How the World sees Graffiti

10 min readFeb 1, 2017

Banksy, a popular graffiti artist and political activist said that people either love, hate, or don’t care about him, his work, and the likes of it in his book Wall and Piece. Like him, I also see that society is divided on graffiti. There are people who see it as an informality — a crime and a menace to the community. On the other hand, for some of us, it is art. Some of us see it as something that can show the good and bad in people or the real and absurd about our society.

As an artist from Manila, Philippines, I saw graffiti as a liberating kind of art. The Philippines is a developing country in Southeast Asia where there a lot of anonymous painters treat buildings, walls, fences, and dumpsters as their own free canvases. I admire them for they can fully express themselves and convey their message in an artistic way. I also found a few people who share my views. We believe that understanding graffiti’s evolution as an art form can help creatives (of any medium) grow and become better artists. It’s profound journey has a lot of lessons to teach:

Graffiti’s rich origin and controversial past

Graffiti is the plural form of grafficar. It’s an Italian word which refers to scribbles, marks, drawings, patterns, or messages that are painted, written, scratched, etched, or carved on a wall or surface by hand. The term traces us back to a rich origin; the etches of a caveman, the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, and even the writings on the walls of ancient Pompeii that were buried after Mt. Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD. Historians and anthropologists used these ancient writings to study civilizations that shaped our world today.

Ancient graffiti in Pompeii (image source)

However, graffiti’s controversial reputation as vandalism dates back in the 1970s and the 1980s during the graffiti revolution in New York City. Melissa Hughes from the University of Georgia says this was the time when “urban youth extensively spray-painted subway cars, trains, and walls”. Graffiti was widespread and hard to control.

The early kinds of graffiti

I want to point out that there are two kinds of graffiti that appeared in the graffiti revolution. The first and simplest form of graffiti was called a tag. These are stylized, quick signatures which consists of letters and numbers. It is written and spray-painted on public areas without permission, hence people refer to it as vandalism.

In the book Tagging as a Social Literacy Practice, Curwen and MacGillivray said that tagging helped people spread a word, message, or an identity. A tagger’s end goal is exposure, therefore they produce many tags as much possible. As a result, it became one of the fastest ways to get known in the city.

Heavily tagged subway car in New York City in 1973 (image source)

Then, there was graffiti art. Hughes described it as something that is in the boundary of tags and an art form. The concept of graffiti art is to introduce a person as an artist in a community. Similar to tags, it emphasizes self-proliferation and is produced without permission. However, it has heightened lettering, color application, and style. It uses colourful, artistic elements to dominate regular tags on the same wall.

Zephyr, a New York City graffiti artist spray painting one side of a train in the 1980’s (image source)

Since most graffiti artists don’t ask for permission to do their art, some people still refer to them as vandals. George Stowers in his essay said that people found it hard to appreciate graffiti art as art because of its execution. But if we base on aesthetic components such as style, concept, and visual impact, graffiti art is qualified as art. Graffiti artists show off their artistic capabilities so that people can differentiate their work from tag vandalism.

In addition, London-based curator and graffiti expert Cedar Lewisohn also revealed that a graffiti artist plans a piece carefully before executing it. In his book Street Art : The Graffiti Revolution, he discussed the creative process of a graffiti artist. He said that a graffiti artist must master how to write graffiti, create avant garde letters, develop a unique style, and complete the piece in the best spot available. It’s hard to finish a graffiti art because the artist needs to do it at night and in the dark to avoid getting caught.

At the end of the day, graffiti art shows a concept, a vision, and mastery of the medium. These are the most important elements of art according to San Francisco art curator Alan Bamberger. Perhaps, these are the reasons why some museums in the world opened their doors to graffiti art. Institutions such as the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum, New York Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and many more have exhibits which tell the journey of graffiti towards becoming a worthy piece in galleries and private collections.

Evolution into a more acceptable art form

Making it to the museum is already a huge deal for something that started in the subway and dark alleys. This was a milestone for the entire graffiti community. Museum exhibits became an additional platform where people can look at graffiti and admire it solely as art.

However, though achieving museum status is important, the graffiti community’s mission is to transform the streets into an open museum for the public to enjoy. This happened when when neo-graffiti or what we popularly know as street art emerged in the 1990s.

In Graffiti, Street Art, and Stigmergy, internationally recognized expert on graffiti and street art Lachlan MacDowall referred street art as a range of creative practices from diverse practitioners, political impulses, and materials. Typically, it involves colourful, figurative, two or three-dimensional additions and alterations of city spaces. It uses everyday materials and ranging in scale and complexity from micro sculptures to enormous murals. Most importantly, it is often produced without authorization.

Street art is more open to artistic interpretation. People tend to stop walking on the streets to admire art, and ponder on its message. If they feel that a particular street art is worth saving, they desire it to stay in public for others to see.

Banky’s creation: A tagger throwing-up plants and flowers (image source)

Communities embrace graffiti

As mentioned earlier, street art helped people appreciate graffiti as an art. When people and their community embraced graffiti, they found out that it is a broader and bigger art form which they can use to influence the world.

