has cell phone face plates with graffiti designs. Carlos Rodriguez, or "Mare," started graffiti as an adolescent and has turned his graffiti into a profession. He designed a BET award, and sells graffiti-inspired or styled sculpture and canvas art for an occupation (Silver).
Regardless of this commercial and public acknowledgment, the government remains opposed in lieu of graffiti's illegitimacy, labeling it as vandalism. Society tends to look down on criminal activity. San Diego's website posts graffiti as, "A Sign of Urban Decay" and an agent of alarm, "graffiti generates fear of neighborhood crime and instability". It goes further to define graffiti in a city ordinance in 2000 as, "any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, picture, or design that is sprayed, marked, cut, posted, pasted or otherwise affixed, drawn or painted on any surface of public or private property" (Graffiti Control). San Diego's definition is ambiguous enough to catalog garage-sale advertisements on traffic signs as graffiti. There is a necessary distinction between legal and illegal graffiti. A website detailing graffiti art in Barcelona distinguishes America from the rest of the world as unable to "recognize the differences between graffiti and vandalism" (Barcelona). This declaration stems from the problem of graffiti's broad definition. Graffiti literally includes any carving, scratching, painting or writing on a wall or surface. In the modern graffiti world there are two kinds of popular graffiti-bombing (also known as tagging) and writing. Bombing consists of anything from bathroom scribbles to unsolicited markings on private or public property. "Bombers" write over other's work and contain no visual design; bombers focus on producing quantity rather than quality. On the other hand graffiti writing is a, "creative method of communicating identity, expression, and ideas" (Stowers); writing focuses on art. "The difference between tagging and art is the difference between writing a statement and writing a whole paper," says graffitist DadOneLove (Davila). Seattle Councilman Nick Licata, addresses the gap between the idea using the terms-graffiti and graffiti-style art, "Graffiti is undesirable and should be eradicated." But graffiti-style art is different, "like other forms of visual art [it] does have merit" (Davila). This brings up a common argument against graffiti. The issue of what something is does not change because of where it is-the location of a piece of work does not change its definition. Graffiti writer Barry McGee, also know by his tag name "Twist," affirms the contradiction that people approve of his art inside the studio and galleries and rebuke his art on the streets, "I do [graffiti] with the same hand and people say, 'this is great, I love this stuff [graffiti art]' and walk on the street and say, 'I wish they would get rid of this stuff [graffiti art]' in reference to my [graffiti]" (Barry McGee). Though graffiti, as defacement, is illegal, legality is irrelevant to the classification of art. It is possible for graffiti to be both illegal and art. Especially since governmental recognition of graffiti is evident from LA to Chicago. Local authorities have commissioned graffiti-style murals to decorate their cities and deter illegal graffiti by providing legal opportunities. The Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia has sponsored more than 2,300 murals in the past 20 years. The program started in 1984 to legally channel graffiti artists' talent to inner-city beautification (Ramsdale).
Further criticism from unwilling audiences stems from graffiti's ambiguity and indecipherable form. Of all the criticisms of graffiti, this one has the least merit; countless accepted art genres initially produced the same effect from the public. Institutional recognition of a style as art is not necessary (as most were originally shunned by the public). Cubism, surrealism, dadaism, impressionism, fauvism, and expressionism are all movements of art the public rejected.
Clearly graffiti's artistic elements, intention, professional recognition, history and culture and aesthetics name graffiti as art. Unlike most art periods, Hip-Hop culture has lasted decades and spread to communities around the world. Still, mass public acceptance and appreciation of graffiti will be long after its birth; rejection is society's typical reaction. Throughout history, art genres, from Monet's impressionism to Jazz music, have "raised from the ashes" of minorities or the poor or young. This is visibly the case concerning Hip-Hop culture and graffiti writing. So when a train flies by with the bright spray paint of American youth, a wall downtown yells the loud marks of spray-paint art be attentive-you might see the same painting displayed under "graffitism" in the art books someday.

Works Cited
"Art in the Twenty First Century: Is Graffiti Art?" PBS. 2005. 20 Apr. 2005 .
"Barcelona's Alternative Gallery Guide." Celebrating Barcelona Graffiti Culture. 2004. 20 Apr. 2005 .
Barron, James. "Welcoming Graffiti as a Partner in Promotion." The New York Times 14 Nov. 2004, Late ed., sec. 14: 8.
"Barry McGee, Graffiti Interview, Is Graffiti Art? Forum." PBS. 2005. 20 Apr. 2005 .
Davila, Florangela. "Is Graffiti Art an Oxymoron?" The Seattle Times 15 Oct. 2004, Fourth ed., sec. ROP ZONE: H51.
"Graffiti Control Program About Graffiti What is Graffiti?" America's Finest City: The City of San Diego. 2005. 20 Apr. 2005 .
Harrison, Ben. "Art Gets a Spray." Courier Mail [Queensland] 8 Jan. 2005, sec. BAM: M08.
Ramsdale, Jack. "The Murals of Philadelphia." The Ford Foundation Report 35.3 (Summer 2004): 19.
Silver, Tony. Style Wars. Plexifilm, 1983. DVD ROM. 2003 ed. Brooklyn: Public Arts Film Inc.
Stowers, George C. "Graffiti Art: An Essay Concerning the Recognition of Some Forms of Graffiti As Art." Unpublished essay, Fall 1997. Art Crimes the Writing on the Wall. 2005. 20 Apr. 2005 .