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Graffiti as an Art or Vandalism essay |
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Graffiti as an Art or Vandalism. Custom Graffiti as an Art or Vandalism Essay Writing Service || Graffiti as an Art or Vandalism Essay samples, help
Graffiti has much been associated art creativity. This paper will examine whether graffiti can be viewed as an art or vandalism. This will be done through the analysis of four questions which touch on the following: transgressive performance in cities, graffiti’s relation with transgressive, how those who engage in the transgressive activities seize the opportunities to display the transgression and how transgressive performance, for instance, graffiti become normative. The essay attempts to answer the question: is graffiti an art or vandalism? Graffiti is mostly associated with transgressive. To be in a good position to make a decision on whether graffiti is an art or vandalism, one need to understand the context of the word ‘transgressive’ as used in relation to graffiti. To best understand the meaning of transgressive first the meaning of transgression needs to be examined. Transgressive is created from transgression. McLaren and Patin (1997) defines transgression as the act of surpassing the limits of oppositional thought. The authors next define a transgressive strategy as one which, “constitute an attempt to denaturize, that is, to reveal the contingent foundation of what is culturally regarded as necessary and natural” (McLaren & Patin, 1997, p. 135). The authors then associate transgressive actions with deviations from, “male/female, active/passive, positive/negative axis” (McLaren & Patin, 1997, p. 135). Therefore, simply defined transgressive is the act of behaving in a different ways which are particularly unique. Transgressive performances occur in various ways and are mostly displayed in cities.Transgressive Performance in CitiesAs seen from above transgressive actions tend to stand out of that which is considered normal. This is conspicuous especially in the big cities in most of the developed countries. Joseph and Fink (1999) describe such transgressive performance taking place in the days before carnival in the inner city communities of Britain. The description portrays the performance as one with, “huge sound system making their distinctive musical pronouncements in street corners and various housing projects or estates” (Joseph & Fink, 1999, p. 96). The authors argue that the music is played in such a manner that makes them distinguishable from the rest. The authors further argue that the people involved in these performances use the music and dance to, “evoke a counter spirit of relentless assertiveness of their presence” (Joseph & Fink, 1999, p. 96). Joseph and Fink (1999) make claims that in such cities as London Birmingham, Bristol, and Leeds, there are usually, “maniac release of energy through dance parties” (p. 96). The authors carefully add that the release of energy is just a precedent to the grand occasion. In the grand occasion, the members declare their presence to one another and also to the people around the communities. In a clear way the authors have brought to light so facts about transgressive performances in cities. The first fact is that these actions are out to make a mark of declaring their presence by any means possible. The members of such performances seems to say, “we are here and everybody must be aware of that- we do not care what you doing or where you are.” The members of these performances are also seen to go to extremes to ensure that there presence is felt and not just felt but felt in a special way. What makes Graffiti Transgressive?According to Sabater (2002) an art can be transgressive if, “it has some a certain degree of openness to allow for actions and interpretations that cross the line reversing not only the order of things but reversing the order of power as well” (Sabater, 2002, par. 6). Halifax (2006) views graffiti as art the only difference being that graffiti is done on a property without permission thus making it a crime. Halifax (2006) claims that graffiti can occur any but it popular with public places and private buildings (par. 1). Graffiti is used mostly in places where they can ‘talk’ to people and pass messages in an authoritative way. For instance it is very hard for the generally public to the message conveyed in graffiti on a public transport bus. Graffiti designed on public places such as bridges are easily notices. Another point to note is the materials used in the creation of graffiti. According to Halifax (2006), “automotive paint, spray paint, crayons and permanent ink,” (par. 2) are used in graffiti creation. This makes the graffiti work bright and at times noticeable from far. The graffiti brightness is seen to resemble the noise made by transgressive performance. As seen from the discussion above, the transgressive performance aim at making everybody in the neighbourhood become aware of their presence. This is seen to be reflected in the graffiti especially when the bright colours are taken into consideration and the fact that the creation is often in strategic places. Therefore what makes graffiti transgressive is its ability to make itself known through the use of the bright colours and the fact that it against the law. Usurping Space for Transgressive PurposeTransgressive has its own way of creating its space. Sabater (2002) claims that transgression is a game: a game of representation of an idea transformed. The idea has to be represented in an open way and in a manner that evoke actions and interpretations. The ability of uniqueness brought about by the transgressive creates its own opportunity. The excesses associated with transgressive is key in usurping space for transgressive purpose. It should be noted that the purpose is show uniqueness and stand out alone in the crowd not belonging to any axis. The unique features associated with transgressive is its creator of space. How transgressive performance like graffiti become normativeGraffiti especially in the city has been normalized to become a way of communication. The walls have been the platforms where different views are presented and answered. Keith (2005) argues that graffiti writers have formed part of public writers. He write, “Graffiti writing itself constitutes a kind of unruly alternative public sphere in which political argument and verbal debate is substituted with a kind of non-discursive battle between opposing groups armed with spray cans and marker pens” (Keith, 2005, p. 150). The author moves on to give an instance of such a battle as that between the British racists and the anti racists graffiti writers monitoring each other. In most cases the graffiti writers write on current issues affecting a region at a particular time. This makes them to be part of the daily talk thus assimilating them to the normal daily life. Graffiti and art are very similar. The only difference being that graffiti uses channels which are not allowed by the authorities. Graffiti has the same features has the transgressive. Both are predominant in big cities and are associated with going against what is expected of the normal way of behavior: graffiti is actually a form of transgressive. Transgressive aims to setting itself out the normal axis of all the activities. This is what normally turns transgressive on the wrong side of the law. Graffiti has been become part of the normal way of communicating in the public sector. This has led graffiti to being part of the normative art though it is illegal. Therefore it should be noted that graffiti is art but illegal art because of the channel it uses.
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