The city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia for example, is one of the cities in the world where public spaces can be a gallery and stage for artistic expression. The city’s rich graffiti culture made them a tourist destination. Their artists developed authentic and unique graffiti styles, which tourists wanted to see. When in Melbourne, you can walk around the CBD to witness the city’s graffiti and street art. Sometimes, you can watch street artists paint their piece on the spot.

Hosier Lane, a popular area in Melbourne because of graffiti and street art (image source)

At the same time, the city of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia also builds a community that celebrates graffiti and street art. They commission artists to paint legally on their streets. However, this isn’t just for tourism. Their government recognizes this as a strategy to control tags within their jurisdiction. Yes, you can use graffiti to protect your property from another graffiti. It’s like fighting fire with fire without the burn.

Covering graffiti-prone surfaces with an artistic, dominant graffiti or street art discourages tagging. Gold Coast authorities says that when they used a colorful graffiti or street art with familiar stylized letterings on a wall, vandals would less likely mark it. Self-proliferation is a tagger’s priority and if they can’t find ways to overpower an artistic and colorful graffiti, they’ll scout for any available surface or wall instead.

This strategy is also observed in other cities. The city of Barrie in Central Ontario, Canada too, painted their traffic signal boxes to discourage vandalism. Their authorities hired some local graffiti and street artists to complete this job.

A traffic signal box in the City of Barrie in Central Ontario, Canada. (image source)

Graffiti drives income to Artists and businesses

The government wasn’t the only institution that hired street artists to paint legally on the streets. Other private individuals and institutions also commission artists to put street art on their property. Doing so doesn’t just protect their property from tags, it also makes it attractive and memorable to people.

Working in an architecture company, I understood the effect of street art on a building’s external looks. It it makes a place or a structure distinct to people. If the street art is stunning, it improves people’s impression on your community. People think that it’s a sign of a better neighborhood.

In fact, a recent study conducted by the University of Warwick in England shows that people are more interested in living and building businesses in areas close to a street art. With that in thought, street art can leverage businesses. Rents on apartment buildings near a street art may relatively increase. And since street art drives people to specific locations, stores around it will be able to sell their products and services to more people. This is why some businessmen contract artists to strategically paint awesome art on or near their businesses.

A popular hostel in Santiago, Chile that is covered with art (image source)

The fact that people snap a photo of street art and upload it on social media also makes it more useful to businesses. MacDowall believes that graffiti takes another life if it is captured on the perfect square Instagram feed. It reinvents itself into an advertisement or propaganda that businessmen use to engage people with their brand. When uploaded online, a sponsored street art can reach more people.

Graffiti’s message reaches more people once it is uploaded on social media.

Brands use *guerrilla advertising* to promote their product on the streets (image source)

In addition, graffiti art and street art are already being used to design homes, pubs, bars, and skate parks. People who prefer graffiti interior designs said that it’s a playful and exciting element indoors. They either buy a canvas painted by street artists or invite one to paint on their walls. In fact, architects and interior designers work with graffiti artists when our clients request graffiti art or murals in the building project.

A bathroom with graffiti art on its walls (image source)

The appreciation of graffiti as an art became mainstream in society. Graffiti and street art, both authorized and unauthorized are everywhere. Celebrating and tolerating graffiti in this way will further strengthen it as an art form. Most importantly, artists will continue to earn a living from their passion and from their talents.

Recommended sites about graffiti and street art

Aside from social media like Facebook and Instagram etc., the graffiti community have websites, which they use to showcase their art to a bigger, and more diverse audience. The internet became their tool to communicate with their members — to help them improve their skills, as well as establish a marketable online presence.

So whether you’re a graffitist or just a fan of graffiti (like me), you’ll find these websites comprehensive and helpful:

These sites publish news about graffiti and conduct interviews with graffiti and street artists. Through their forums, an artist can interact with other artists wherever they are in the world. They also have online shops for graffiti tools and merchandise. Most importantly, you can upload your latest work so you can gain exposure.

From an artist’s perspective

I believe that graffiti’s profound journey as an art form can teach an artist, regardless of the medium, some valuable lesson. The art we know and practice may be different from one another, but we have creativity as a common denominator. Creativity is our universal language and our tool to make this world a better place.

Our art, in general, lies in the perception of both the viewer and the artist. Like graffiti, web design and web development are forms of art. Graffiti teaches you to take risks in pursuit of better design. Do not be afraid to challenge the norm, because if you don’t, you’re not contributing to make this industry groundbreaking in the future. After all, what you do makes your life a meaningful journey, and your achievements establish the industry’s destination.

So, it’s okay if your unique and edgy style don’t work the way we want it to the first time. Just continue doing what you do best and never be afraid to commit mistakes. Your persistence will pay off in the future.

Before I go, here’s a fearless graffiti with a takeaway message for all artists of the world: