Graffiti - sh*te or art?

gobnaitolunacy

What point is there of plastering crap on a wall when it isn't even legible?

I mean, they can't even do block capitals or joined-on writing that you can read!

krudler

Some graffiti can be amazing, idiots (badly) spraypainting their initials and the current year isnt.

Intensive Care Bear

This is an easy one, some is shi*e and some is art (some of which is shi*e art).

El Guapo!

Dean woz ere

JustAddWater

Sh-art

Pottler

Fresh in temple bar has nice graffiti, it doesn't always have to look crap. Like Banksys stuff as well, very much art to me. Tags can look good or crap, depending on wether the tagger is good or, err, crap.. mostly crap, tbf.

kfallon

My favourite piece of graffiti was in Waterford where they spray painted, "welcome to durgs city" on a wall......classic!

You'd think they would make sure the guy doing the graffiti was at least literate first :rolleyes:

1ZRed

Like anything it can be good or bad.

It can look pretty cool and creative or it can be plain out shoite

krudler

"Art" art can be sh1te too, its all subjective, I cant stand most modern art but some people love it.

qz

Yum

Yum

Yum.

Irish Guitarist

I don't care how well it's done, it's still vandalism and looks ugly.

Stained Class

0.1% okay, the rest vandalism.

kowloon

Most of the time it just seems like the human equivalent of marking territory. The piss washes away though, and it contains more information.

qz wrote: »

Yum

Yum

Yum.

It might be artistic, but I can't make out any words.

Grayson

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

I don't care how well it's done, it's still vandalism and looks ugly.

Even banksy?


It all depends on the talent of the artist. If they're just scrawling their name it'll be ugly, but a lot of graffiti artists are actually artists.

So to answer the OP.

Yes

and

No.

EmptyTree

That's because most of the stuff you see around the place is:

*insert name* - woz ere / is gay.

Not much imagination really.

Still, at least some of the stuff in pub toilets gives you something to read while you're there.

MickFleetwood

kfallon wrote: »

My favourite piece of graffiti was in Waterford where they spray painted, "welcome to durgs city" on a wall......classic!

You'd think they would make sure the guy doing the graffiti was at least literate first :rolleyes:

good ol' Waterford.

Irish Guitarist

Grayson wrote: »

Even banksy?

Yes.

Mal-Adjusted

Grayson wrote: »

Even banksy?


It all depends on the talent of the artist.

I'd say it depends more on the canvas. There are areas specially marked out for graffiti. If you spray something on the side of a building, no matter how skillful or pretty it is, it's still vandalism. Some lad has to spend the next day scrubbing it off.

