Graffiti - art or crime?

[enjoi]

Just wondering what you all think of graffiti.
Do you appreciate its artistic qualities? or see it as a crime that is presenting a serious issue in today's society?
I know alot of people consider the 'tags' and random,usually messy scriblings on the corner shop up the road to be an eyesaw, but what do you think of (illegal) artistic pieces? (pieces being the carefully thought out and executed word designs.)

As you may have noticed from my DP, I am pro-graffiti, but what does the general public think of it, remembering to consider 'tags', 'pieces', graffiti on/in trains, or just graffiti as a whole.

Thanks for reading
Looking forward to seeing some opinions

 

[johnny]

If I had my way, the world would be covered in the stuff. It is by far my favourite style of art. My ex used to get the shits when we'd travel overseas, I'd be happy just to ride the trains all day!!

http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=15215&highlight=graf
http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=27240&highlight=GRAFFITI

 

[arpit]

Graffiti - art or crime?

Why can't it be both?


Graffiti can be quite pretty and tasteful, as well as expressive.
It's unwise to group all graffiti together.
For example :
I found the artwork on the base of De Burghs bridge quite exceptional. It told a story of hardship and suffering in the year 12 exams. Over 200 cans of spraypaint lay empty too. It was a sizeable investment. It was amazing.

However, I also think slogans like 'EMMA IS A CUNT' and rough phallic imagery scribbled on skateparks can lack a great deal of artistic merit.

While I recognise the artistic value of some graffiti, I do not currently support further decriminalisation in respect to it.

 

[OH64]

As long as its well thought out quality work, not a problem. Mindless punks scribbling rubbish I can't stand. Especially the types who go around and scirbble crap over the larger pieces that would have taken quite a considerable time to do.

 

[johnny]

AEspecially the types who go around and scirbble crap over the larger pieces that would have taken quite a considerable time to do.

oOOH YEAH, UNCLE JOHNNY GETS VEEERRRY ANGRY WHEN HE SEES THAT! stoopid caps lock.....

 

[Mattydv]

yeah good artistic graffiti i dont have a problem with there is some real talent out there and i think its great! some of the works around sydney is fantastic. although mindless tagging i think is just pointless and destructive.

 

[sawtell]

Most of my mates graff, well 'piece' in drains etc etc.. which yeah thats cool i dont think there harming anybody going down to the drain, no one around etc etc..

And pieces along the train lines which are well thought out and shit, yeah man im cook with that, its not harming any body...

now, most of the good stuff that is around is by respected writers, who dont go around a "tag" street signs etc, as they know that it gives them and all arosol artists a bad rep..

This is were i may offend some people
Its the little fukwit carnts, who think there it and a bit, who go around with the pens, thinking cause they flogged a stainer from the litte old ladies at the local newsagency they now have permission to graff on every surface available..
Or they go get the fake ID's and go buy paint, with out planning or anything, not looking at who they go over or where they are.. chucking up this big ugly mixes of shit..
They think it makes them "cool" to write shit on other peoples property.



in a nut shell

Thats the difference in my books between good graff and shit graff..

Good graffiti,- is usualy down by people for self expression, to let them selfves out of their shell as they might not fit in any where else, and really do enjoy the feeling of putting up a piece of art, for all to see!!

Shit graff,- little turds, who are trying to impress there 13 year old girlfriend wearing wutang smokeing a duzza.


Sorry if that made no sense i cant be bothered readng through it again

 

[gravelclimber]

I have the same feelings as others in this thread. Good artistic graffiti is awesome. Don't mind a well-placed ironic political slogan either. Tags suck.

 

[FR Drew]

I can appreciate the style elements in some tags but most of them are illegible lame arse shit. Bit like a dog pissing on posts really. If gangs in Australia actually had turf to protect it might be one thing, but considering it's usu 13y/o wankers in hood tops and baggy jeans who've listened to a touch too much mainstream austereo network hiphop I have no time for it.

A lot of larger pieces are pretty amatuerish and again, barely legible as to what word they are even supposed to say. I think the true art in word style pieces is both having style and an individual look but in also actually being readable. Kind of like, anyone can make a font, but to make one that has impact or is readable as well as having style is a talent. If you're musicianship and composition is crap, don't play in public, we don't want to hear you. If your techique, style and composition is crap, don't spray in public, we also don't want to see you.

Having said that, some wall art is absolutely stunning. Preference would be that you didn't trash the property of others to do it but nonetheless, there's some mindblowing artistry out there. And, as a general rule, most other folks doing graffitti respect the skilled stuff and don't plaster lame crap over it either. Ther easiest way to prtect a wall from crap writers is to get some one skilled and comission them to do something stunning.

BTW, on the topic of tagging, Google "still free" and "air force one"... Pure gold (and elephant balls)

 

[tinto]

I like graffiti a lot, and I appreciate the wild styles and creativity that can come out from just the writing and transferring that to a full pieces or a quick roof-top throw-up.

