13/05/ · Get Your Custom Essay on “Graffiti: Art or Vandalism” Get High-quality Paper helping students since Introduction In Red Dawn (), there is a brief scene where the 1/09/ · Critics argue that graffiti is vandalism. It is known that “Graffiti that is gang related or expresses hateful sentiments is most likely to be unwelcomed in an area”. As a result, the 12/04/ · They use the graffiti form as a means of expressing themselves. Sometimes however, graffiti writing is considered an act of crime, or vandalism due to its increased
Graffiti: Art or Vandalism Free Essay Example
Graffiti is a word used to describe any writing or images that have been painted, sketched, marked, scrawled or scratched in any form on any type of property. It can be a design, figure, inscription or even a mark or word that has been written or drawn on either privately held or government owned properties. While graffiti refers to an entire scribbling or drawing, graffito describes a single scribble. Graffiti can be any form of public marking which appears as a distinguishing symbol and most of the time it comes out as a rude decoration having the form of simply written words, elaborate and complicated wall paintings or etchings on walls and rocks. Graffiti can also be described as an unauthorized drawing or inscription on any surface situated in a public area.
Apart from this graffiti also includes hideous scribbles which we often find scrawled and painted on the fences of a house, in subways, bridges, along the sides of houses and other buildings and even on trains, buses and cars. Although some look like elaborate paintings most of them are garbage which appears to have been done by small children. Graffiti vandalism has a number of forms. The most harmful and destructive of all are the gang graffiti and tags. The former are generally used by gang members to outline their turf or threat opposite gangs. These often lead to acts of violence. Conventional graffiti is often hurtful and malicious and generally the act of impulsive or isolated youths.
Ideological graffiti is hateful graffiti which expresses ethnic, racial or religious messages through slurs and can cause a lot of tension among the people. Sometimes the graffitists also use acid etching where they use paints mixed with acids and additional chemicals which can rankle the surface making the etchings permanent. Wilson, Graffiti cannot be considered as a form of art since its basic difference from art is consent or permission, graffiti art or vandalism essay. Although a number of people consider graffiti to be one of the numerous art forms, most of the times graffiti is considered as unwanted and unpleasant damage to both public and government properties. But this is highly questionable since they almost never take the permission of the owner of the property before making their art, turning the entire thing into vandalism.
Smollar, All throughout history people have considered graffiti to be an act of vandalism since it graffiti art or vandalism essay an illegal use of public and government property. Such an act is not only mutilation of property and an ugly thing but is also very expensive to remove. Although graffiti artists use their talents to share and express their feelings, until and unless graffiti is done on an area designated for it and by somebody authorized to do so, graffiti in any form will remain to be an act of vandalism and not art. Graffiti done without proper authority cannot be considered as art since immature vandals simply use graffiti as a means to seek infamy. Graffiti is noting more than an irresponsible and dangerous form of art promoting gang activities and truancy.
Thus, we can see that there is nothing artistic about graffiti vandalism. Austin, The problem both the government and the people of the world face due to graffiti is not at all a new one as it has existed for centuries, and sometimes it is even dated back to the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece. Some people even consider graffiti as an act of terrorism which is in its larval stage. Today graffiti vandals use markers and spray paints as their most common medium for creating graffiti which makes it a much bigger problem. Painting over the graffiti is a costly affair which the owners of the property vandalized have to bear.
Not only do these graffiti vandals scribble on the fences and walls of the property they sometimes even destroy them by breaking a window, door or fence just for the mere sake of art. They slash the seats of the cars, buses and trains for which the government has to pay. Ley, Graffiti art or vandalism essay the last few decades the problem of graffiti has become far reaching and has spread from the largest of cities to small localities. Graffiti should not be viewed as an isolated problem since it leads to other public disorders, like loitering, littering and even public urination, and crimes, since most of the time the graffiti scribblers unable to pay for the markers and paints shoplift the required materials.
