The art of Graffiti - Essay Example

GRAFFITI Many people have different opinions about graffiti. Some think it is artistic expression, others believe it is a form of vandalism. Partly this is because graffiti takes many different forms. Some of it shows a lot of artistic merit while other stuff is just a bunch of scribbling. There is one thing that usually unifies graffiti as a category: it is a rebellious act because it is done on property that rarely belongs to the “artist.” For this reason, many people dislike it. Many people view private property as one of the foundations of human civilization and vandalism to be a violation of the trust between people. And there is no denying that it costs tens of millions of dollars around the world to clean graffiti up. For these reasons, I strongly object to graffiti and believe it is vandalism. My encounter with graffiti occurred when I was driving by one of the most popular highways in Kuwait and I saw it on the side of a mosque. The mosque was painted white and it was visible from a distance because it was in an open space. It also faced the highway which made it a good place (from their perspective) for the vandals to paint their graffiti since it would be seen by a lot of people each day. It wasn’t in an alleyway or in a bathroom, it was out in the open on a religious building. I wasn’t happy to see the drawings on the mosque. For one thing, I respect the institutions of mosques and their authority and significance. They are places where people to go worship and be at their most spiritual. They are places of God. It’s an act of sacrilege to vandalize them and draw on them. Secondly, the mosque is private property: it belongs to someone else. When alter or damage another’s property you strike at the bonds that hold society together. That too made me angry. Also, the quality of the drawings was offensive. I wouldn’t be happy if someone had painted without permission a picture of a pleasant field of flowers on the side of the mosque because it would still be vandalism, but at least it might have some content and meaning. In this example people had simply drawn letters and meaningless symbols on the side of the building. This, to me, made it worse. I generally have a negative view of graffiti and this example was no different. One day when I went to this mosque to investigate further, I met an old man who sometimes cleans to floors and walls indoors. I took him around to the back of the mosque to show him the graffiti and to ask him what he thought. He looked very surprised when he saw the drawings. He told me that what the people had done who had drawn the graffiti was unacceptable. He had been brought up not to damage or deface other peoples’ property and to show respect for others. These scribblings, he said, were like a slap in the face—they were like someone had drawn physically on his own body, or taken something that belonged to him away from him. “The people in this community worked hard save up to build this mosque,” he told me. “They paid to make this walls clean and white. There is no merit in what was done here. Instead it was an act of defacement and sacrilege. It is unacceptable!” My opinion of the situation closely mirrored that of this gentleman. It’s just a shame that the risk is not commensurate with the meaning of what they are saying. They really seem only to have drawn gibberish on the side of the mosque—not anything that can constitute the risk. Even if they had written something against to government that would be political expression which would at least give the viewer something to think about. Through out the Middle East there is a fair amount of graffiti on mosques. Because of the political turn in the world in recent years, there is sometimes a strong feeling about Muslims. There were recently some incidents in France where mosques were spray painted with swastikas and pieces of pork were thrown at them. These are hate crimes, acts of pure prejudice. In some places in Israel, mosques have been graffitied with the Star of David. Because Islam is a big political issue these days, mosques, which are visible representations of Islam, have been targeted. In the past, it was the same with synagogues. Thankfully, in the case of this mosque in Kuwait, the slogans or markings have no real meaning. Who are the people who make it and do it? What inspires them? Because the quality of their markings and its meaning are generally so poor in this case, it’s hard to tell. But clearly they are rebellious and have little respect for mosques or for the people who have to drive by mosques and see this blight. But I will admit that for those who really sit down to think about graffiti it is clear that it means more than the words inscribed; that the motivations of those who choose to deface buildings are a part of human nature too. There is always a desire to leave your mark. And why not on a monument that has authority or what seems like an eternal presence? Writing from exile, a homesick Ovid fondly recalled the Euripus flowing between elegant lawns and porticoes. Ancient graffiti still visible beside the canal express less-elevated sentiments. "Scummy Ready-for-Anything gives it to her lovers all the time," an anonymous Roman penned in careful letters. "Crap well," another wrote just beside, either in response or as a general exhortation to passers-by. Striking subterranea underlie the most ordinary scenes (Mueller). The type of personality attracted to the making of graffiti is hoping to immortalize him or herself in some way, but they are also probably enjoying the thrill of doing something illicit. In their brain they probably get a jolt of pleasure from doing risky things that other people would disapprove of. They don’t care if people disapprove and they are a bit self-centred. Perhaps more traditional avenues of public expression are closed to them. To draw on a mosque in a visible way in Kuwait is a risky act. For some, graffiti is a window into an underground world where the laws don’t apply and art is truly free. But in reality, if you do not have the permission of the person whose wall you are defacing you are breaking the law and committing an act of vandalism. People rarely think about the consequences of their actions, but they should consider how religious-minded people feel when they see their houses of worship vandalized. Work consulted Mueller, Tom. “Underground Rome.” The Atlantic. April 1997. http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97apr/rome.htm Read More