Research Essay: The Good And Bad Sides Of Graffiti: Not All Bad.

After reading Alex Boyd’s “In Defence of Graffiti” (eReserves), write a persuasive essay in which you argue whether graffiti is a crime OR a work of art. For this essay, you might consider using a personal interview (primary source) to support your case. That is, you could interview business owners, police officers, and/or graffiti artists about their opinions of graffiti. However, you would still need at least three secondary sources in addition to your primary source. Many people have strong and highly emotional/subjective opinions about graffiti, or have had personal experiences with the effects of graffiti, so remember to maintain a persuasive yet objective tone throughout the essay.

Subject, Purpose, and Audience

Research Essay- The good and bad sides of graffiti and why it is not all bad

The essay subject is about the good, the bad, and the reality of Graffiti with special consideration of Alex Boyd’s, ‘In Defence of Graffiti.’ The subject of the essay is Graffiti and the discussion revolves around the various emotions expressed in relation to graffiti with further research about the truth behind graffiti. The essay makes use of various sources and research methods to gather information for the most comprehensive and objective report on the same topic. The selection of the title is based on the strong emotions that surround the topic of graffiti with some people strongly  against it where they associate it with vandalism whereas other view it as a way of expression or the simple utilization of idle wall spaces.

The purpose of the essay is to clear out the ambiguity and stereotypes in the perspective of graffiti among people that have only encountered one side of graffiti such as hate, racism, and threats. It also seeks to communicate to potential artists or artists already using graffiti as a way of expression to work towards changing the perspective of graffiti to avoid the negative tag and constant negative references during discussions about graffiti. It acknowledges the negative side of graffiti and the way forward. It works to neutralize reactions to graffiti.

The audience targeted by this essay includes law enforcers, the mass media, the youth, graffiti artists, teachers, and property owners that might have experienced unwanted graffiti on the walls of their property. It also targets the entire Canadian population to eliminate the stereotypes against graffiti. The style of presentation is both candid and official to ensure that the message is equally understood by the targeted audiences.

Working thesis: Graffiti is nothing short of art and just like regular artistic expressions it can be used constructively or destructively. There are extreme negative perceptions of graffiti that result in unwarranted reactions to the graffiti among most property owners, members of the public, and law enforcers.

1. Graffiti is artistic and a way of expression.
   1. The youth and artists are the majority that share in this view.
   2. According to the one-on-one interviews with college students and artists, graffiti is art, just like any other.
   3. The perspective of graffiti by teenagers and college students.
2. There are different types of graffiti (White, 2000; Boyd, 2010)
   1. Political graffiti: Created to express political views, mostly against the existing political decisions and power.
   2. Protest graffiti: It is a subsequent of political graffiti on one part but could be a protest against other factors such as school policies or the law.
   3. Graffiti art: It is very organized with the obvious exhibition of skill.
   4. Tagger graffiti: Mostly done by beginner artists who even sign against their graffiti for identification.
   5. Gang graffiti: Communicates the prowess of a gang and even threatens specific people and neighbourhoods.
   6. Toilet and other forms of graffiti: Consist of a wide array of messages from insults, irrelevant messages, communications, and jokes.

3. Dominating perspectives of graffiti in the community
   1. Most law enforcers consider graffiti as vandalism and rebellion.
   2. Graffiti has been used to harass and communicate negativity on occasion.
   3. Graffiti is mostly associated with the negative stereotype.
4. Positive impact of understanding the people behind the graffiti
   1. The reality of graffiti artists- not all support the vandalism element of graffiti.
   2. “The vandalism element of graffiti is seen in cases where they intrude private property and paint without the consent of the owners.
   3. Vancouver police are among the few that have made the effort to view graffiti as art beyond vandalism as in the case with Damoulin, a criminal who got a second chance beyond crime through art and graffiti(Lupick, 2010).

Averns, D. (2016, 6 18). “Calgary graffiti: The good, the bad and the reason it's not all bad.” Retrieved from CBC News: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-graffiti-crossroads-good-bad-not-all-bad-1.3640724

Averns, a renowned contributor in the CBC News articles, discusses the reality of graffiti and the fact that communication through graffiti did not just begin recently. He explains the communicative aspect of graffiti with emphasis on the importance of open-minded approaches towards graffiti among members of the society. How condemns the negative use of graffiti such as the instances at Wilma Hansen School where it was used for hate speech. He supports positive graffiti in reference to Calgary with emphasis of graffiti as a form of communication.