Since graffiti is considered to be a public disorder it is sometimes even perceived as a means of lowered quality of living in certain communities. As graffiti is almost always associated with crimes, it graffiti art or vandalism essay increases the fear of various criminal activities among graffiti art or vandalism essay families of a community. Sometimes graffiti vandals even arouse questions in the hearts of the citizens by making them feel that the government authorities are incapable of protecting them from graffiti scribblers, thus making them further insecure. Graffiti vandals have no concern for public or government property near public areas and deface anything they can lay graffiti art or vandalism essay hand on including blank walls, trees, alley gates, monuments, statues, utility boxes, schools, furniture in parks and streets, buses and bus shelters, pavements, railway areas, utility poles, telephone boxes, street lights, traffic signs and signals, inside and outside of trains, vending machines, graffiti art or vandalism essay, vacant buildings, freeway, subways, bridges, graffiti art or vandalism essay, billboards, parking garages, sheds and road signs.
In a nutshell, graffiti is present almost in any area that is open to the view of the general public. Since graffiti vandals even mess with street signs and traffic signals that help the drivers navigate through busy towns, graffiti poses a threat to the safety of those drivers. Sometimes due to depreciation in land value or excessive nuisance created by these graffiti vandals, families and businesses alike have to avoid certain areas and may even have to move out of it completely. People facing graffiti vandalism and living in areas with graffiti have to face reduced business activities since common people generally associate criminal activities with graffiti and are thus, afraid to set up businesses in those areas.
Prevention and cleaning up of graffiti is associated with high costs. The government and the public have to bear graffiti art or vandalism essay costs in order to protect themselves from the graffiti vandals. It becomes the headache of the local authorities to clean up the graffiti and fix whatever has been destroyed as soon as possible. Councils and government officials have to maintain quick responsive units who can rapidly and effectively clean out graffiti and fix damages the instant such an act is reported. Government authorities and councils even have to take up a combination of protective, preventive and removal strategies to fight back graffiti vandalism, making the whole process extremely costly.
But since protecting or deterring property will not completely eliminate graffiti, it is better to remove graffiti as soon as it is reported. Graffiti not only causes danger to the citizens of a neighborhood but it also creates a huge mess which government officials have to clean up by paying from the city funds, graffiti art or vandalism essay. Since the government has to bear the cost for cleaning up graffiti, it has a direct impact on the budget of a city too. Government officials have to use a significant amount from the available city budget for fixing damages to public buildings, streets and other properties. A huge amount of money also goes in the eradication and prevention of graffiti vandalism since this requires special equipment, materials and trained labors, making the entire matter highly expensive and time consuming.
Graffiti also adversely affects the taxpayers who have to pay extra for fixing damages to public properties, graffiti art or vandalism essay, circuitously, during their yearly property taxes. Sometimes businesses pass on the cost for cleaning graffiti off their property on to their customers, who have to make larger payments for their goods purchased, for no fault of theirs. Rafferty, Further, graffiti art or vandalism essay, graffiti also causes losses in revenues related to reductions in retail sales and the transit systems.
Thus, the graffiti art or vandalism essay that needs to be spent for cleaning up and preventing graffiti can also be used for improving an area and may also have other valuable uses. Since graffiti contributes to a reduction in retails sales, businesses plagued by graffiti is least likely graffiti art or vandalism essay be sponsored by others. Also the general public will be afraid and will feel unsafe when entering a retail store scrawled all over with graffiti. Graffiti vandalism is not always simply limited to spray painting and destruction of property since the graffiti vandals often commit severe crimes like rape and robbery. Given that they are not caught or reported most of the times, graffiti vandals think that they can do anything and get away with it.
Graffiti is frequently associated with gangs, although graffiti vandals are not limited only to these gangs. It creates an environment of blight and intensifies the fear of gang related activities and violence in the heart of the general public. It has been seen that gangs often use graffiti as a signal for marking their own territory and graffiti also functions as a tag or indicator for the various activities of a gang. In those areas, graffiti art or vandalism essay, where graffiti is extremely common, tag and gang graffiti is extremely widespread and also causes a lot of trouble. Gangs commonly make tags using acid spray paints or markers on apartments and buildings and they serve as a motto or statement or an insult, graffiti art or vandalism essay.
