The Street Gallery
By Ankaret E., Brampton, England
(More by this author »)
It covers our public resources. It cascades along the pavement. It brightens up the subway. Graffiti is everywhere.
All over the world young people use graffiti to express their feelings. It is an outlet for those who have nothing. A bright light of inspiration in a troubled and war-torn world. It does not make you a criminal. It does not harm anybody. Yet people still oppose it. We all need a way to express ourselves. Some use graffiti. Does that make it wrong?
Man has been drawn toward graffiti since the Bronze Age; ancient cave paintings still survive today and people admire them as art. Recent graffiti is no different. Why don’t we give it the same respect? In a thousand years what we regard as vandalism today might be famous art. Is it just a matter of time?
Bob Dylan sings, “In the dime stores and bus stations/People talk of situations, read books, repeat quotations, draw conclusions on the wall.” Graffiti is a way of communicating thought to the masses, reaching the collective.
Not many people have the ability to make a disgusting public bathroom stall beautiful or to create a curtain of color to hide what really is. When I walk down the street, I stand in awe of the pure passion that has gone into some street art: emotion plastered onto concrete, a splash of color on a naked street.
One writer commented, “Graffiti is one of the few movements that I have been involved in that includes people from all backgrounds with one goal in mind … getting up.” Graffiti pulls people together. Often a whole community of artists help create it. Graffiti is part of our culture. Our cities would not be the same without it.
Graffiti is a reflection of the society in which today’s youth live, with war, poverty, drugs, despair, or just simple boredom. The trend of graffiti is growing. It’s becoming one of the biggest symbols of urban life today.
So, next time you walk down the street and see words scribbled on the wall, instead of walking away in disgust, take the time to view the whole artwork and consider what that youth is expressing about our world.
|