Plan: Working Thesis and Outline

Banerjee, S. (2013, 4 4). “Montreal woman arrested for posting photo of anti-police graffiti to Instagram.” Retrieved from National Post, Canada: https://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/montreal-woman-arrested-for-posting-photo-of-anti-police-graffiti-to-instagram

Banarjee, an approved contributing journnalist of the National Post-Canada, takes up a case of the possible implications of graffiti when used to spread hate messages and the possibility of more severity in the reaction of the law enforcers as opposed to other methods of spreading hate messages. The case is that of Jennifer Pawluck, al lady that posts graffiti depicting a senior police officer with a bullet on his head o Instagram. It shows the difference in the perspectives of such street art among the youth and other members of the society such as the law enforcers.

Boyd, A. (2010, 6 21). “In Defence of Graffiti.” Retrieved from Alex Boyd: Boyd blog: https://boydwords.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/essay-in-defence-of-graffiti/

Boyd, a renowned blogger with reasonable followers, writes a detailed blog post about various facts about graffiti, both positive and negative. He also speaks against the stereotypes associated with graffiti and the extreme references used in discussions about graffiti such as ‘weapons’ and ‘vandalism.’ He encourages open mindedness in relation to people’s perspectives of graffiti through taking time to read what is written and see the world in a different lens. He explains the reason why most people behind graffiti are the youth is because most use it as an avenue to try and get noticed or discover themselves. He acknowledges the reality of graffiti a method of communication in relation to its historical use on stone that have given historians and archaeologists information about ancient cultures.

Lupick, T. (2010, 5 19). “Vancouver graffiti gone wild.” Retrieved from The Georgia Straight: Vancouver graffiti gone wild

Lupick, an approved contributor of Georgia Straight, does a case study of one youth, Vince Dumoulin, who finds solace and a sense of purpose in the utilization of his artistic talent through graffiti. He explains the need to take time to understand the drive behind graffiti and approach the instances with open minds as did the Vancouver Police Department in 2004. Although currently run by volunteers, the impact is profound with instances where the angry property owners are called to meet the street artists to change their perspective of gangs as the only people responsible for graffiti.

White, R. (2000). Graffiti, Crime Prevention & Cultural Space. “AU Journals-Current Issues in Criminal Justice,” 253-268.

White, a researcher and contributor of the AU Journals, explains the various perspectives of graffiti, the reality of graffiti, and the various types of graffiti. He gives a balanced view of graffiti and explains some of the reasons behind self-expression through graffiti. The types are listed as political, artistic, protest, tagger, gang, and toilet graffiti. He also explains that some of the reasons include the need for self-expression, media attention, and killing boredom. He explains the prevention of crime done using graffiti and the need for a balanced perspective since graffiti has occasionally even gained community approval based on its nature.

Annotated Bibliography

Graffiti is considered as an artistic way of expression by some despite the association of the same with weaponry and vandalism. The use of graffiti to communicate is not a new phenomenon. It is seen in ancient writings (Averns, 2016). Most teenagers and college students consider the illegal element of painting on walls without the consent of the property owners as a flavour to the thrill of graffiti as gathered from the interview. This is especially so in cases of risky creation of graffiti on moving trains. According to most youth, graffiti is the most visible and anonymous way of both positive and negative expression. According to the data collected, the youth believe that the society misunderstands the main concept behind graffiti and overreact to situations that involve graffiti. Although they agree that there are illegal activities that accompany graffiti, most hope that the generalization stops because it puts hose with different motives at the risk of the exaggerated wrath of the public.

There are various types of graffiti. Political graffiti is the kind that is created to express political views, mostly against the existing political decisions and power. They can be positive, negative, or threatening phrases or drawings. An example of negative graffiti messages are such as those found at Wilma Hansen School a while ago that said, “Syrians are animals” and “Real Canadians hate Syrians,” (Averns, 2016). Positive messages are such as those discovered by Boyd (2010): “Greed=Death,” “Just because YOU said so?” “Fur is Dead.”