My name is URL

T̫̺̳o̬̜ ì̬͎̲̟nv̖̗̻̣̹̕o͖̗̠̜̤k͍͚̹͖̼e̦̗̪͍̪͍ ̬ͅt̕h̠͙̮͕͓e̱̜̗͙̭ ̥͔̫͙̪͍̣͝ḥi̼̦͈̼v҉̩̟͚̞͎e͈̟̻͙̦̤-m̷̘̝̱í͚̞̦̳n̝̲̯̙̮͞d̴̺̦͕̫ ̗̭̘͎͖r̞͎̜̜͖͎̫͢ep͇r̝̯̝͖͉͎̺e̴s̥e̵̖̳͉͍̩̗n̢͓̪͕̜̰̠̦t̺̞̰i͟n҉̮̦̖̟g̮͍̱̻͍̜̳ ̳c̖̮̙̣̰̠̩h̷̗͍̖͙̭͇͈a̧͎̯̹̲̺̫ó̭̞̜̣̯͕s̶̤̮̩̘.̨̻̪̖͔
̳̭̦̭̭̦̞́I̠͍̮n͇̹̪̬v̴͖̭̗̖o̸k҉̬̤͓͚̠͍i͜n̛̩̹͉̘̹g͙ ̠̥ͅt̰͖͞h̫̼̪e̟̩̝ ̭̠̲̫͔fe̤͇̝̱e͖̮̠̹̭͖͕l͖̲̘͖̠̪i̢̖͎̮̗̯͓̩n̸̰g̙̱̘̗͚̬ͅ ͍o͍͍̩̮͢f̖͓̦̥ ̘͘c̵̫̱̗͚͓̦h͝a̝͍͍̳̣͖͉o͙̟s̤̞.̙̝̭̣̳̼͟
̢̻͖͓̬̞̰̦W̮̲̝̼̩̝͖i͖͖͡ͅt̘̯͘h̷̬̖̞̙̰̭̳ ̭̪̕o̥̤̺̝̼̰̯͟ṳ̞̭̤t̨͚̥̗ ̟̺̫̩̤̳̩o̟̰̩̖ͅr̞̘̫̩̼d̡͍̬͎̪̺͚͔e͓͖̝̙r̰͖̲̲̻̠.̺̝̺̟͈
̣̭T̪̩̼h̥̫̪͔̀e̫̯͜ ̨N̟e҉͔̤zp̮̭͈̟é͉͈ṛ̹̜̺̭͕d̺̪̜͇͓i̞á͕̹̣̻n͉͘ ̗͔̭͡h̲͖̣̺̺i͔̣̖̤͎̯v̠̯̘͖̭̱̯e̡̥͕-m͖̭̣̬̦͈i͖n̞̩͕̟̼̺͜d̘͉ ̯o̷͇̹͕̦f̰̱ ̝͓͉̱̪̪c͈̲̜̺h̘͚a̞͔̭̰̯̗̝o̙͍s͍͇̱͓.̵͕̰͙͈ͅ ̯̞͈̞̱̖Z̯̮̺̤̥̪̕a͏̺̗̼̬̗ḻg͢o̥̱̼.̺̜͇͡ͅ ̴͓͖̭̩͎̗
̧̪͈̱̹̳͖͙H̵̰̤̰͕̖e̛ ͚͉̗̼̞w̶̩̥͉̮h̩̺̪̩͘ͅọ͎͉̟ ̜̩͔̦̘ͅW̪̫̩̣̲͔̳a͏͔̳͖i͖͜t͓̤̠͓͙s̘̰̩̥̙̝ͅ ̲̠̬̥Be̡̙̫̦h̰̩i̛̫͙͔̭̤̗̲n̳͞d̸ ͎̻͘T̛͇̝̲̹̠̗ͅh̫̦̝ͅe̩̫͟ ͓͖̼W͕̳͎͚̙̥ą̙l̘͚̺͔͞ͅl̳͍̙̤̤̮̳.̢
̟̺̜̙͉Z̤̲̙̙͎̥̝A͎̣͔̙͘L̥̻̗̳̻̳̳͢G͉̖̯͓̞̩̦O̹̹̺!̙͈͎̞̬ *

MadsL

My name is URL wrote: »

