Friday, February 23, 2007

Is Graffiti Art?

Graffiti is defined as the illegal or unauthorized defacing of a building, wall or other edifice or object by painting or otherwise marking it with words, pictures or symbols. Nowhere do you see the word "art" in that definition. It is a contentious argument that both sides believe they are right on.

For today's assignment all you have to do is type what you think, basically argue your point.
In the comments section you will need to tell me your explanations by explaining the argument by rules. Address rules of argumentation more specifically: Rule 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 (You do not need to do the others.) Look at the comments section to see my example.

Rules of Argument Checklist

Graffiti is not art - Google search

Graffiti is art - Google search


5 Comments:

At 1:23 AM , Blogger Mario Landeros said...

This is a sample of what it should look like.

Rule 1 - I believe graffiti is art

Rule 2 - Graffiti is art because it ...

Rule 3 - While some say it is not art because it ...

Rule 4 - I believe you can all agree that ...

Rule 5- Graffiti is art because it is like ...

To furter prove my point let me illustrate the idea that graffiti is art ... (Should have at least two different kinds of support)

 
At 9:02 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

While I do believe some graffiti is true art, for the most part I believe that it is not and should not be classified as Art. Instead, I believe graffiti is a vicious attack on people's personal property. It is an eyesore and in some cases, the imposing of ones opinion forcefully upon another.

While some may argue that graffiti and a mark of culture, form of expression and a statement to all that see it, it can just as easily be argued, if not more so, that graffiti is hapless vandalism and nothing more. In fact, using the same reason it can easily be argued against graffiti, because it is indeed a mark of today's ghetto, street culture and delinquent pastimes. It is the expression of rebels, attacking the personal property of innocent people, small businesses, and public transportation in order to 'express' and show how opinionated they are. Some 'taggers' even believe they are doing us all a favor by defacing public and private property by upsetting our daily routines, arguing that they awakening us to the 'mental enslavement’ and ‘corruption’ in our day to day lives.


It is also argued that graffiti isn’t such a bad offense because it can ‘easily be painted over’. Honestly? Most graffiti is spray painted onto the sides of porous and difficult to clean surfaces such as brick wells, the sides of train’s garage doors and the sides of people’s houses. When I was in New York City I saw ugly and offensive graffiti (Most of which words I would need a sailor’s mouth to repeat) covering my grandfathers brick apartment building and his small Laundromat store. I know from experience that graffiti is not an easy thing to remove. Besides that, who is expected to remove it- not the ones who painted it, but the owners of the defaced property. It takes copious amounts of time to scrub graffiti from surfaces and money to pay for repairs and repainting. Is that fair to do to the people who own the property? I think not.

 
At 9:17 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rule 1 - I believe graffiti is art

Rule 2 - Graffiti is art because it is an expression of young or old youth, wanting to make something that they deem as amazing.

Rule 3 - While some say it is not art because it "defaces" public property.

Rule 4 - I believe you can all agree that graffitti can be considered art if it's on a canvas, so why is a wall any different?

Rule 5- Graffiti is art because it is like free beautification for the community.

Walking down the streets of berkley or san francisco when i see a wall completely covered with peoples pieces and names i love it. As a "former" tagger myself i may have a biased appreciation for the art. If someone were to take a paint brush and draw modern art on a wall it would look like crap. Just some color here, color there, lines leading nowhere, and they say its art. They'd get paid good money for that. But when a graffitti artist puts his/her name up there it is a felony, no matter how beatiful it looks. It is just a form of modern art and because there is a misconception that graffitti is gang related it has been an art that has sent many friends of mine to jail with outstanding fines. Graffitti is definitely a form of art.

 
At 9:22 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have to different views on graffiti. I believe that graffiti is a work of art.Althoguh I also happen to believe that graffiti is wrong.Graffiti is something that is uncalled for. Even thoguh I classify it as art, I think it's wrong to do. Graffiti is a way for someone to lash out at other people in a non-violent way. Or a place where people mark their terrioty.

 
At 11:54 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

It depends on who is doing it... I just finished reading Hackers & Painters by Paul Graham, and he talks a lot about true artists vs. fakes. It really opened my eyes to a new realization that true art isn't something that you just throw down on paper. There is MUCH thought that goes into a piece of work by any true artist. Same with graffiti; just depends on who is doing it.

 

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