Graffiti.

[Kel]

Whats your opinion of graffiti in the public? Do you look at it as vandalism, or as art? Do you believe it should be condemned, allowed, or confined to certain areas (sort of like the city owned skatepark idea)?

I would love to hear your thoughts :).

[moey_ramone]

i dont know man i grew up on the bus and i hated when i sat on fresh grafitti it still pisses me off when i see some on the buildings in my neighborhood. i mean if people want it to get the respect they feel it deserves they should designate a legal area for it like the graffitti pits in venice etc.

[Emptythought]

i generally think it's cool when it's actually art, but just the gang sign/name tag stuff usually irritated me.(this could turn into an argument over what defines or qualifies art, but you get my general idea).

there's a LOT of cool mural type of stuff around town here, and near my school. i would definitely encourage that type of stuff.

[Kel]

I see what you are saying Empty. Shitty tags or throwups aren't art at all. Now there are some really, really great artist doing throwups/tags with amazing handstyle, but if you don't have the talent... I would say stay in your blackbook until you are decent enough for walls.

But I don't like raging on shitty gang tags, or any gang graffiti because of their significance. A simple MS13 tag somewhere is some scary shit and can lead into a whole bunch of shit I would never want to get into.

There are some amazing artist out there though. Seeing well done pieces is so damn satisfying.

[Burr]

Yeah I with you all. I really like the very pretty stuff. If it's covering something that was just ugly to start with then I don't see what the big deal is. What pisses me off is the stupid gang tags on the side of a perfectly fine building. That's more like taking a leak on a fire hydrant.

[Kel]

I've been meaning to ask you Burr. Do you ever go to The Hub in downtown Tampa? I think I might of seen you there... but i've only seen like the top of your head in a picture, so I wasn't sure.

[Burr]

Hehe nah never been there.. If I go downtown it's for a hockey game or a movie and not much else..

[GH33DA]

I respect graffiti in all it's forms. I also respect it's code and process. That being said. I only respect the taggers that honor the code and process. So the graffiti that I consider art is the graffiti done by these artists. No matter how "shitty" it looks. Although, you'll find that the taggers that do follow the code, are the best ones visually.

Rack, Stack, Sliver, Black

[Oomba]

I think it is okay on public property, but not private property. Not on trains, or on the walls of buildings, but on underpasses and brick walls to parks and such I appreciate it.

[Mercus]

I appreciate graffiti, I have no issue with it being on public places. I do agree though that if its someone just trying to be a rebel and write something like "fuck" on a wall is lame, not only does it look like shit but it gets labeled graffiti which then gives real graffiti a bad name. I think it adds character to cities, but I have a lot of friends who are graffiti artists so my opinion might be kind of one sided.

[JoEDigiTECH]

Graffiti was one of the great inspirations to me when I was growing up. Growing up where I did there was a mixed bag of amazing burners and gang scribbles and cross-outs. I spent many an hour hunched over my bible designing pieces and honing my marker skills. I never actually threw anything up. I never thought anything I designed was good enough.

It is an amazing art form. I can appreciate the talent (and balls) it takes to throw up some of these large scale pieces. I have to say that I prefer the ones that either make a statement or illustrate a narrative. While I can appreciate the design elements of some of the work that has just the artist name I could live with out it.

Should it be controlled or confined? If you love to do it, you know the consequences going in so if you can get away with it do what you got to do. I like to see it but I also understand why others don't

I think there should be some places (like skate parks & handball courts) that should be commissioned to artists and endorsed by the city.