Tags only tend to shit me if they're executed really badly, or in a really thoughtless position (like someone's limestone front wall in the middle of a quiet suburb). Move that same tag to a bus-stop on a highway, and I'm not particularly fussed. Some bombers realise this, and others just piss everywhere like a dog.

80% of modern graffiti (in the adidas pants sense) is all about having a bit of an anonymous wank in public. An in-joke between you and your mates.
I'm not saying it has to carry a strong message, but if the only other people who appreciate what you've done are taggers, what have you achieved?

I'd rather see more thought provoking graffiti - culture jamming and stuff like that. Which potentially connects with more people because it is using a language we all understand.... like the bubble project

Having said that, I'll still crack up at a scrawled outline of a bottle, with a cock-tip and the label 'DICK SAUCE' on it. I don't know why, but that stuff is comical.

 

[johnny]

Haha, tags are wicked and I love them, fark you alllll!

Seriously, I understand how in most people's eyes tags are ugly. But I love them myself. They say many things to me. They show me the artists talents, much like a caligraphy artist's work. They show me the risk the artist took to put his mark on a particular place. They entertain me, as I said I can still understand why people don't like them. It's all art to me

 

[Arete]

I can see the artistic merit in pieces, and the way they add to a city landscape, and I can appreciate the risk involved in spending a good amount of time in a dangerous, highly visible place carrying out an illegal activity.

However, the illegible scratches and artline crap all over train windows, buses, etc is annoying. It's talentless, anyone can scribble a stupid alias all over public property, and it gives legitimate, talented people out there making the cityscape more visually interesting a bad name.

If you're going to do it, good on you, but put a bit of effort in.

As far as the criminality involved, that's part of the appeal, isn't it? However I do disagree with vanfdalising people's personal property.

 

[Pete J]

Pieces good!
Tags bad!!

Stencils good too.

 

[tinto]

They show me the artists talents, much like a caligraphy artist's work. They show me the risk the artist took to put his mark on a particular place.

I agree with your sentiments on talent. Sometimes there are certain characters that are written SO badly by so many that when you see a perfectly formed S or an awesome wildstyle R in a tag.... well it's great.

 

[Timmy Bee]

johnnys on the money.

tags can have style and can be shit, just like pieces, a well thought out tag done cleanly in a nice spot can look good to some. you can tell a lot about a writers all around tallent by their tag.

i see most people saying tags are done by fuckwits blah blah blah and nice pieces are done by talented artists blah blah blah, id hate to blow your bubble, but i will anyway. i can garrentee 99% of talented writers that do burner pieces tag aswell, they go hand in hand, the only difference is that the tallented writers that do the burner pieces will tag less, because they are ussually better thought out and put in decent places rather than just scrawled everywhere they can.

ha ha, by reading this thread i can pretty much tell who does/did write and who doesnt/didnt write.

 

[Renegade]

Graffiti is both art and crime.

At the same time, you cant go around tagging or spraying any place you want, thats a crime, if you have to write that sort of stuff, do it all over your house, hell, no one will care then. Shit's me when people just do it everywhere like 10 tags in a space of like 1 metre it just looks shit. Some stuff can look real cool but like whole wall graffiti arts.

 

[johnny]

At the same time, you cant go around tagging or spraying any place you want, thats a crime, if you have to write that sort of stuff, do it all over your house, hell, no one will care then. Shit's me when people just do it everywhere like 10 tags in a space of like 1 metre it just looks shit. Some stuff can look real cool but like whole wall graffiti arts.

Cool, can we ban billboard advertising then too? I hate Coke ads, Hillsong billboards, McDonald ads,..........see them everywhere too but they are legal.

 

[johnny]

I agree with your sentiments on talent. Sometimes there are certain characters that are written SO badly by so many that when you see a perfectly formed S or an awesome wildstyle R in a tag.... well it's great.

S's, R's and E's....., love 'em! B's are pretty cool and so are K's Z's, G's, Y's and J's. But the S-R-E's are my fav letters

 

[Arete]

i see most people saying tags are done by fuckwits blah blah blah and nice pieces are done by talented artists blah blah blah, id hate to blow your bubble, but i will anyway. i can garrentee 99% of talented writers that do burner pieces tag aswell

I get that, but they guy doing the awesome piece under the overpass is unlikely to be the same person who scratched "ADZ" into the train window in crooked block letters with the Z all squished up because he ran out of space, on every window in the carriage.

And no I don't and never did graff.

 

[S.]

A very small amount of it looks alright, but I have to ask why such "artists" never seem to use their own property to display their "art" on. I'd almost be inclined to insinuate that they're just hypocrites with their "it's just art maaaan" BS.

Like a lot of stuff, the one percent rule applies: 99% of it ruins the other 1%. Tags are outright retarded, and the whole idea of "doing graffiti to stand out" is totally stupid when you consider you're just copying umpteen thousand other people because your "pieces" are almost invariably cliche'd unoriginal pieces of crap in the same places everyone else does it. Surely if you're that artistic, you can come up with a more original way of "expressing yourself" (my 2nd most hated term/phrase, right after the word "scene").