Graffiti

[apowerr]

That seems pretty racist erei. Only minorities tag building? What are you trying to say by that? I take offense to that comment. I agree with Soundless, graffiti isn't just for ghettos. I know a bunch of white people, matter of fact there's a gang of em near me that tag all the time. They come to me to know who tagged what already. (I'm cool with all the gangs here).

Lets see some pictures of your art. Do you even live in a ghetto area? Since you have a macbook pro I kind of doubt that. Thanks for ruining Illinois, {censored}.

I never brought up race, I brought up poverty. How are you suggesting that I implied only minorities lived and poverty and were in gangs? I don't see that at all. Also, it's not only whites who live in the non-ghettos. I'm sure you weren't intending to be racist, but that's how it seems to me. You miss-interpreted my post.

[Hagar]

Graffiti.. When I was in high school I made a video about the pros & cons of graffiti, and nothing seems to have changed much.

 

As I see it, graffiti is 2 things: sheer vandalism & street art. Some pieces are valuable for their beauty, some for their intellectual content (the work of banksy comes to mind) but the practical reality is that the vast majority of graffiti practitioners are kids who just want to spread their tag as a form of rebellion and ego-boost. Almost everywhere where you see a piece of colourful, exciting artwork on a dull grey wall, you see someone has come & tagged over it, simply as a territorial mark, like a dog pissing on a lamppost, and with as much artistic value.

 

As an example from my own life, I have on various occasions been responsible for walls, and in a position to request a piece to be painted on them. I have asked around, but despite finding people with the skill and experience, no-one has ever come forward to use my walls for their artwork. What has happened however, is my waking up to find someone has sneaked in overnight & magic-markered a huge {censored} and their tag over & over again on my wall.... Obviously, we just paint over them & wait for the inevitable re-occurrence of this banal childish vandalism.

 

It appears to me that the majority of graffiti is utter {censored}. The minority is valuable beautifying art, but as long as the world is full of out-of-control teens with an attitude and a spray can or indellible marker, graffiti as an art form is doomed, because the practitioners are too busy being selfish & arrogant, rather than actually engaging with their environment and making the city a better place to be.

[Soündless]

think I know who the racist one is now. It is you!

when tagging is used primarily as a form of gang war, there is something wrong. And I would say that most of tagging is due to that very reason (though I have nothing concrete to back this up).

out of all the places ive seen in chicago, like %90 of the tags were just people. the other %10 is GD, latin kings, and gmc. the majority of graffiti writers i know are well off 18 yr olds wishing to express their discontent with the lives they have been leading

[alloutmacstoday]

thank you Hagar!

 

seriously, the people who just tag stuff to {censored} people and other gangs off are the ones doing the crime. The great artists aren't. They are giving people something beautiful to look at! There is this underpart of a bridge, where the Mayor got the best graffiti artists in my area to do real graffiti. It looked awesome! But then a couple of years later, without the Mayors authorization, the police whitewashed the whole entire place! They said it was attracting too much crime!

[Soündless]

Do you think the people who painted the offensive words on the back of the seats wanted to make it look prettier? No.

not all of it is about beautification, it is also about expression. sure they wrote something offensive, why dont you write over it?

thank you Hagar!seriously, the people who just tag stuff to {censored} people and other gangs off are the ones doing the crime. The great artists aren't. They are giving people something beautiful to look at! There is this underpart of a bridge, where the Mayor got the best graffiti artists in my area to do real graffiti. It looked awesome! But then a couple of years later, without the Mayors authorization, the police whitewashed the whole entire place! They said it was attracting too much crime!

they do that, but can i ask what bridge that was?

[Soündless]

i remember that, 47th street and below tends to have more crime then the rest of the area, so i can understand why they would paint over the GD tags that were undoubtably there. i dont aprove of the over painting, but its understandable

It's hideous, and looks a mess and makes the area look degraded.Well done

so you like the lifeless bleak grey of urban sprawl?

[apowerr]

the majority of graffiti writers i know are well off 18 yr olds wishing to express their discontent with the lives they have been leading

I don't know why but I find that really, really irritating. By well off you mean of decent financial background, right? Why don't they:

A) Spend more time at work

B ) Prepare for College

C) Try to work out relationship issues or

D) do something to better themselves, rather than vandalize private property.

