Is Graffiti Art?

[_____JEKLROKS_____]

Fuck being a artist I'm a vandal... I think it started off as vandalism thing with simple tags and shit and people just used artistic influence to create it more their own, but in the eyes of law, its still vandalism, for it to be a artform it'd have to be on fucking canvas and shit which is wack because it was'ent meant to be seen or apreciated by snooty art sluts, its supposed to be a way of getting your name known.

[atxbomber666]

i said no because i meen like 90% of the graffiti you see isnt legal,and i meen throws and tags have certain artistic elements but i meen art is like peicing which is legal.so basically the only art is the legal shit,and you dont see much of that.

[Kaynine]

Originally posted by atxbomber666@Jan 25 2005, 05:12 PM
i said no because i meen like 90% of the graffiti you see isnt legal,and i meen throws and tags have certain artistic elements but i meen art is like peicing which is legal.so basically the only art is the legal shit,and you dont see much of that.

Im feelin what he had to say and I do see that most throws and shit may not be art and that piecing dose use elements from art, So now i understand where GeSuS is coin from because most of tha time all i see is small shit like throw ups and tags not to many pieces so i guess there is more of a vandalism quality

[The Most Sadistic]

i depends graffiti is to brod (duno how to spell)

tags, throwies, bombs arnt art... they are vandalism ... and also my favorite part of graffiti cuz its the funnest part


piecing is art on paper / canvas / walls because you actually spend time on it

[The Most Sadistic]

but yea i voted no because im a bomber

[Coo]

Idk why graf is art but then again why is a peice of paper with paint splattered all over it art...(refuring to something i once saw in an art mus.)

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Pablo Picasso

[ILL]

i think if it's a good tag,piece, or bomb it's like art cuz you like looking at it and unless you do it on a legal wall it is vandalizim. When i see something where some ones doing graffiti to be "bad" like spray painting "Fuck" on a wall i don't look at it like i would if it was a dope tag, piece or bomb cuz it dosn't look good cuz it has no style or anything they just do it to be "Bad" and even when i look at a tag i did a little while ago whin i first started and it's shity i don't like it cuz even tho its a tag it dosen't look good. I do graffiti cuz i like doin it , i like seein it and i do like tha "invisable fame" .

[Live4TheWall]

Glad to see you feel so stongly on this one Gesus. Like I said before I think its an art because its developed completely by the artist. Anyone can go out and scratch up a window or spray some walls but what you and many other people on this website do is art. You spent time on making it look good so you can repeat it time and time again (handstyles) and then you spend sometimes hours on ends coming up with a new piece to put up. I say we begin as vandals and evolve into artists when we are no longer considered toys.

[titan_tbc]

i personally think graff is kind of art, u need 2 have a good mind 2 do it and a dick style but it can be mostly vandalism if u just plain suck at it or u write bad words down on it

[ILL]

never mind

[SALVO]

I agree Gesus, I'm honestly supprised that you said what you said though cause I know you're all about that "street art"

But graffiti is what ever you want it to be, but its vandalism, it started as vandalism and it will always be vandalism. Legal walls are a waste of paint and time, I don't really consider it to be graffiti either. I like doing graffiti to get reactions and just to have fun. I don't think it would be realistic to pursue an art career based on graffiti.

[Soar]

graffiti can be vandalism, and art at the same time.. of course all illegal pieces can be thrown under vandalism because the law says so, still dosen't make it NOT art

some vandals have statements to say. two statements are made: the blatant disrespect of defacing a public thing, and whatever it is that they tag.

those statements, both are expressions. thats what art is, it's an expression.

simple tags like


could be interpreted as art, even though that is vandalism. theres expression in the different handstyles, is there not? different or unique structures for each person.. it creates an identity if theres individualism in the handstyles.

because the person who tags they are, maybe didn't intend them to be art; it dosen't mean they absolutely cannot be interpreted as so.

art is vast, art is everywhere.

[Soar]

Originally posted by SALVO@Jan 25 2005, 06:00 PM
But graffiti is what ever you want it to be, but its vandalism, it started as vandalism and it will always be vandalism. Legal walls are a waste of paint and time, I don't really consider it to be graffiti either. I like doing graffiti to get reactions and just to have fun. I don't think it would be realistic to pursue an art career based on graffiti.

just some extra comments-


But graffiti is what ever you want it to be
agreed..



I like doing graffiti to get reactions and just to have fun

unless you want to be stubborn, and for some reason you think it's not cool to be an "artist".. you should realize that doing things to get a reaction is an expression.. theres "shock value" in thousands upon thousands of paintings, sculptures, etc..


you can be a fucking computer programmer, an army commander, a small business owner.. theres no rules or guidelines to follow when creating art. create what you want man, dont feel pressured into going somewhere with 'art' if you dont want to.. it dosen't mean anything unless you want it to, to even use your own words.

[Soar]

why is there no delete option.

["LIMIT"]

Im with SOAR.

Graffiti is art because you are using your imagination to create your own lines, I mean, if you arent a biter, you gonna create an original piece, tag, or whatever just using your imagination, and thats art, creating things from your mind.

And for those who think that handstyles are just vandalism, I say no, because you are tracing lines that come from your mind, thats why every tagger have its own style, a line in a different angle can do a huge difference.

[Soar]

i'm not justifying biters by any means, know that.. but an extremely famous quote by Picasso:

"Good artists create, great artists steal."

thats isnt directly relatable to biters, cause thats just not right at all.. but u steal from things.. you steal from whatever inspires you. nature, people, anything..

[ACE512]

yeah i agree with the guy on the first page with the long ass essay lol that i only read the first sentence in that graffiti is a stepping stone into structural types of art. im studying architecture right now and am into graphic design (photoshop) and graffiti i feel got me there.

[hitshit89]

the best explanation i ever heard of graffiti was in style wars that detective who said:is graffiti an art? i dont know im not an art critic but i can sure as hell tell you its a crime. best explanation ever!! h34r:

[ssypark89]

first you should be asking yourself.. "What is Art?"
well i looked into a dictionary and it says:

Definitions of art:


noun: the creation of beautiful or significant things
Example: "A good example of modern art"

noun: the products of human creativity; works of art collectively
Example: "An art exhibition"

noun: a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation
Example: "The art of conversation"

noun: photographs or other visual representations in a printed publication
Example: "The publisher was responsible for all the artwork in the book"

In my opinion, i think graffiti is.. in a way. whatever is an expression of yourself and comes from you head is art and so does graffiti(unless it is bitten). I think Bombs are harder to make up than peices and you really need to use your mind to make an original one. so i think bombs are art to.. in art you also need to find balance, as als in grafiti. so yea... I think graffiti is is art in many ways... well thats my opinion.

[seckzoner]

uhhhhhhhh, how is graffiti not an art?
an art can be anything. how come graffiti suddenly turned to vandalism after it was taken out of ghettos? it still holds its properties.
you can take the ghettos out of graffiti, but i really feel as ART is ART, "its all in the eye of the beholder, blahblahblah." its all how you look at things.

EDIT::
How come graffiti on LEGALS, automatically art?
just because you take all the Illegal shit away, doesnt mean that its suddenly NOT ART. just because of a law. Art is ART, no matter what.
its like saying that just because you adopt a child, you arent the parent. It is what it is.