Above: SPIRO
Is graffiti art or vandalism? What is vandalism? What is art? What is graffiti? Who decides what is art and what is not? Some people think that graffiti is a form of art and is full of expression, others feel only the works from Van Gogh, Michaelangelo, Matisse, Picasso, Klimt etc, can be called art.
Tagging is perhaps the most common type of graffiti. Perhaps if the graffiti wasn't painted on private property, society would think differently, instead of viewing it as a crime, which it is, without the owners consent.
Graffiti has been around since the days of ancient civilizations. Graffiti originally was the term used for inscriptions, figure drawings.
Graffiti was used in the begining by political activists to make statements and so street gangs could mark territory. The history of the underground art movement begins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the mid to late '60s.
In early 1970s young New Yorkers, belonging to the black and Puerto Rican communities, started to adopt tags - signatures and signs made with aerosol sprays and markers in public places. Tags started to cover the city, mostly on the subways. Tagging is considered to be part of gang culture, but graffiti is considered to be a form of expression.
For some interviews with graffiti artists - http://puregraffiti.com/art/graffiti/graffiti-interviews/
For graffiti news -
http://www.puregraffiti.com/graffiti-space/forumdisplay.php?f=14
