Is graffiti art or vandalism?

Question:???????????

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: ???????????

i think you already know the answer to that one,,,,but still a good question. my opinion,,,,,graffiti art can be fantastic, although it can look ugly in the the wrong place. ancient cave paintings, or modern tube stations, hmmmm.

Vandalism, unless they get a grant to do even more hideous public monstrosities, then it's art

it can be both...

tagging is vandalism and hate it, wud be cool if there was places for people 2 express themselves with spray paint.

Art, in most cases anything that makes the world easier to look at is art I'm not talking about tagging writing your name everywhere is just lazy egotistical crap

Depends on how you look at it.
Obviously, tagging your name on a tube train or sleeping tramp has limited artistic merit.
If the particular graffito conveys an insightful meaning and/or is aesthetically pleasing, then there is art within that. The work of Banksy has been sold for six figures by people who certainly consider it art.
I do believe that it can be both, as vandalism is a techincal term. A graffiti artist is simultaneously creating art and commiting vandalism.
The art emerges from the appreciation people have for the graffito's existence. Many people certainly appreciate Banksy.

If a flower is not meant to be there, then it is a weed.

i never asked you to write on my wall so its suicide if i catch you....

Pretty much if they are paid to do it it is considered art, if they aren't paid, it's vandalism. Thats the text book entry. I really see no point in putting your name on a wall.

Grafitti is both art and vandalism.

Vandalism is basically destroying someone else's property, AKA graffiti.
And art is something creative a person does on their own canvas (graffitti also)

Although many see it more as vandalism

It is only art when you are paid to do it, or you sell it on your own property

Both. It sometimes depends on what's graffiti'ed though... (Like, if it's just someone's name, it's not that special unless they really put some effort & creativity into it, so I guess that's plain old vandalism. But if there's a mural or something... definately art.)
=)

pure unadulterated vandalism. making peoples property devalued just for the sake of some cretin disfiguring the property. if they say it`s art then why not do it on their own property or is that asking too much???

some people are stupid its art. Though okay it could be considered vandalism cause like 99.99 percent of graffiti is iLLEGAL.. Most graffiti writters who write graffiti do tags and outlines and so on

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_qu...

watch the enitre all 10 parts of Infamy graffiti..GRAFFITI is graffiti.. People who say they love graffiti murals and hate graffiti tags,, are idoits,.The graffiti artist who do murals like almost all of them have done illegal stuff and do tags or still do bombs and outlines..throw ups.,.burnners.,.u name it.. GRAFFITI is a huge world of stuff you will never understand nor will most people get a writters mind. Graffiti artist can be some of the coolest people you will ever meet. though they dont even make up .01 percent of the earth.. They mabye make up .01 and a half..
IN america i am guessing there are around 150 thousand writters. In a new york city vandal squad report. The vandal squad which is a police unit to catch graffiti writters in new york city. .estimated that there are around 100 thousand writters in the city of new york. or people who have commited graffiti more than once.

okay but id say there are though 50 thousand writters who are good in a way. New york city graffiti is good but the city has a metoropolitan area of 18 million people. also Allot of their writtesr are just taggers and simple outtliners. some arent to great.

as far as writters who are really down for graffiti i would say mabye 10,000

http://flickr.com/groups/awr_msk/pool/

really graffiti is huge like world of underground stuff you would never no of. I write graffiti and just enjoy panting..

http://flickr.com/search/?q=mta+graffiti

http://flickr.com/search/?q=tko+graffiti...

http://flickr.com/search/?q=rgk+graffiti...

http://flickr.com/search/?q=btc+graffiti...

Those crews i just put up are more for destroying and getting up> i am more of what you call a piceier i do bomb but i am only 15 so i dont get up a ton. I just chill with my freinds most of the time and with my graffiti freinds we just smoke weed, and paint chill spots and freight trains,, we paint places people dont see and places that have low risk of cops coming up on us

peace

Graffiti is art. really,, to be considered vandalism i feel it would have to be just plain old destruction and like yeah. Vandalism is like desroying without a name. if someone painted your garage door and put penises and the word anal all over it and just drew lines..that of course is Vandalism.. Graffiti writtesr never write on peoples homes.. AND they have a name and crew typically there not trying to make it look like vandalism. Graffiti most of all of it may be illegal and all but its a way of art that is illegal because of the fact that it is writting on places without peopels permisson. I am aware of the consequences for wriitting graffiti and i am okay with that and are prepared to deal with it..

peace

Art - which as we know is all objective!

Technically the term 'vandalism' stems from the 'vandals', they were a tribe from Germany that invaded places and were noted in history for destroying property and almost everything in their path, but I don't think they used paint to adorn other peoples property with, be it a humble house or rail station or train carriage or sub-way etc., ~ I don't see much fun in it, it just evokes a reaction to oppression to me and arty farties will put it under the same umbrella as 'art' cos the earliest forms of art were cave people painting symbolic stuff on cave walls etc. So, I have to agree it can't be vandalism although it is abusive of the canvas it's put upon unless the 'artist' has had permission, even then it doesn't appeal to me much personally.

art, if it comes from someones heart or mind