 

I can understand that in poverty stricken areas, graffiti can be a great and necessary form of outcry and protest. But well off 18 year olds?

Soundless and other fans of graffiti, I'm not trying to personally attack you guys if I'm coming off as harsh.

[Headrush69]

so you like the lifeless bleak grey of urban sprawl?

Not the point and a totally different question than what your poll asked.

 

There is a big difference between "should we have a beautification for ugly buildings" and "should free for all grafitti be legal."

[alloutmacstoday]

Not the point and a totally different question than what your poll asked.

 

There is a big difference between "should we have a beautification for ugly buildings" and "should free for all grafitti be legal."

 

exactly!

[Soündless]

I don't know why but I find that really, really irritating. By well off you mean of decent financial background, right? Why don't they:

A) Spend more time at work

B ) Prepare for College

C) Try to work out relationship issues or

D) do something to better themselves, rather than vandalize private property.

 

I can understand that in poverty stricken areas, graffiti can be a great and necessary form of outcry and protest. But well off 18 year olds?

Soundless and other fans of graffiti, I'm not trying to personally attack you guys if I'm coming off as harsh.

because that is what they have been raised to do, and they don't want to do that. They find the social ladder you have to climb in our society pointless and false. And ofcourse because they enjoy it. It is fun climbing onto roofs to paint something

[apowerr]

They find the social ladder you have to climb in our society pointless and false.

Yep, it's so hard to privledged and in the middle class.

And ofcourse because they enjoy it. It is fun climbing onto roofs to paint something

Yea, I can imagine that that would be pretty fun. (being serious here)

[PSPHax0r9]

i dont feel at all guilty when i mess up walmart or subway, i feel no remorse doing itperformance art

So say your father sets up a business, works real hard, barely gets by, and prides himself on keeping the place clean, fresh, and modern looking. Suddenly, the outside of his store gets vandalized with some {censored} drawing/painting. He then has to pay his hard-earned money or invest his valuable time from his business to go out and clean that {censored} off. And you support that {censored}? You're seriously screwed up. You don't feel bad about vandalizing places just because they're not yours or stores are actually performing their function and making money and provding jobs? Wow. Talk about selfish. It's nice art when you have permission to do it...otherwise it's just inconvenient, selfish, stupid {censored}.I can't believe anyone would support graffiti; talk about being selfish.

i just think it gives life to the otherwise boring buildings of industrialist americaand @ erie33, i'll admit i am from a middle class family who lives in a 3 bedroom house in indiana, im not in the least bit ghetto, but who said that graffiti is ghetto only?

Ah, "industrialist america." You're on of those kids, huh. You think you're being nonconformist by being just like every other brainless anti-establishment sheep that ever lived. Not to mention that looks like utter {censored}...

[Headrush69]

Interesting in that 5 people have voted yes it should be legal yet really only 1.5 has posted why.

Would be interesting to hear some reasons/points from the yes voters.

 

(Bedlight I only counted you as a half. Although you indicated you wouldn't mind if you owned a business, not sure you were agreeing it should be a free for all. )

[alloutmacstoday]

actually only 4 people voted yes :\

i thought the topic was "do you think graffiti should be illegal"

so i voted yes

my bad

[PSPHax0r9]

Interesting in that 5 people have voted yes it should be legal yet really only 1.5 has posted why.

Would be interesting to hear some reasons/points from the yes voters.

 

(Bedlight I only counted you as a half. Although you indicated you wouldn't mind if you owned a business, not sure you were agreeing it should be a free for all. )

 

Someone might say that now, but if they ever really owned a business, the fact is they wouldn't allow it. Period. Most of the kids in here have no idea what the real world is like.

[Paranoid Marvin]

so you like the lifeless bleak grey of urban sprawl?

 

No, I live in the country

[Alessandro17]

No, I live in the country

 

I live in a town which is supposed to be beautiful (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

But give me Leeds, UK every day. Otherwise, countryside.

