Should Graffiti Be Illegal - Research Paper Example

Why is it that people want to see masterpieces in museums and art galleries and not in the streets where they walk? It could be because people directly affiliate graffiti with gangs and their territories, it is seen as the work of punks and gangsters. Graffiti is actually an innovative form of expression for youngsters. Letting your creativity flow doesn’t mean that you’re a criminal or a thug. An online article seconds this: “The graffiti is their way of expressing what they think is art and what art may mean and represent to them.

This art helps people express who they are and what they feel art should look like and isn't that what art is all about” (Graffiti good or bad?). ‘Bombing’ is one of the most popular styles of graffiti art. It can be described as a form of art in which a person writes up on canvas or a wall in their own unique style with colors and fancy lettering (Graffiti good or bad?). We usually see examples of bombing, as decorative writing on walls with different letter formations and an explosion of color and creativity.

It is used to write for fun, to poke fun or to make a bold statement against the wrong-doings in society. People often find such art intriguing and appreciate its uniqueness, but at the same time it is also seen as an expression of violence. Hence the mixed attitudes debate over the legality of such art. These artists should be provided with a platform to express their own selves and be recognized for their talents instead of being convicted and put into jail. Why don't we have art museums for street art?

In modern times, there is no definition of what art is. There are no restrictions or limits to how art can be represented. Representations and expressions of modern-day art know no boundaries. An online article seconds this when it says, “Art can be created into anything; it can be created into different forms that both intrigue and stimulate our senses but who actually decides what art is? Who has the right to tell us what we can and cannot do with art” (Graffiti good or bad?). They are as free flowing as the creativity of modern-day artists themselves, including graffiti artists.

According to Bomb, It the documentary by Jon Reiss, the idea of graffiti art sprung from the childish habit of writing your name whenever you had a pen in your hand or in this case, a can of spray-paint. Street artists love to leave their mark on the walls, and they do that by writing their names, aliases or nicknames in all sorts of styles and colors on the walls. “Bomb it” the documentary also explores the roots of graffiti art and traces it back to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A street artist named cornbread is widely acknowledged as the world’s first graffiti artist and not just by himself, but by other street artists as well.

Moreover, the documentary also goes on to say that graffiti actually existed from the earlier times and had a quite appealing theory to support their claim; they say that cave drawings found from the earliest of times are, in fact, a form of graffiti. This suggestion that graffiti art has primitive roots is really very interesting and a rather viable theory considering the nature of cave drawings. Graffiti artists see themselves as revolutionaries trying to speak their mind out using the form of expression, they’re best at.

In the documentary Bomb It, we see how one street artist claims that it is the society that has given them the