Graffiti: A Historical and Cultural Perspective
Graffiti is a term that was developed from the Latin word graffiare, which was subsequently translated into the Italian word graffito, which literally means "to scratch". It means to engrave or create (White 2).
Since the messages they conveyed were not constrained by social or political norms, this form of expression has been employed for a very long time as a means of communication by artists (Alonso 3).
Its origins can be found among the ancient Egyptians, Athenians, and Pompeiians. The ancient graffiti was brought out using pencil drawings or even carving out patterns on walls (Bates 24).
It was not until the 1960's that modern graffiti reached the urban US and has since spread to Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia (White 5; Deturk 22; Stewart 87).
The Evolution of Modern Graffiti
Today, graffiti is a common sight on walls, subways and has also moved to canvas (Alonso 3).
Cornbread (Darryl McCray) is seen as the inspiration for this modern art. He began by tagging his name on street walls using calligraphic letters just to be recognized. He ventured into spray painting buildings and then targeting station wagons and even police cars. He used these to pass on messages related to police ill-treatment of minority groups and also against social inequities (White 4; Bates 26).
His work not only became a visual art but also a performance as he did not use canvas. Rather, he risked his life to spray targeted sites at ungodly hours in what was seen as clandestine. However, his efforts paid off, and his work was seen by many people and also inspired many more to take on the art (White 5).
Modern graffiti is today more than art and has been adopted as a culture among the young generation. Following these developments, modern graffiti cannot be ignored. However, it is still not right to spray other people's or public property without a permit under the guise of practicing art. Therefore, graffiti without a permit still qualifies as vandalism.
The Graffiti Culture and Consequences
To fully understand graffiti, it is necessary to observe it as a form of street art and also look at its merger with hip-hop music. Hip-hop came into the limelight in the late 70's to 80's, and it was seen as a brand that was radical, vibrant and transformational. With all this catchy effect, most young people embraced it. With the modern graffiti having mastered the art of boldness, openness and defiance, hip-hop adopted it as the visual form for its music (Hughes 1; White 5).
The youthful generation was then caught up in these two forms of art, and more artists rose and used it to express themselves both in lyrics and color. Their expression just like Cornbread took to the bridges, the buildings and the subways as their chosen canvas, which amounted to breaking the law. They used spray paint packed in aerosol cans to create vibrancy by bringing out colors either singly or mixed. Their style included varying the tones of the colors, increasing the size of the tags, and also shaping out the letters in an artistic way so that it looked appealing and also brought out the semblance of arrows. The arrow impression was used to denote this as a movement (White 5).
Though the merger created complex and beautiful paintings from an art point of view, this movement fell on the wrong side of the law. A section of the public also saw it as a nuisance, destruction of landscape, and likened it to vandalism. Therefore, the authorities took on measures to combat graffiti. The county government of Los Angeles and New York City funded graffiti cleanup efforts to the tune of $55 and $50 respectively by 1989 (Bates 1-2).
The cleanup infuriated the youth, and they defiantly repainted the spots with more graffiti. They also moved their game to other cities. It became a cat and mouse game between the graffiti artists and the authorities, and each time, the tone of the art deepened and diversified. From the tagging and cool neutral presentations, they morphed into either gang, political, piecing, and existential. The political graffiti was used to speak against wrongdoings of government institutions and were strategically portrayed in public places to capture large audiences (Alonso 7).
The existential brought out personal opinions on issues of homosexuality and race, piecing allows artists to put up an elaborate piece of art that takes time, creativity, and space while gang graffiti is used by criminal groups to mark their territories (Alonso 15; Hughes 7).
Failure of the cleanup efforts led to more measures such as putting a ban on the sale of spray paints and even amending the law to make graffiti a criminal act punishable by law. Unfortunately, these too failed to control the spread of graffiti (Alonso 11; Stewart 94; Bates 48).