T̫̺̳o̬̜ ì̬͎̲̟nv̖̗̻̣̹̕o͖̗̠̜̤k͍͚̹͖̼e̦̗̪͍̪͍ ̬ͅt̕h̠͙̮͕͓e̱̜̗͙̭ ̥͔̫͙̪͍̣͝ḥi̼̦͈̼v҉̩̟͚̞͎e͈̟̻͙̦̤-m̷̘̝̱í͚̞̦̳n̝̲̯̙̮͞d̴̺̦͕̫ ̗̭̘͎͖r̞͎̜̜͖͎̫͢ep͇r̝̯̝͖͉͎̺e̴s̥e̵̖̳͉͍̩̗n̢͓̪͕̜̰̠̦t̺̞̰i͟n҉̮̦̖̟g̮͍̱̻͍̜̳ ̳c̖̮̙̣̰̠̩h̷̗͍̖͙̭͇͈a̧͎̯̹̲̺̫ó̭̞̜̣̯͕s̶̤̮̩̘.̨̻̪̖͔
̳̭̦̭̭̦̞́I̠͍̮n͇̹̪̬v̴͖̭̗̖o̸k҉̬̤͓͚̠͍i͜n̛̩̹͉̘̹g͙ ̠̥ͅt̰͖͞h̫̼̪e̟̩̝ ̭̠̲̫͔fe̤͇̝̱e͖̮̠̹̭͖͕l͖̲̘͖̠̪i̢̖͎̮̗̯͓̩n̸̰g̙̱̘̗͚̬ͅ ͍o͍͍̩̮͢f̖͓̦̥ ̘͘c̵̫̱̗͚͓̦h͝a̝͍͍̳̣͖͉o͙̟s̤̞.̙̝̭̣̳̼͟
̢̻͖͓̬̞̰̦W̮̲̝̼̩̝͖i͖͖͡ͅt̘̯͘h̷̬̖̞̙̰̭̳ ̭̪̕o̥̤̺̝̼̰̯͟ṳ̞̭̤t̨͚̥̗ ̟̺̫̩̤̳̩o̟̰̩̖ͅr̞̘̫̩̼d̡͍̬͎̪̺͚͔e͓͖̝̙r̰͖̲̲̻̠.̺̝̺̟͈
̣̭T̪̩̼h̥̫̪͔̀e̫̯͜ ̨N̟e҉͔̤zp̮̭͈̟é͉͈ṛ̹̜̺̭͕d̺̪̜͇͓i̞á͕̹̣̻n͉͘ ̗͔̭͡h̲͖̣̺̺i͔̣̖̤͎̯v̠̯̘͖̭̱̯e̡̥͕-m͖̭̣̬̦͈i͖n̞̩͕̟̼̺͜d̘͉ ̯o̷͇̹͕̦f̰̱ ̝͓͉̱̪̪c͈̲̜̺h̘͚a̞͔̭̰̯̗̝o̙͍s͍͇̱͓.̵͕̰͙͈ͅ ̯̞͈̞̱̖Z̯̮̺̤̥̪̕a͏̺̗̼̬̗ḻg͢o̥̱̼.̺̜͇͡ͅ ̴͓͖̭̩͎̗
̧̪͈̱̹̳͖͙H̵̰̤̰͕̖e̛ ͚͉̗̼̞w̶̩̥͉̮h̩̺̪̩͘ͅọ͎͉̟ ̜̩͔̦̘ͅW̪̫̩̣̲͔̳a͏͔̳͖i͖͜t͓̤̠͓͙s̘̰̩̥̙̝ͅ ̲̠̬̥Be̡̙̫̦h̰̩i̛̫͙͔̭̤̗̲n̳͞d̸ ͎̻͘T̛͇̝̲̹̠̗ͅh̫̦̝ͅe̩̫͟ ͓͖̼W͕̳͎͚̙̥ą̙l̘͚̺͔͞ͅl̳͍̙̤̤̮̳.̢
̟̺̜̙͉Z̤̲̙̙͎̥̝A͎̣͔̙͘L̥̻̗̳̻̳̳͢G͉̖̯͓̞̩̦O̹̹̺!̙͈͎̞̬ *

^

Go to bed, you're drunk.

My name is URL

MadsL wrote: »

^

Go to bed, you're drunk.

S̨̻̫̾̓̃̓o͓̻͙̹͔̘̼͌ͥ̒̉́̆̅̌̕͟ ̸̡͙̗͙̠̇͆̇ͅi͎̠̠͙̦͈̠̘̇̌̓ͩ͜ş̸̹̣̞̘͕̮ͦ͊̅ͤ̇́͐͠ ̰̤̥̌ͩ͌̔̐͐͜ỷ̏̂͏̣̺̼̥͚ͅo͍͎̿ͫ͡u̶͒̃ͨ̈̇͏̦̦̘͈̯͚̻́r̤̟̦͈̤͓̋ͩ̅͑ͨͥ̎̂͟͞ ̙̝̼̰͔ͫ̄f̢̪̟̞̭́́a̴̢̮̺̳͕̠̐ͭͅc̴͎͋̌͐͌ͧ͗̐̀̀̚e̷̻̬͈̳͚͉͆̄̃ͣ̇̑͂

bodhrandude

I saw some lovely graffiti in Denmark, their trains are worth mentioning.

TheFisherKing

▒█▀▀▀ ░▀░ █▀▀ █░░█ █▀▀ █▀▀█ 　 ▒█░▄▀ ░▀░ █▀▀▄ █▀▀▀ 　 ▒█▀▀█ █░░█ █░░ █▀▀ █▀▀ █
▒█▀▀▀ ▀█▀ ▀▀█ █▀▀█ █▀▀ █▄▄▀ 　 ▒█▀▄░ ▀█▀ █░░█ █░▀█ 　 ▒█▄▄▀ █░░█ █░░ █▀▀ ▀▀█ ▀
▒█░░░ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀░░▀ ▀▀▀ ▀░▀▀ 　 ▒█░▒█ ▀▀▀ ▀░░▀ ▀▀▀▀ 　 ▒█░▒█ ░▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▄