[Soündless]

Yep, it's so hard to privledged and in the middle class. Yea, I can imagine that that would be pretty fun. (being serious here)

im not saying its hard to do, it is quite easy. but they dont like the idea, they dont want to live like that. they dont want to work untill they are 60 and then count on their 4 perfect children to sustain them in retirement

So say your father sets up a business, works real hard, barely gets by, and prides himself on keeping the place clean, fresh, and modern looking. Suddenly, the outside of his store gets vandalized with some {censored} drawing/painting. He then has to pay his hard-earned money or invest his valuable time from his business to go out and clean that {censored} off. And you support that {censored}? You're seriously screwed up. You don't feel bad about vandalizing places just because they're not yours or stores are actually performing their function and making money and provding jobs? Wow. Talk about selfish. It's nice art when you have permission to do it...otherwise it's just inconvenient, selfish, stupid {censored}.I can't believe anyone would support graffiti; talk about being selfish.Ah, "industrialist america." You're on of those kids, huh. You think you're being nonconformist by being just like every other brainless anti-establishment sheep that ever lived. Not to mention that looks like utter {censored}...

dude, chill, and dont label me. i do what i think i should. i dont do stuff to try to be in a group. and when i do it, the only stores are chains, and ones owned by people i dont like. i will agree that tags, gang or not are not pretty, but pieces and murals are some of the most beautiful/badass looking things out there

[PSPHax0r9]

dude, chill, and dont label me. i do what i think i should. i dont do stuff to try to be in a group. and when i do it, the only stores are chains, and ones owned by people i dont like. i will agree that tags, gang or not are not pretty, but pieces and murals are some of the most beautiful/badass looking things out there

Oh OK, so that makes it just fine because they're chain stores and you don't like the owners. So I should graffiti everyone's house which is a townhouse (part of a chin of houses), and that I don't like? Pieces and murals can be cool, but how does that possibly make it right or acceptable, and what idiot would legalize it? Sigh. There are people in this world who work hard, and there are other people in this world who like to ruin that work because they "think it looks cool" or because they "don't really like" someone. Those people are {censored}s

[Special-K]

whoever said that it was minorities in the ghetto? Do whites not live in the ghetto also?

 

I think I know who the racist one is now. It is you!

I know whites live in the ghetto aswell. I know a bunch that do actually. But most people in the ghetto are minorities. And usually whenever someone says something is ghetto, they aren't talking about the wiggers.

 

I never brought up race, I brought up poverty. How are you suggesting that I implied only minorities lived and poverty and were in gangs? I don't see that at all. Also, it's not only whites who live in the non-ghettos. I'm sure you weren't implying to be racist, but that's how it seems to me. You miss-interpreted my post.

Like I said, usually whenever someone says ghetto, they mean minorities. I've just gotten used to it being meant towards minorities, since I am one and grew up with that. Misunderstanding, that's all.

 

Yep, it's so hard to privledged and in the middle class.

 

(Bedlight I only counted you as a half. Although you indicated you wouldn't mind if you owned a business, not sure you were agreeing it should be a free for all. )

Yes and no. If I liked something, it would stay, so it'd be a free-for-all til something good was painted. If there's some giant schlong on there, I'd start watching the place for whoever did it.

 

Someone might say that now, but if they ever really owned a business, the fact is they wouldn't allow it. Period. Most of the kids in here have no idea what the real world is like.

I do have a grasp of what the real world is like actually. And my parents have owned a business before. And my dad let people tag it, cause he's all for expression. But as soon as there was something he didn't like, he got rid of it.

[Soündless]

thats what im gonna do with my van

[Numberzz]

thats what im gonna do with my van

Two problems:

1. Why the hell would you graffiti your own car?

2. Van? LAME.

because that is what they have been raised to do, and they don't want to do that. They find the social ladder you have to climb in our society pointless and false. And ofcourse because they enjoy it. It is fun climbing onto roofs to paint something

Pointless? I like being rich, and I'm sure it's just as fun as "climbing on roofs."

[Soündless]

Two problems:

1. Why the hell would you graffiti your own car?

2. Van? LAME.

 

Pointless? I like being rich, and I'm sure it's just as fun as "climbing on roofs."

i love my hippy van, coupled with something like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/cassidy/2577543/in/set-58512/

 

and thats good for you, but some of us get bored of the rich life, i find it empty after living it for the majority of my life

[Special-K]

Pointless? I like being rich, and I'm sure it's just as fun as "climbing on roofs."

 

 

That flickr picture is amazing Soundless. That's something I would want to have painted on my bass or something.

[Soündless]

done by my favorite crackhead in sanfrancisco