Driving down certain streets in Pasadena you can find walls covered with layers and layers of graffiti. Layers of alias names such as “Task” or “Feen” are spray painted on walls and overpasses with numbers including the California Penal Code number for murder, 187.This is the picture painted by elected officials and law enforcement across the nation, and on the local television’s hard hitting investigative pieces.
“I don’t think [grafitti] is art when it’s gang-related,” said Lucia Jaime, education major. “Especially if it’s on peoples’ property.”
But there is a growing worldwide movement promoting graffiti as artwork that should be displayed publicly.
“In many places, painting graffiti is illegal. We do not advocate breaking the law, but we think art belongs in public spaces and that more legal walls should be made available for this fascinating art form,” according to Artcrime.org founder Susan Farrell. “Because it is so hard to get books published and to keep photos and blackbooks from being seized and destroyed, the Internet may be the best way to publish and preserve this information.”
Huge pieces or “bombs” are found on the traditional surfaces like trains, walls and bridges. They are typically complex, intricate renderings of the artists’ names in a variety of different ways.
“I know some graffiti artists, and I respect the talent that goes into it,” said Eva Ramirez, journalism major.
Even Jaime gave grudging respect for the alternative art form. “Sometimes it is art, especially when it actually means something” she said.
The artist Banksy’s work on the segregation wall in the West Bank has gained attention around the world by using the controversial wall as a host for a controversial art form. His web site says that the wall is “the ultimate activity holiday destination for graffiti writers.”
Avenida Ladron de Guevara in Quito, Ecuador is dedicated entirely to political pieces on public walls, while what remains of the most infamous wall in history is now adorned with public art for the people to enjoy.
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