Parks Thompson Professor English 111 16 November 2012 Is Street Art Really Art? When most people think of graffiti and street art they conjure up crude images of gang related graffiti and useless tagging, which is understandable, but it has evolved into so much more than that. Street art is used an outlet of self-expression and a way to tackle social issues for those whose voice might not get heard otherwise. To understand street art we must first go back to its origins. The term graffiti comes from the Italian word “graffito” which literally means to scratch.
It allows us to influence others. Essentially art is a freedom of expression. Banksy is a graffiti artist who has taken the freedom of expression to a new level. Graffiti may fall into the category of art but many refuse to see it this way because most graffiti has no creativity. It appears to be just a bunch of scribbles and lines used to signify territory rather than to express thoughts and feelings.
However there is growing conflict about the practice. Since public space “ …is landscaped, bounded, and controlled space,” its uses are normalized. [1] Graffiti constitutes damage. Which is defined as, “ permanent or temporary impairment of value or usefulness.”[2] Furthermore, the criminal aspect that is coupled with the normalization of public space causes a moral panic. This is said to be a “reaction to a pattern of behavior that is seen as violating accepted norms or laws is disproportional to the threat posed then the behavior in question.”[3] The reaction is disproportionate because the aesthetic and cultural aspects of graffiti are set aside for the criminal code.
The fact that it’s all capitalized letters also brings awareness that the sign should be taken seriously as entering the Bantu alone is a crime itself. Yet, the fact that the sign is even set there in the first place to warn the people living outside of the ghettos that going in them is dangerous and a crime, creates an impact on the white South African people that were not even allowed to know what was beyond that sign. There is nothing remarkable about the syntax of the sing, since after all, it’s a government notice. However the use of the word ‘Bantu’, the proper term of referring to an urban area of tribal people in their native language, creates a contrast with all the western language in the rest of sign, making a contrast between how white ‘South Afrikaners’ had power in the country as opposed to the blacks who were considered strangers in their own their country. Mathabane then mentions the ‘black world’.
Graffiti and the more recent development of street art is so much more than mere writing. It is stylistic, it is emotional, it is raw self expression at its finest. Graffiti, by definition (not only in dictionaries but by the artists themselves) is illegal, any commissioned art is a mural, and not graffiti. Graffiti is still often associated with bad neighborhoods, gangs and violence. This is one of the greatest misconceptions about graffiti (Farrell, 1994).
The argument that a person has the right to sell their body, for whatever means, and that prostitution should be legalized is not, in fact, very justifiable. The good of the people should come before the good of an individual, just as a drug dealer gets his own drugs legally and they are rightfully his, he cannot sell them to some halfwit kid on the street, the law is there to protect people and, in theory, deter them from doing the deplorable act in the first place. Prostitution is illegal to protect and deter others from risks such as, sexually transmitted diseases, being owned and possibly beaten by a pimp or “procuror of prostitutes”, the many drugs commonly found in that line of buisiness, unwanted pregnancys, and subsequently unwanted child support obligations. Those are the types of things that should not be looked at as “occupational hazard”, children should never be born into a world where they are unwanted and are forced to suffer for the decisions of their parents. Another strong argument is that legalized prostitution allows for more tax revenue, a “safer” environment for the
This code that has been established, is protected and feared as rules within such communities. These rules are unspoken and it encourages people to seek respect by engaging in criminal behavior in order to protect one’s self image and gain respect. For example, if a person is or feels disrespected or dishonored in some way, he or she may engage in a demeaning way to gain respect. The codes of the neighborhoods goes further in how being informants for police authorities, should not happen and showing emotions when challenged is not encouraged. These rules are a way of how the
It is made on both private and public surfaces mostly in low income parts of cities and may take the form of words and drawings or art. In the ancient times, graffiti referred to wall carvings, drawings of figures, and inscriptions on old ruins, in Rome. However, in many cities graffiti is said to be an artistic vandalism, which cannot be recognized as form of art. Many people argue that it is a gang activity; thus, making it illegal in public, as well as private property. This paper will analyze the history of graffiti art, the problems of modern graffiti and its vandalism claims, as well as their solutions.
People may feel disrespected if they find out that the funds are used to support offensive work of art instead of using them to help solve some problems of the country. For me, the decision whether an artwork is censored or not, goes to the people viewing the “art”. Each of us has our own beliefs and we know what’s right from wrong. No one will get hurt if we find a certain art offensive. If we decide not to see
Some speak out about it and some do not. Although sexual harassment is taking place it can be prevented by human resource departments and law enforcement. In legal terms, sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advance or conduct on the job that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. The shorthand version of the definition used by the federal government and most states. But it’s not necessary to couch the problem in legalisms.