For my Capstone, as I told you, my topic is graffiti. My main inquiry question is, is graffiti art or vandalism? I have come a long way with research to answer this question. Here’s how I got the answers. I researched my sub-questions by using Google as my search engine. I found many answers on websites provided by that search. I was also able to find helpful books by asking the librarian for help. I looked at my sub-question answers and I rephrased them to go into my essay. At first, I did some research for my intro for my essay. After I did some of the research I put what meant the most into my intro in my essay. After I did a little planning and I thought I could use my sub-questions as my topic sentences for each of my paragraphs, I had six

I looked at my sub-question answers and I rephrased them to go into my essay. At first, I did some research for my intro for my essay. After that, I did some of the research I put what meant the most into my intro in my essay. After I did a little planning, I thought I could use my sub-questions as my topic sentences for each of my paragraphs, I had six sub questions.

I thought you might enjoy reading my essay to learn more about graffiti.

 

Did you know the word graffiti comes from the Greek word ‘graphein’? That word means to write. In 1967 a highschool student started tagging city walls in Philadelphia to impress a girl. In the 1980s, art galleries started showcasing graffiti art. Many people think graffiti isn’t real art. People think graffiti makes cities ugly and uncared for. If graffiti is done without permission it’s a crime. Is graffiti art, or vandalism?

What is vandalism? Vandalism is when someone deliberately damages public, or private property. Graffiti is an act of vandalism if it is done without the permission of the owner of the wall, or other objects.

Does graffiti make buildings look good or bad? Graffiti can lift a struggling city that is poor and the city is dull. People who are sometimes poor and in a struggling city will walk past graffiti and it lifts people up. They see the beauty of the colors, and if the place is dark and dull, people won’t act how the city is. They will be happy because they saw the bright colors. On the other hand, their moods might be dull and not happy when they see the graffiti because they think the tags and murals are ugly.

What are cities doing to eliminate graffiti vandalism? Schools pay out millions of dollars each year to clean up graffiti, repair buildings, or vandalized equipment. That means less money for new books, computers, sports equipment, and student activities. Local governments (and their taxpayers) pay the bills for broken street lights, stolen signs, and vandalized parks. Businesses pass the costs of vandalism on to customers through higher prices. Some suggestions to clean up graffiti vandalism are: educate the public, especially young people about the costs of vandalism. Clean up vandalism as soon as it happens — replace signs, repair playground equipment, paint over graffiti.If you see anyone committing vandalism, report it to the police, school authorities, or someone who can take action.

Graffiti is often done with talent and sometimes not. Everyday you might see graffiti. It may be on signs in your local park and walls near you. You might think that scribbles on surfaces like the park signs and walls are not cool. You wonder why people would want to do that to this place. Well, here’s the thing, that scribble is a tag for a person’s name. If I write my name in a scribble and, right next to it, I write my name again with a lot of colors big and bold, and you can barely read it, those two things are considered the same. They are both tags.

If we believe that art should be something that is created with imagination and skill, it is either beautiful or expresses important ideas or feelings, then the graffiti that is just scribbles and random, not skilled words is not considered art. Most graffiti is considered ugly and lacks both imagination and skill, but on the other hand there is a lot that does have amazing imagination and the people who graffiti them are very talented and have a lot of skill.Graffiti takes skill and practice. People who go out there are doing amazing things and sometimes spend most of their lives into graffiti

Is the thrill of engaging in illegal behavior integral to the graffiti art and graffiti world? From pigments to printing presses, symbols changed the way humans lived and provided a new skill set to help them survive in an unpredictable world. Humans were using colour by 175,000 years ago, to mark objects and possibly their own skin. Humans have a natural need to communicate using symbols. This can be achieved unintentionally, such as the connotations of certain types of clothing. For example, a suit might make someone think about a successful businessman. It could also be something more explicit, like writing or drawing on a physical object. Whether it is an impressive ancient fresco on the wall of a cave, or a colourful outburst of graffiti in an urban setting. We see thousands of symbols every day, and interpret them without even noticing. Symbolic communication is a crucial aspect of human evolution, and has deep historical and archaeological roots.

Is the graffiti art affecting our environment? Graffiti is toxic for the environment and emits fumes into the air that promotes global warming. Also, according to scientificamerican.com, “Modern-day, CFC-free aerosol sprays also emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to ground-level ozone levels, a key component of asthma-inducing smog.” Though the actual paint in the cans is not healthy for our environment, mostly the cleaning substances used to clean the paint off the walls are extremely harmful. As graffitiremoval.org states, “The potential for damaging environmental impacts is high when using and disposing of chemicals.” when talking about using and trashing the chemicals used to wash graffiti.

Is graffiti art when it is done illegally? Graffiti can always be art, but sometimes it might just not appeal to you. Sometimes it depends where when and how graffiti is done. It’s possible that graffiti can be art when it’s done illegally. If the graffiti is just a scribble it’s a form of writing. It depends on how people view the graffiti. Some people may think some is amazing but some might think it is plain ugliness. Some people think graffiti is still ugly when it’s done in a place where graffiti can be done.

There are ways to do graffiti without getting consequences. There are ways by getting consequences while doing graffiti art. When graffiti is done in a big city there is sometimes more things like car crashes and people hurting other people. On the other hand, police have to spend a lot of time dealing with graffiti vandalism when they could be focused on more serious crimes.

In conclusion, I think graffiti is art and sometimes not. When it’s done on public property and the building owner is allowing people to do graffiti on it, it’s art and it’s not illegal. When people do graffiti on private property, it can be art and very appealing. For graffiti not to be vandalism, the artist must have permission. Sometimes, graffiti artists risk breaking the law to paint an amazing mural–illegal, but art. It comes down to interpretation–”art is in the eye of the beholder.”