Intensive Care Bear

I love this http://vimeo.com/44570508

Pottler

▒█▀▀░▀░ █▀▀ █░░█ █▀▀ █▀▀█ 　 ▒█░▄▀ ░▀░ █▀▀▄ █▀▀▀ 　 ▒█▀▀█ █░░█ █░░ █▀▀ █▀▀ █
▒█▀▀▀ ▀▀▀█ █▀▀█ █▀▀ █▄▄▀ 　 ▀█▀ █░░█ █░▀█ 　 ▒█▄▄▀ █░░█ █░░ █▀▀ ▀▀█ ▀
▒█░░░ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀░░▀ ▀▀▀ ▀░▀▀ 　 ▒█░▒█ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ 　 ▒█░▒█ ░▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▄

AnonoBoy

Without graffiti how would I know who's gay around the city?

upstairs for coffee

It was a powerful tool for the Hip - Hop culture that spread across America.

Majority of it is awful, moronic garbage.

Cienciano

Stained Class wrote: »

0.1% okay, the rest vandalism.

I'd say you'd be doing well if the percentage was that high in Dublin. At least Grift seems to have stopped.

Kidchameleon

Cienciano wrote: »

I'd say you'd be doing well if the percentage was that high in Dublin. At least Grift seems to have stopped.

Is it true that grift was more than one person?

Riddle101

People who actually do graffiti for the sole purpose of art, is art. People who do it for the sole perpose of mindless vandalism is sh*te.

juan.kerr

kfallon wrote: »

My favourite piece of graffiti was in Waterford where they spray painted, "welcome to durgs city" on a wall......classic!

You'd think they would make sure the guy doing the graffiti was at least literate first :rolleyes:

Maybe he was on the 'durgs'. Or came from a broken home. Either way don't be too hard on him. (Although he's probably just a scum bag).

gobnaitolunacy

Spotted in Cork city
FUK OFF GARDS.

In other places, the near-illegible lettering fonts resemble obese caterpillars.

TwoShedsJackson

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Without graffiti how would I know who's gay around the city?

Like that M Khan guy. Definitely bent.

juan.kerr

Any form of graffiti should be discouraged, regardless of whether some or all consider it to be tasteful. Damaging property is breaking the law and costs someone money to clean up.

Some little sh** decided to spray paint some crap on a brick wall in my apartment complex recently. So the management company needed to pay a few hundred euros to get it removed. All thanks to some little scrotebag whose parents probably think is an angel.

biko

I've seen a few commissioned works that were nice, but most of the graffiti around is ****.

kylith

Street art good, tagging bad.

AnonoBoy

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

Like that M Khan guy. Definitely bent.

Also:

Anto. Deco. Deano. Robbo. Kev. Jeremy.


All gay according to my graffiti sources in Dublin 3.

Zer0

I really think that some insight into graffiti may be needed, as some see it as vandalism and some see it as art. Graffiti is usually known as art if it is a commission piece. Even if someone paints a very elaborate, beautiful piece illegally, it is still known as vandalism.

There are many different parts to graffiti, if you write graffiti, you're known as a writer. A writer wants to get his name all over the place, so the general public and other writers can see it too, as the graffiti community is somewhat a clique, as most writers who are up know each other.

The goal of the writer is to be up, as in well known. In order to get up, a writer must tag, bomb, piece, paste or whatever else to get his/her name out there.

A writer would have their own tag (a signature of their name), their own bomb (two letters from their name sprayed in bubble letters, for example if I wrote TAG, my bomb could be TG or any combination of those three letters), a piece (which could be as simple or as complex as you like)

I'm just trying to give everyone a general jest of things as there's some stuff I've probably left out because I could be here for hours typing...

In short, as I said at the start, graffiti itself is essentially vandalism as the writer has not sought the permission of the owner of the surface to write upon, even if it was a beautiful piece full of colour, shading, 3D etc, it's still illegal!

kylith

Zer0 wrote: »

I really think that some insight into graffiti may be needed, as some see it as vandalism and some see it as art. Graffiti is usually known as art if it is a commission piece. Even if someone paints a very elaborate, beautiful piece illegally, it is still known as vandalism.

There are many different parts to graffiti, if you write graffiti, you're known as a writer. A writer wants to get his name all over the place, so the general public and other writers can see it too, as the graffiti community is somewhat a clique, as most writers who are up know each other.

