Graffiti

By: James Reich

My dear readers, I come to you with a unique and troubling problem. I am someone who loves to exercise their right of free speech, but I have noticed that my messages continuously fall on deaf ears. My desperation to have my voice heard has caused me to consider a rather ambiguous option: graffiti. It makes sense. You can’t just throw graffiti away like a pamphlet. It doesn’t cost much money, and it grabs people’s attention in a way that few other mediums do. In many ways it is perfect for a struggling activist or the common man to get his messages and ideas out into the world. Using graffiti to express oneself isn’t a new idea; it has been done since the dawn of mankind in the form of cave paintings. However, graffiti is illegal today for a reason. It is often used to deface private property and about 99% of graffiti serves no purpose whatsoever. A relatively small number of people use graffiti as a great medium for free speech to enact social change, but do the acts of these few individuals negate the harm that graffiti is known for? Yes they do. Graffiti is an extremely effective form of free speech. It’s effectiveness at spreading important messages outweigh the supposed negative impacts graffiti has.

There are several reasons why graffiti is an effective medium of free speech and, because of these reasons, many people use graffiti as a means to communicate messages about important social issues. I’m going to list two of the biggest reasons.

Reason number one: Graffiti grabs people’s attention. Look at the picture below. It depicts a homeless man sitting and holding a sign that says “keep your coins, I want change”. It’s a poignant outcry for social and economic change, but why didn’t the artist just make an actual sign that says “keep your coins, I want change”? Because, ironically, this painting of a man holding a sign is a more effective attention grabber than an actual man holding a sign would be. Normally I try to avoid looking at homeless people with signs, they make me feel guilty, but this painting grabs and holds my attention. It uses sharp contrasting colors to grab any pedestrian’s attention and deliver its intended message. Effective graffiti is difficult to ignore and this makes it a very effective form of social expression. (Bartolomeo, 2001)

 Reason number two: Graffiti is semi-permanent. Unless someone uses a power-washer to wash it away, graffiti will last a long time. People will walk by a certain piece of graffiti every day and every day it will grab their attention and deliver its message. Its advertising 101, as explained by Thomas Smith in his book “Guide to Successful Advertising” “The first time people look at any given ad, they don't even see it… The twentieth time prospects see the ad, they buy what it is offering.” Advertisements, like graffiti, are trying to send a message, and increased exposure to that message increases its effectiveness. Because graffiti is long lasting, if you pass by a poignant piece of graffiti on your way to work then you will see that piece of graffiti twice a day, every day, for quite some time. The more often people see graffiti, the more they receive its intended message. The more they receive its intended message, the more likely they are to act upon that message. A person handing out pamphlets can’t achieve this unless of course they hand out pamphlets to the exact same people everyday, which would be a huge waste of their time.

 I’ve explained why graffiti is such an effective medium for people trying to send a message. Now I will explain why those aspects of graffiti outweigh the perceived negative aspects.

            Obviously the biggest issue with graffiti is that it is illegal in most cities. It sometimes defaces private property and costs money to clean up. But as far as crimes go, graffiti is pretty tame. No one is physically harmed by graffiti and a lot of graffiti is painted on public places, like subway stations, that technically belong to everyone. (Kennard, 2008) Graffiti causes little harm and in the hands of the right graffiti artist, it can do great good. People are beginning to see this logic. Thanks to popular graffiti artists like Banksy, people now recognize graffiti as a legitimate form of art and free speech and several cities around the world have legalized graffiti in certain areas. For example, in Queens New York there is a whole block that is open to the public and covered in graffiti. There are similar areas in Australia, Poland, Prague, and France. (Huang, 2009) The idea that graffiti is an illegal act is quickly being replaced with the idea that graffiti can be an effective media for social change. People around the world are beginning to realize that the harm graffiti causes is insubstantial when compared to the social value of graffiti.

The worst thing about graffiti, other than the fact that it is illegal, is the fact that it often seems to serve no purpose. For every graffiti artist/activist trying to convey an important message, there are a hundred other “taggers” who just want to write “Ronnie was here” on as many surfaces as they possibly can. However, even these “taggers” provide some value to the community. Anthropologically, taggers are a part of a unique sub-culture that is both a reflection and a reaction to the much larger western culture. (Bartolomeo, 2001) Anthropologists study the different writing styles and geological locations of different tagger groups. This research helps anthropologist form a deeper understanding of our culture and society as a whole. A study by anthropologist Faye Docuyanan investigates the surprisingly complex and intricate tagger culture with the hope of understanding the motivation behind taggers. Her work shows that while taggers are often associated with violence, decay, and blight, their real motivation is self-discovery. Taggers constantly put their names up everywhere for recognition and acceptance into the larger mainstream society, which they feel alienated from. This is just one example of how the seemingly useless act of tagging is actually helping the scientific community make sense of human behavior.

Effective use of graffiti is arguably the best way to express yourself publically. It grabs its audiences’ attention, delivers its intended message, and can keep delivering its message for a long time. Its negative aspects are largely overstated. Graffiti is quickly transforming from an illegal activity to an accepted form of art and free speech. Even the type graffiti that seems to have no artistic or social value is proving to be a valuable tool for anthropologists. It is no wonder that graffiti is now one of the fastest growing forms of social expression.