Illegal Art

"As adolescents grapple with both their quest for identity and their opposition to authority, they inevitably find ways of expressing their inner turmoil and conflict. One example which illustrates these two dynamics is the practice of graffiti...The act of graffiti has become such a wide spread practice among youth that society has been forced to confront it as a phenomena (http://www.graffitiverite.com/graffitiartTherapy.htm)."

Many people are unaware of the fact that all Graffiti is not destructive and illegal. It is important to recognize the vital difference between graffiti and tagging. This difference categorizes graffiti as a form of art and tagging as an illegal crime. One artist by the name of Keith Haring forever changed the common view of graffiti, added to it's popularity and brought Graffiti from the street and into the museum.


















The practice of graffiti as an Art form is also represented in the following video:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y333RhDQ8U)




The action of negating and overlooking creativity within graffiti is overwhelming. Few realize that "Graffiti Art is an art form that dates back to the Egyptians and Aztecs. It must not be confused with tagging....Most Graffiti artists are young, urban, inner-city, minority youth that are usually self-trained and self-expressed artists(http://www.youngperformingartists.org)."

Also see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv1uyZCwF34





Even though the internal expressiveness and tremendous talent is visibly evident within the practice of graffiti, still many fail to acknowledge and accept Graffiti as a form of art. A large percentage of society views grafitti as a "deliberate marking on property, both private and public. It can take the form of pictures, drawings, words, or any decorations inscribed on any surface usually outside walls and sidewalks. When done without the property owner's consent, it constitutes illegal vandalism.Graffiti has existed at least since the days of ancient civilizations. Graffiti originally was the term used for inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on the walls of ancient sepulchers or ruins, as in the Catacombs, or at Pompeii
(http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/C20th/graffiti.htm)."

The length of Graffitis' existence and the scrutiny it has endured over the years, in my opinion deserves some understanding. The effort, creativity, vision and talent neccesary to create Graffiti should without a doubt categorize Graffiti as a form of art... unless that is, it is done without a property owners consent.