The goal of the writer is to be up, as in well known. In order to get up, a writer must tag, bomb, piece, paste or whatever else to get his/her name out there.

A writer would have their own tag (a signature of their name), their own bomb (two letters from their name sprayed in bubble letters, for example if I wrote TAG, my bomb could be TG or any combination of those three letters), a piece (which could be as simple or as complex as you like)

I'm just trying to give everyone a general jest of things as there's some stuff I've probably left out because I could be here for hours typing...

In short, as I said at the start, graffiti itself is essentially vandalism as the writer has not sought the permission of the owner of the surface to write upon, even if it was a beautiful piece full of colour, shading, 3D etc, it's still illegal!

The difference being that a piece of artwork, illegal or not, is a beautiful thing. Tagging or bombing looks like the work of a pathetic 12 year old scrawling his name all over his schoolbooks, and does nothing to beautify the area, it just looks like shíte. Maybe taggers should focus more on making their tags little pieces of art and less on their pissing contest, then it wouldn't look like a child got hold of a spraycan. You don't even need to be able to draw, you can use a stencil.

To summarise:
This is artwork.
This is not.

AnonoBoy

Anti-graffiti project in Dublin: http://markandpaddy.com/Anti-Graffiti

RoyalMarine

what is the punishment for someone caught?

well that's if the gardai can catch them..

AnonoBoy

RoyalMarine wrote: »

what is the punishment for someone caught?

well that's if the gardai can catch them..

Fine I think.

But I think there should be a register of graffiti artists published so I know if any of my walls are living near one of them. We should spray-paint their faces and names on local walls so everyone in the area knows they're there.

CruelCoin

Depends.

****e: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqm14qhF5hFaWka13CC2tJL6P5ETa0ekfbetXmFNkas0Jb9pC5b0DdGnAGsg

Art: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arylhillman/8241305384/

1ZRed

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Without graffiti how would I know who's gay around the city?

Don't worry about it, I've my own sort of graffiti on them so you'll know :pac:

FatherLen

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Without graffiti how would I know who's gay around the city?

or a rat.

btw this is class

1ZRed

Graffiti fail

juan.kerr

1ZRed wrote: »

Graffiti fail

Yeah, Bart's mask isn't much of a disguise alright.

old hippy

Tagging is rubbish but I've seen some seriously cool graffiti in the US and UK.

The most rubbish and prolific tagger is "Tox", seems to be all over SW London and beyond. He's the tagging version of spam!

Zer0

the punishment for being caught is a fine up to 50k and or 6-12 months in prison or less I think, if I can remember rightly I could be wrong though.. it depends on how many things were painted and the costs of removal also. Tagging doesn't look great because it's not supposed to look great it's the writers signature, it's just supposed to be out there. it's another way of getting your name known. Graffiti itself is its own sub culture, as it evolved from the hip hop scene in the usa during the late 70's early 80's. The first type of graffiti was tagging, it then evolved into bubble letters of the writers tag, because the idea bigger is better was put into practice.

Unless you write graffiti or have an interest in it, you won't understand half of it, e.g. tags etc. I can understand why it would be difficult for someone who hasn't wrote before to try and grasp a basic understanding of the whole process, but half of it requires planning and a way to execute your work.

There's many different types of writers also, toys for example would be beginners as they wouldn't have much of an understanding and in other words there work would look ****e. But we all have to start from somewhere. Some writers just choose to focus on one type of graffiti. Bombers for example would focus on bombing, taggers focus on tagging, piecers would focus more on pieces than anything else. But it's important to have a healthy balance on all three or five if you include wheat pastes and stencils. There's also rules in the graffiti world, for example, no houses, places of worship etc but not everyone follows these.

The more successful writers have made a career out of graffiti, as in they get paid for their work and are viewed as artists for example, maser or banksy are now successful artists who are now commissioned and paid for their work. The more successful writers have gone onto art college to further their talents and use graffiti in a positive light to reach out to communities for example maser has done projects in inner city Dublin to brighten up the place in other words.

c_man

Zer0 wrote: »

Unless you write graffiti or have an interest in it, you won't understand half of it

Stay away from my walls

bodhrandude

Not art, etching a twenty foot "Brits Out" on Benbulben mountain, I never got that one, we were in the Republic too .