Graffiti^J a Form of Art_ Definition Argument Assignment (1) Reviewed
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Graffiti, a Form of Art: Definition Argument Assignment
Benjamin M. Kellogg
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Grand Canyon University
ENG-106: English Composition II
Joanne Bedard
February 9, 2023
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Graffiti, a Form of Art: Definition Argument Assignment
As defined by Webster’s Dictionary for Students (2015, p. 23), art is an activity or display performed by an individual using their imagination and creativity. Art is beautiful, expressive, and creative. These three things make up the broad genre called art; from renaissance
sculptures to contemporary patterns, art is constantly being created and admired by many individuals. Under this context, graffiti can be determined as a form of art because it consists of a
beautiful and creative expression from the artist. Graffiti art, otherwise known in a broader sense as “street art,” is any art piece utilizing the street or public spaces to create or display the artist's work (Riggle, 2010). Riggle (2010) argues that this definition of street art is exclusive due to the nature of the term “the streets,” for example, if Pablo Picasso's work is leaned against a building for a mere ten minutes is not immediately deemed “street art” though it is indeed on the street. As such, graffiti is in its own class of art separated from medieval, romanticized, and post-
modern art. However, this different subgroup does not distract from the fact that graffiti is an art form and holds the characterizations set forth by Webster's Dictionary (2015). It is often presented that because graffiti is often seen as vandalism, it should not be considered art, however, the legitimacy of art based on how society views vandalism is unrelated to the definition that graffiti is beautiful, expressive, and creative (Abdurahiman et al., 2022). Graffiti, and all other forms of street art, is considered an art form because it is beautiful, expressive, and creative.
Graffiti is Beautiful
Beauty is, as the saying is often repeated, in the eye of the beholder, and when it comes to
art this is no less true. Due to the elusive definition of what “beauty” is, and considering the fact that it holds different values to different societies, art that is seen as “beautiful” is commonly
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associated with how it is appraised by elitists, rather than simple laymen (Li & Liu, 2021). This raised particularly interesting points when Li & Liu (2021) conducted a research experiment determining what causes art to be appraised for high amounts. In this experiment, they found that
the appraisers' background influences their decisions more than how they perceive the artwork (Li & Liu, 2021). Furthermore, Li & Liu (2021) determined that visual perceptions of the piece's aesthetics contributed to the tag the appraiser or auctioneer placed on it. Graffiti is another form of artwork, and if its beauty is found in the background of the viewers, then it is a beautiful form of art. Crichton Merrill (2011) wrote about graffiti in historical and culturally significant locations and determined that some forms of graffiti are done to honor certain cultures and that they represent their heritage significance with their art. This research done by Crichton Merrill prompted Abdurahiman et al. (2022) to argue that because it is historically charged, graffiti is a form of beautiful art. Furthermore, the beauty of art extends beyond culture and reveals itself in its aestheticism. To be aesthetic, something must be pleasing to look at, and in a study conducted by Chamberlain et al. (2022), it was found that a higher amount of people with some form of creative background found graffiti to be more aesthetically pleasing than older forms of art, including ornate writing. Additionally, Chamberlain et al. (2022) discovered that when compared
to abstract and representational art, those with a background in art viewed all three equally, while
non-artists had a bias favoring what is seen as more common art. For these reasons it is understood that graffiti is an art on the basis that it holds value in the area of beauty.
Street Art and Graffiti are Creative
Creativity comes in many facets when applied to the area of art; sculptures, murals, canvas paintings, sketches, etc., and graffiti is no different. Courtney & Sanford (2018) are the authors of a book outlining different artists and the period of their art, starting with Berlinghiero
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Berlinghieri in the twelve hundreds up until Makota Fujimura in the nineteen hundreds and early two-thousands. Throughout this book, Courtney & Sanford (2018) go over the periods of art such
as the Byzantine Period, Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, Northern Renaissance, Baroque Period, American Neoclassicism, American Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, and finally, modern art. Within each art period, art evolved and was transposed to different mediums with different styles and purposes. Despite this, every period is considered art because it embodies the
artist's vision and creativity. That is why it is no less true of graffiti being art. Graffiti art is creative as it uses different styles and vibrant colors to make a variety of images, names, and exclamations. This creativity is seen in its spontaneity, as public works are often done in places with traffic and can be spotted rather easily (Johnson, 2019). With the canvas being the streets (Riggle, 2010), graffiti is a form of art that offers artists the freedom to be as creative as their minds can hold.