Other forms are such as Protest graffiti that is a subsequent of political graffiti on one part but could be a protest against other factors such as school policies or the law. Such graffiti addresses specific issues where the people involved express the voice of a larger group of people among their circles or the public. Graffiti art is the very organized kind with the obvious exhibition of skill. Artistic graffiti can cut across the previous to types of graffiti with the exception of its great artistic nature and precision. It is mostly done to express the artistic side of those involved. Some admit to doing it to gain recognition and feedback, usually from fellow graffiti creators. It is common to see replies to graffiti in the form of positive or negative comments and complements.

There is also Tagger graffiti that is mostly done by beginner artists who even sign against their graffiti for identification. Such also seek some kind of recognition as seen in their effort to create an identification so that the viewers can recognize their art. The most known is the Gang graffiti that communicates the prowess of a gang and even threatens specific people and neighbourhoods. Gang graffiti can be tagger graffiti as well where the gangs also sign against their graffiti for recognition. Others are such as Toilet and other forms that consist of a wide array of messages from insults, irrelevant messages, communications, and jokes. They are more of activities that people engage in to pass time. They have the least implications as compared to street graffiti.

Essay

“The critiques of graffiti work, both from the outside and from the inside, need to be placed in the context of how particular graffitists view themselves and the nature of their activities. Extensive media attention that is critical of particular types of graffiti activity, or particular groups of graffitists, may actually serve to increase or exacerbate such activities” (White, 2000, p. 259).

The dominating perspectives of graffiti are those that consider graffiti a form of vandalism. The society and law enforcers mostly view graffiti as illegal because of the various crimes in the process such as trespassing and defamation. The generalized negative perspective of graffiti results in augmented reactions to the same. Jennifer Pawluck is an example of a victim of an augmented case of criminalization for supporting graffiti (Banerjee, 2013). Although careless, her move to post on Instagram a photo of graffiti depicting Ian Lafreniere, a senior police official, with a bullet in his head (Banerjee, 2013). Although the message is negative and her use unreasonable, the reaction given to it is different to one that would be given to a person that posted a similar picture in a different form such as a drawing on paper. Its being graffiti made the reaction much more strict with serious implications. That is proven by the fact that people post many memes and images depicting hate towards authority and never receive the same reaction as that received by Pawluck even though she was not the artist behind the graffiti.

Some 'artists' disapprove of those who do illegal things with their graffiti and thereby disrupt others who wish to engage in the more artistic and egal graffiti art work, whether this be for community or commercial purposes,” (White, 2000, p. 259). The Vancouver Police Department makes such property owners meet with such kids-responsible for the painting- to realize that they are not gang members but artists trying to come out (Boyd, 2010). The effort of making them meet with the artists helps change the perspective of the people involved in the creation of graffiti. Although the creation of graffiti on property that does not belong to them is in itself illegal, the change in perspective allows the people whose property is affected by such graffiti act differently towards the people involved in the creation of such graffiti. They even set up a restorative justice program with Elizabeth Miller and Valerie Spicer as the pioneers in 2004. It has since been run by volunteers (Lupick, 2010).Some of the informative graffiti also puts down simple personal messages to fellow graffiti artists on the streets.

In conclusion, drawing graffiti on private property remains illegal. However, there is a call for a change in the perspective of graffiti among the people of Canada towards the realization that not all graffiti is done by vandals. Such a change in perspective can protect unreasonably harsh reactions form the perpetrators. However, the fact that there is graffiti associated with vandalism cannot be ignored. The research reveals the thinking of the young people that make such graffiti and the majority do not do it with the intentions of vandalism. With the evolving methods of communication, some remain the same as in the case of graffiti which is found even on ancient writing.

References

Averns, D. (2016, 6 18). "Calgary graffiti: The good, the bad and the reason it's not all bad." Retrieved from CBC News: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-graffiti-crossroads-good-bad-not-all-bad-1.3640724

Banerjee, S. (2013, 4 4). "Montreal woman arrested for posting photo of anti-police graffiti to Instagram." Retrieved from National Post, Canada: https://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/montreal-woman-arrested-for-posting-photo-of-anti-police-graffiti-to-instagram

Boyd, A. (2010, 6 21). "In Defence of Graffiti." Retrieved from Alex Boyd: Boyd blog: https://boydwords.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/essay-in-defence-of-graffiti/

Lupick, T. (2010, 5 19). "Vancouver graffiti gone wild." Retrieved from The Georgia Straight: Vancouver graffiti gone wild

White, R. (2000). Graffiti, Crime Prevention & Cultural Space. "AU Journals-Current Issues in Criminal Justice," 253-268.