that Art is good. But I think youll agree that not all art actually is good.

Everyone has heard terrible songs, seen awful dancing, and paid admission to view unmoving paintings. When you see someone in a gallery exclaim This isnt Art! what theyre really saying is This is Shit! So lets all agree to move on from the unhelpful Art, Not Art argument.

for graffiti, and it is from the Greek verb graphein (to write) that we get the word graffiti. In our modern times, graffiti is everywhere you look. People from all age groups, races, and socio-economic backgrounds have been known to write something on a wall now and then. Even the most respectable among us will pass by an irresistibly wet slab of concrete in the sidewalk with a pang of regret. Modern graffiti, as a cultural movement with firm customs and practices, is generally agreed to have started in the mid-70s in New York City. Using spray cans and markers, people scrawled their names, nicknames, and street numbers all over the city. A whole subculture developed, and those who did it called themselves writers. You gained fame and notoriety in the writers world by writing your name as much and in as many places as possible. This is the simplest form of modern graffiti: the tag, a quickly scrawled name. Tags were originally quite unattractive and crude, but writers began to evolve their styles and techniques into something more calligraphic. Different typefaces were used, more colour was added. Tags grew larger until they became pieces, (short for masterpieces). They began to cover subway cars from top to bottom, and then from end to end. Soon people were painting whole subway cars. These pieces became more technically advanced, with colours skillfully blending and fading together. The New York style continued to grow and

evolve. Formal art shows were organized in bohemian galleries, and when the city declared a war on graffiti, the whole situation gained international press coverage. The best of the early writers have been idolized like outlaw rock stars. The lore, legends, and styles were spread across the world in newspapers, books, movies, music videos, and now, the internet. Anywhere in the world today, you can still see new graffiti that looks like it was drawn on a NY subway car in the early 80s. It is a testament to the strength and endurance of the graffiti movement that it has travelled across so many geographic and cultural borders and remained so largely unchanged. Politics of Graffiti Graffiti has never been respected, but it has been particularly vilified in modern times. Even as its style and aesthetic has been incorporated into mainstream culture to a staggering degree, it is considered a serious criminal offence in most cities. Tagging is seen as especially offensive. While it is generally done by individuals, tagging has nevertheless become linked with more severe crime and gangs. A lot of people dont make a distinction between gang signs and tags, and this is a line actively blurred by the popular media. Its true that a gang will sometimes use spraypaint to mark the edges

of its territory, but gang signs, unlike most tags, tend to very unrefined. Gang members have little interest in aesthetics; they are more concerned with marking territory. Furthermore, serious writers tend to distance themselves from gangs, because it limits their movement around the city. (Gang members can be attacked, killed, or start gang wars by tagging in an enemy gangs territory.) Writers actually tend to look upon themselves as doing the city a public service. As Banksy famously said, Graffiti writers are not real villains. I am always reminded of this by real villains who consider the idea of breaking in someplace, not stealing anything and then leaving behind a painting of your name in four foot high letters the most retarded thing they ever heard.

Graffiti is art, yes, but is it good?

Posterchild
It has been argued that fine art and graffiti have the same ancestor: the prehistoric paintings that decorate caves throughout Europe and North America. While it may seem unfair to categorize these ancient records of rituals and teachings as graffiti, they are similar in every way but intent. Indeed, both graffiti and cave art are just marks made on a wall with whatever materials are available. So what? you say. So graffiti has links to handprints on a cave walls and the Mona Lisa. Big deal. By your expansive reasoning, so does my kids colouring, so does every drawing ever madeit doesnt make them good. True. Absolutely true! People argue endlessly and fruitlessly over whether a work is or isnt art, when what they are really arguing is whether or not it is GOOD. The word ART is loaded; it comes with the value judgement

Graffiti is Art, yes. But is it good? This is a much better question- but regardless of how you might answer it, you should know that the program that we have to deal with graffiti in Toronto, and many other cities, is ineffective and unproductive. This broken system affects every citizen, and its costs concern each of us. First and foremost, an ineffective system costs money, taxpayers money - your money. Money that could be doing other things in your community. This system also affects you as a landowner. As a potential victim of vandalism, you could be re-victimized by a program of mandatory cover-up. If you refuse to clean up the graffiti on your property, you could be charged by the city for them to do it (and face possible criminal charges if you dont pay). And finally, you should have an interest in the policies about graffiti as a person who values liberty, freedom of speech, and democracy. History of graffiti Regardless of its purpose or meaning, graffiti has been with us since people discovered that they could leave their mark. Ancient Romans were particularly famous

A lot of people
dont make a distinction

In addition to the gang link, studies have been published establishing graffiti as a gateway crime to theft and other more serious crimes, and not without good reason. The underprivileged youth who comprised the largest demographic of early writers usually did not have the financial means to buy their

between gang
signs and tags.

paint, so they would steal it. Even writers who came from very wealthy families would steal their supplies so they would have street-credibility. It was considered a faux-pas to buy your paint. But these are all secondary issues. The biggest issue for cities and governments is that the average person who sees graffiti feels that there has been a loss of control. They associate graffiti with drugs, gangs, prostitution, violence, and an overall dissolution of society into anarchy. Cities obviously want to limit this feeling, in order to attract tourists and new business to their areas. Which leads us to the war on graffiti. War on Graffiti Since the early 70s, when modern graffiti became an issue for the government of New York, not much has changed in public policy or perception. The War against Graffiti cost the New York government millions of dollars and is even thought to have cost the Mayor his Presidential candidacy. The problem was that graffiti suggested a loss of control, making subway

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