Najera Perez 1

Diana M. Najera Perez

Dr. Colombo

UWRT 1104

29 January 2017

Can Graffiti ever be Considered Art?

When people say the word graffiti, everyone has a spilt opinion on whether it should be

considered as acceptable street art or vandalism. Their opinions are manifested by

environmental factors and cultural beliefs that contributes to their personal judgment on graffiti.

Coming across certain blogs that address the public on debating whether graffiti should be

considered art was intriguing. People who viewed graffiti as art keep uttering the definition of art

and how people have the right to express their imagination on public sites for society to take in

their beliefs. Others who viewed graffiti as a negative factor to society had beliefs that it is used

to promote violence, drugs, and gang related activities. However, everyone had a common

fundamental response that property should not be damage in the process of creating a public

display by the graffiti maker (also known as graffiti marker). My goal in this paper is to research

on if graffiti can ever be considered as art because I want to find out what influence graffiti

markers to create murals, what is considered art in society, and if there is a productive reason

why it is against the law to create graffiti.

Graffiti markers are influenced to create murals based on currents events such as political

issues, environmental issues, social issue etc. Everyone has a right to express their opinion on

certain events whether it can be a public statement or a public representation. It is clear to

verbally speak about where you stand in an issue, but it is more challenging to express the belief
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of a topic using images to show the message you are implicating. I want to find well known

graffiti markers to explain the position they stood by regarding the issue that was chosen to

express and how their belief was formed into a canvas. Researching this information would be

gathered by public newspaper articles and critics review because graffiti is a public display of

someone mindset. I want to accumulate graffiti markers desires to express their imagination and

why it seems normal for them to create works of art for society to view their work as

unnecessary efforts. It is important to understand the design that the graffiti marker chose to

exhibit his or her opinion of the current event taken place.

When it comes to the definition of art, society can concur that art is created to express

important ideas or feelings using imagination and skills. Art is a cultural influence because it can

change society opinions, values, and explain experiences with reference to the graffiti marker

attitude. Considering graffiti as an urban art with regards to it being display in streets rather than

being a museum. Society is used to seeing artworks displayed in museums or art galleries, not in

public places. We are prone to go to a formal site to view painting, sculpture, and other designs

in a quiet manner. Graffiti markers not only created art to get their ideas to society but also

started movements or create changes in style for others to follow. I want to research information

regarding how the definition of art has changed over time and how society interpret art. It is

essential to learn about how society define art based on its social factors.

Graffiti is considered to be a Class A misdemeanor which bans anyone who possess

aerosol spray paint or broad tipped indelible markers in any public building or facility. This is a

law in the state of New York and throughout the world there are similar laws that prohibits

civilians to create graffiti. I know that graffiti is a sign of vandalism because people trespass into

others property to create their scenes of color. I understand that it is wrong to create such a
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massive scene on property that is not owned by the graffiti marker and it should be penalize. I

want to understand what are the possible consequences of getting penalize of creating graffiti in

public areas. Also, if it affects the economic status of the country to monitor, detect, remove, and

repair the graffiti damage made on public properties. This contributes to the ban against graffiti

because it is the law enforcement duty to enforce the law. I want to gather information regarding

the amount of graffiti marker penalize on damaging property or being caught with materials

known to be use by graffiti markers. To learn about the fees and time people must serve for going

against its nation law about graffiti making. It is important to understand the laws against graffiti

use because a law is recognizing of having higher authority and if one disobey the law, society

view it as a negative offense. It would set society to view graffiti as an insult to the public and it

can overshadow the real reason behind the graffiti marker message in the art created.

This topic can be discussed between two sides, the ones who agree that graffiti is

considered to be art and the ones who does not agree that graffiti is considered to be art. This

research involves two distinguished opinions about graffiti and I am going to bring a positive

view on why graffiti should be considered as art. Society are influenced to see graffiti as a

disturbance to the environment and do not understand why this presentation is out in the open.

By creating this argument, I will connect with my audience why this social issue matter with the

concept of it being considered as art. Graffiti is described as a writing or drawing in the

dictionary but people personal definition for graffiti is freedom of expression the imagination.

Graffiti can be traditionally found in any public places so people are more prone to acknowledge

it even if they do not desire to. It is a matter between social influence and how people intercept

these influences on the belief if graffiti should be known as art.

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The difficulties I would face are stating personal opinions instead of giving facts on

viewing graffiti as art. Personal experiences are acceptable to create a connection between the

writer and the topic being argued, but it can lead into another issue that may confuse the

audience. I do not want to mislead my audience on reflecting to the negative perspective of

graffiti being used in public areas. Convicting my audience that graffiti is a public good and can

be express as art is another challenge. One rhetorical tool I should be aware of would be the

word choices I imply in my essay. Creating what my essay must say and how to say it can define

my purpose on writing about graffiti being considered to be art. My purpose is for someone to

understand, believe, and agree with the positon I stand in for my argument. The technique of

using language effectively will demonstrate my understanding of the topic I chose to argue about

and how my audience will take in the information present to them. If the message is not clear

than my essay can be seen as a persuading essay. Viewers will perhaps see my essay as a wordy

orientation or trickery and that would not show an academic disciple. The whole point of an

argument is to state the claim and to have the audience adopt to your beliefs as their own, I

believe that is the hardest part.

In conclusion, I hope to accomplish on explain my claim well enough for my audience to

understand the purpose of my essay. I hope to construct an argumentative essay with excellent

examples, good grammar, and enough information necessary to captivate my audience. It is

important to show my audience that graffiti should not always be viewed as vandalizing property,

but as an expression of ideas. Graffiti markers have the freedom to exploit their ideas with

consideration of where they place their works of art. The audience should care about the both

side of the argument to have an open mind set on if they should change belief or have valid

reason to stick on their previous positon on this argument. That the information given in the
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essay should be counted on and reflected on based on previous beliefs. The audience has some

what encounter some type of graffiti work in their neighborhood and so my job is to enlighten

them to view the positive virtue of the graffiti as work of art.