Graffiti

   Graffiti is a great way to express ones thinking, but it’s also a way to damage public places.  Every place in New York City has graffiti; from local streets downtown all the way uptown. It’s an act of a brother hood and sister hood. However, Graffiti in the states is vandalism and illegal. It makes artists want to bring out their emotions even more creating self-expressions on walls. Murals in Harlem and Spanish Harlem that were made in form of graffiti are historical to the history of Manhattan, creating famous artists who composed them. Graffiti has been around for millions of years. Romans wrote on the walls of buildings they conquered and cave men drew illustrations on cave walls, although graffiti has not been in the United States quite that long. Graffiti is a wonderful way to express oneself.

    When you walk through neighborhoods in the city, you come across Barrios which are known for having a community wall, which represent those people from the streets. What may have begun in the medieval times as a form of decoration, now a ticket from the cops and even jail time. Graffiti is broadly throughout the whole world, in regular streets, alley ways, sidewalks, buildings and even your schools public bathroom. Graffiti became a form of art which inspired young artists to come out and use this new art as a form of self-expression. Whatever mood they were feeling they were able to make something that described they’re imagination at that moment. My neighborhood in the 90s was a narcotic trade; there was once a crack house on the corner of Columbus which was flamed down to its last bricks. That area later was then turned in to a memorial garden and a graffiti mural was made to represent the people. The documentary “Exit through the Gift Shop” shows how a film addict meets one of the most famous underground graffiti artists (my personal favorite Banksy) by getting together with people that were willing to risk it all in order to show their art. If graffiti were to be legalized then it would make a lot of money in addition to being in museums. Maybe a private area or local space can be provided for artist to get together from around the world and be able to spray away with freedom of the pen. Some artist like to ink what’s on their minds and put it out to the world it would be a great way to represent what art truly is. “Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million coluors and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet. ” Even though Banksy is a street artist and no one has ever seen who he is, to me he is one of the most exclusive street artist out there.

     It started as tagging or writing your name on a street sign, and then gangs used graffiti as a way to mark territory. Graffiti became a huge part of how people demonstrated their feelings, using words that were nasty in form of art, so that it would catch everyone’s attention. "Basically, when I look around, I see us living in a modern day Babylon, full of temptation, sin, distraction, corruption, injustice, and misguided fools being mentally enslaved. It seems to me the only way to wake people up from this kind of numbness is to destroy what they know: Their business, their places of commerce and their biggest place of gathering, the cities! Put it on their trains, on the lines they take to work, on their rooftops, on their highways, on anything just to make some people realize that culture isn't lost and that, at the very least, a small group of kids is fighting to keep it alive." (Artist from south Dakota Unknown name)The artists that create what they do are because it’s the only thing known and are willing to face the consequences because they fight for what they want hoping that it will be given to them. Graffiti is bad to a certain extent, if one is using it for hatred and bad purposes, then it’s wrong and should be acted against.

     If it’s good or bad wouldn’t be the problem against graffiti, the thing is that there will always be a biased opinion as to how people and your environment feel about it. The never ending passion for graffiti and late night wall conquering won’t come to an end unless the law decides to come to an agreement with the street artists. Everything ever done has its good effects and it’s bad. Graffiti for those who don’t like it is useless time spending, as well as garbage but for the street artists out there it’s still willing to go the extra miles it’s like gold painted over concrete.

     People are provoked to vandalize because they know that it’s illegal, just to show how much it means to them they won’t stop doing it until it is legalized in the world. Graffiti is being fought for everyday with a new tag on the streets at a time, as well as cops arresting those who are caught. Art should be consumed by the eye and not erased for eyes. All in all Graffiti also known as street art is a wonderful way to express oneself even if its gloomy or its bright Graffiti shines with all its might.