Ask anybody their opinion on graffiti, and you’ll receive opinions right across the board : some individuals see it as a nuisance, others a nuanced artform. On the plus side, gifted creatives such as Banksy have turned graffiti into an aesthetic pleasure, applying stencils to produce challenging artworks with a subtle meaning attached. This sort of graffiti was bound to get trendy with both the masses and the artworld : pleasing to the eye, and the intellect. This form of graffiti is now even acquired as graffiti canvas, and placed in middleclass homes and corporate reception areas.
Yet, what about the other end of the spectrum? - the tagger, the gangbanger sort - this type of graffiti is frequently seen as antisocial, an offence committed by the talentless. But this is to misinterpret graffiti as strictly art. To numerous individuals, it’s not just an artform, but a way to mark a district, or perhaps a two finger salute : anti-art, anti-social, anti-establishment.
Graffiti has invariably been a clandestine pursuit, even though the results are very much public. The targeted market is frequently unbeknown. Is it for a competing gang? A message to an individual? To the public? Or….perhaps it’s simply uncalled-for and out of nothing to do.
Whatever the causes, there seems to be a perpetual demand to spray graffiti. Some cities have conceded that graffiti isn’t going to go away, so they’ve designated zones where graffiti is allowed - normally derelict areas, but from time to time busier zones like boarding that surrounds urban buildings under construction.
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