Art is an Expression
An expression in art is anything that can express the individuality of the artist. This form of communication is used in broad contexts, and art encapsulates it. From the early renaissance to contemporary art, the artist has been using their abilities to express their personal identities through their choice of medium and design. Graffiti is as much of an expression as any other form of art because it gives the artist the ability to convey ideas that may challenge what is deemed acceptable, such as propaganda, politics, or simply individual ideas (Juan Gutiérrez & Marcos, 2020). Examples of this include the political charge mural
Fraternal Kiss
on the Berlin wall depicting two well-known political figures sharing a passionate kiss, Rage the Flower Thrower indicating that the peace advocating artists' view on violence is that it should be
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replaced with beauty (Juan Gutiérrez & Marcos, 2020). These examples show that graffiti can be utilized as a tool of self-expression for the artist.
Argument Against Graffiti Art Legitimacy
Graffiti has many oppressors, however, and three key arguments against the legitimacy of
graffiti are that it is vandalism, not in museums, and not widely received to be art. The first of these, graffiti being vandalism, may be true, but is not proof against the criteria that art holds. If art is defined as being beautiful, creative, expressive, and not vandalism, then graffiti would violate a key part of the definition of art. However, art is based more on human creativity than location, and, as such, graffiti is to be considered art. Graffiti is creative, expressive, and shows beauty to those that find it to be so, despite the fact that it may be done in a public or private space. Next, many people argue that because graffiti is not on display in most museums it is not art. This, however, is factually false, rather than by definition like the previous objection. According to different articles and videos, such as Plunket’s (2006) article describing an art exhibit featuring graffiti in Florida, there is an increase in the desire to see graffiti in exhibits, and that desire is being filled from Tampa to New York (
Graffiti now an art form on display in New York
, 2006). Finally, the argument is that because graffiti is not appreciated by large amounts of people that it is not art. However, this argument falls under the logical fallacy of argumentum ad populum, or the bandwagon fallacy, which is simply when a point is made with the understanding that it has to be true because the majority thinks so.
Conclusion
Graffiti is an art because art is defined as being beautiful, creative, and an expression used by the artist. Using these definitions, graffiti can be classified as art because it appeals to many individuals and their cultures with aesthetic properties, making it beautiful. The creativity
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of graffiti is seen in its spontaneity of it as well as the variety that can be found in it, from different mediums to locations to what it depicts. Graffiti is also an expression because it provides the artist with a way to speak out about what they want, whether politics, beauty, phrases or something personal and unique. However, with all this brought up, some individuals claim that graffiti is not art because it is vandalism, not in most museums, and is not widely favored. These are illegitimate causes to deem graffiti as not art since the definition of art contains nothing about art not being vandalism, belonging to a museum, and being widely accepted. That is why graffiti is an art and should be embraced by those who wish to show their creativity in making beautiful expressions of street art.
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References
Abdurahiman, S., Kasthurba A. K., & Nuzhat, A. (2022). Role of Street Art and Graffiti in Conserving Cultural Built Heritage in Historic Precincts - a Socio-Cultural Comparative Analysis of Three Case Models in India. SCIRES-IT, 12(2), 99–108. https://doi-
org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.2423/i22394303v12n2p99
Chamberlain, R., Mullin, C., Berio, D., Leymarie, F. F., & Wagemans, J. (2022). Aesthetics of Graffiti: Comparison to Text-Based and Pictorial Artforms. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 40(1), 21–36. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/0276237420951415
Courtney, J., & Sanford, C. (2018). Marvelous to Behold. Classical Conversations, Inc. Crichton Merrill, S. O. (2011). Graffiti at Heritage Places: Vandalism as Cultural Significance or Conservation Sacrilege? Time & Mind: The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness & Culture, 4(1), 59–76. https://doi-
org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.2752/175169711X12893985693711
Graffiti now an art form on display in New York. (2006, July 16). Associated Press.
Johnson, S. A. (2019). Education, Art, and The Black Public Sphere. Journal of Pan African Studies, 12(9), 41–58.
Juan Gutiérrez, P. J., & Marcos, C. L. (2020). Drawing on the Walls: Graffiti, Street Art or Walls in Time. Analysis of the Torrevieja Experience. Disegnare Con, 13(24), 1–12.
Li, B., & Liu, T. (2021). An Analysis of Multi-Modal Deep Learning for Art Price Appraisal. 2021 IEEE Intl Conf on Parallel & Distributed Processing with Applications, Big Data & Cloud Computing, Sustainable Computing & Communications, Social Computing & Networking (ISPA/BDCloud/SocialCom/SustainCom), Parallel & Distributed Processing
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Marriam-Webster (Ed.). (2015). Webster's Dictionary for Students (5th ed.). Federal Street Press Plunket, R. (2006, May 1). Notes from the underground: a Tampa Museum exhibit captures the spirit of graffiti artist Keith Haring. Sarasota Magazine, 28(8), 197.
Riggle, N. A. (2010). Street Art: The Transfiguration of the Commonplaces. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 68(3), 243–257.