Such graffiti also include symbols and slogans that are exclusive for a particular gang and may also be made as a challenge or threat for a rival gang. Not only are graffiti made to disrespect other gangs but sometimes racist graffiti is also scribbled on walls which creates a lot of racist tension among the people of certain communities. Such activities shock the residents who are indirectly forced to move out of the areas for the safety of their families. Graffiti scribblers who are also members of a gang or part of its crew sometimes get involved in fighting, and every now and then a number of them end up dead due to these gang wars.
The messages relayed through graffiti are taken very seriously by gang members and the threats are almost always acted upon. Another problem with graffiti is that although sometimes a single act of graffiti may not be a serious offence, graffiti itself has a cumulative outcome which makes it even more serious. Its original emergence in a particular neighborhood almost always attracts even more graffiti vandals. At certain areas graffiti tend to occur over and over. Graffiti offenders are inclined to attack those graffiti art or vandalism essay that are painted over to clean the graffiti. Such areas act as a magnet attracting graffiti offenders to commit re-vandalism repeatedly.
Some graffitists commit acts of vandalism since they are extremely stubborn and do so in order to fight an emotional and psychological battle with the city council and government officials. They deliberately commit graffiti vandalisms in order to establish their authority and claim over a specific area. Graffiti offenders do so with the intention to defy the government authorities. Sometimes graffiti is extremely repulsive and thus, gets people, especially teenagers into extremely bad habits. They stop caring about other people or the government and develop a tendency to scribble anywhere they find a blank space.
They stop respecting people and their property and the kids even start to make graffiti on the desks and tables of their schools. Graffiti vandals have no concern for the people around them and thus, increase the pessimistic attitude of the neighborhoods around them, graffiti art or vandalism essay. Not only does graffiti lead to crimes but the scribblers also harbor disruptive anti-social feelings and behavior inside them. These juvenile scribblers are accountable for almost all of the graffiti we find on the buildings and streets and they do not even realize that their graffiti sometimes even becomes offensive and racist in nature. City officials are also concerned about the fact that when juveniles take part in graffiti vandalism it may be their initial offence leading them into much more harmful and sometimes even sophisticated crimes.
Not only does graffiti create a gateway for these juveniles into a world of crime, it can sometimes also be associated with truancy due to which the juveniles may remain uneducated their whole lives. Deprived of a proper education these young minds get involved with alcoholism and drug abuse, thus leading to even severe problems. Adolescents and juveniles become astray sending a message to all that graffiti give rise to various criminal activities. In those communities where people gather in groups at street corners during late hours, it is easier for the drug peddlers to promote their products among the juveniles without being interrupted either by the authorities or residents.
Graffiti is a huge problem since it contaminates the environment of a locality. It is undeniably a plague for our modern cities since it leads to visual pollution. City officials and councils have to spend huge sums in order to clean the ever present graffiti on the walls and fences, graffiti art or vandalism essay. But even an expensive cleaning strategy is not but a useless and ineffective way to deal with these graffiti vandals since they almost always find a graffiti art or vandalism essay to reproduce graffiti. Graffiti vandalism is an extremely complex and multifaceted public disorder which does not have any easy graffiti art or vandalism essay. Not only is the cleaning of graffiti an expensive affair, it is also an extremely difficult one since it involves a lot of hard work.
Sometimes graffiti damages certain surfaces to such an extent that they remain permanently impaired as the graffiti vandals change the entire nature of the surfaces they paint on, graffiti art or vandalism essay, thus changing the nature and environment of the whole neighborhood. If an act of graffiti vandalism is left unchecked, then it may even lead to urban decay by causing further decline in property value and increasing fear in communities.
Graffiti: Art or Vandalism? Street Art in School \u0026 Communities - Diego Gonzalez - TEDxCountyLineRoad
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12/04/ · They use the graffiti form as a means of expressing themselves. Sometimes however, graffiti writing is considered an act of crime, or vandalism due to its increased 13/05/ · Get Your Custom Essay on “Graffiti: Art or Vandalism” Get High-quality Paper helping students since Introduction In Red Dawn (), there is a brief scene where the 20/01/ · In summary, graffiti is Vandalism in many ways. Therefore, Graffiti is only good because it can show expression. However, graffiti is mostly a bad thing because of the way it
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