What has happened now is the exploitation of this talent for commercial benefits. This led to the legalization of the art, and today many artists such as Banksy, Caleb Neelon, Roger Gastman, and Swoon display their works on canvas and showcase them in art galleries and auction centers where they sell them at profitable prices and also make some as private collections. Their appeal for buildings has not left them, and they indulge every so often. Buildings serve as murals and are still painted but under the funding and permission from authorities (White 16; Hughes 10).
Controversial Art and Banksy
Banksy is a talented street artist with British origins whom the world acclaims for his works. Some of his presentations have remained illegal, and this is why he has retained his anonymity status to date. He is very unpredictable and diverse in his street urban presentation. He moves from vandal art, goes underground only to return to the mainstream. Some of his works are also pranks, and he also incorporates dark humor and satire. His stenciling that can be recognized anywhere in the world is his trademark. He also keeps disappointing the bigwigs in the art industry because he refuses to donate his pieces to corporate agencies (Valesi 6; Deturk 22).
Through his political and sometimes social art, he sends the message that money cannot buy everything. The greatest influence of his work was seen in Palestine, Tunisia, and Egypt during the 2011 Arab uprising. He was applauded for his courage in addressing the Palestine-Israel separation wall and beautifying this historic landmark (Deturk 24).
Commentators' Perspectives on Banksy
Commentators have given him numerous labels because of his provocative and politically daring artwork. Some have called him the 'art terrorist' or 'guerilla artist'. This is because he inspires the underprivileged in society to speak about the oppression by governments and even corporates and fight for change. This has been depicted in numerous works, with his favorite symbol being the rats with a promise of being in charge in the future (Valesi 12).
In another piece, he presents children hugging weapons in full view of surveillance cameras. Another artwork with a similar message is that of chimpanzees with notes reading 'laugh now but we will be in charge one day' tied to their necks. He has also portrayed police officers in compromising situations, and critics believe that his message is that the police force is not a valid authority. The illegal nature of his stunts has also influenced fanatics with anarchism ideologies (Valesi 12).
Valesi (2014) also sees Banksy's use of street art as a way of competing against advertisements and brand imaging. He states that advertisements intrude into the public space and also sway public opinion without their permission. This, in his perspective, is manipulative vandalism, which he abhors. He regards this as inequity in public space distribution because advertising companies can do whatever they want, provided they pay for the intellectual property right copyrights and trademarks. Using this argument, Banksy questions the legality of advertisements. Critics say that Banksy defends the illegal street art by making the established authority and powers look bad (Valesi 15).
Conclusion: A Perspective on Graffiti
Graffiti, though an important form of visual expression, cannot be totally regarded as art. Only 5% express art, while the remainder is pointless. The graffiti artists also have no regard for the ownership of the properties they voice their opinions on, thus financially burdening the private owners. The 5% who are artistic, including Banksy, also fall short of respect for law and authority. With the legalization of forms of street art, they should seek to legitimize their work. Even though their themes may be relevant, the tone of their messages should be regulated to avoid disrupting the hegemonic order of authority in a bid to maintain law and order.
Work Cited
Alonso, Alex. “Urban Graffiti on the City Landscape.” Western Geography Graduate Conference. San Diego: N.p., 1998. 1-25. Print.
Bates, Lindsay. “Bombing, Tagging, Writing : An Analysis of the Significance of Graffiti and Street Art.” University of Pennsylvania (2014): 1-168. Print.
Deturk, Sabrina. “The ‘ Banksy Effect ‘ and Street Art in the Middle East.” SAUC-Journal V1-N1 22-30. Print.
Hughes, Melissa L. “Street Art & Graffiti Art : Developing an Understanding.” Georgia State University (2009): 1-70. Print.
Stewart, Jeff. “Graffiti Vandalism ? Street Art and the City: Some Considerations.” University of Melbourne, Refereed E-Journal (2008): 86-107. Print.
Valesi, Marco. “TOPSY-TURVY-TRICKSY … BANKSY !” University of California 30 (2014): 4-22. Print.
White, Ashanti. “From Primitive to Integral: The Evolution of Graffiti Art.” Journal of Conscious Evolution 11 (2014): 1-13. Print.
