Artwork

Graffiti is art, I think this because the artist that is doing the graffiti is expressing themselves by spray painting beautiful things. The younger generation is making graffiti more okay to society and promoting it in positive ways. Gen X might still think it’s a crime because they aren’t as in touch with the internet or what’s going on in the world but the younger generation will overpower this by using platforms like Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram to promote the graffiti.

The newer generation looks at graffiti and thinks it’s beautiful, they take pictures in front of it, they post photos of the graffiti, and most of the time they’ll recommend that their friends go look at it too. Furthermore, the younger generation is using graffiti to promote positive things like being kind to others and mental health awareness. People are starting to pay for graffiti to be on clothing and brands. Because of how well known and appreciated it’s become, The younger generation is starting to go into different places in the world and look for it. Going into your local coffee shop, or your local nail salon you’ll find beautiful pieces of graffiti on the sides of their buildings. This supports my claim because people would still think graffiti is vandalism without the younger generation making it a popular thing and making the older generation understand that something can be good. People have found different ways to promote their art with social media and businesses and it’s a controversial thing right now.

Gen X still thinks that graffiti is a crime and vandalism is vandalism because that’s what they grew up in, they grew up in a time when people doing graffiti were doing it to promote violence and to make a business look bad, graffiti was and is still illegal. If caught doing any form of graffiti that isn’t approved, you will still be arrested and charged for illegal graffiti. The older generations see graffiti as vandalism.

I think we can change the way people look at graffiti by giving it a different name, instead of calling it graffiti we could call it street art and with that name can come a more positive outlook. There’s a right and a wrong way to go about things, and I believe that graffiti can be art if you do it in the right way.

“Graffiti in Charleroi” by Gerard Stolk (vers l’Avent) is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.