First … GRAFFITI IS NOT ILLEGAL.   VANDALISM IS ILLEGAL.

Second … Graffiti is not the same as Vandalism.

Third … Re-read the first and second points above.

Graffiti can be vandalism, but it is not necessarily.  For example, if I paint graffiti on a wall, what is it?  Vandalism?  Well, what would you call it if the owner of the wall paid me to paint it?

I’mma hafta write up another post to clarify the differences and history of Vandalism and Graffiti.  Stay tuned.

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Kat Petersen | The State News Marshall, a Lansing resident, has been tagging the Lansing area with graffiti art for about seven years, but he doesn’t like to call it graffiti. To him, it is art.

During the past several decades graffiti gradually has been working its way into mainstream culture, as evidenced by street artist Banksy’s recent Oscar nomination.

Despite some artists reaching critical acclaim for their works, these artists still face a major issue — their medium is illegal.

East Lansing police Capt. Kim Johnson said local homes and buildings periodically are used as canvases for graffiti.

Johnson said the graffiti is not an outstanding problem in East
Lansing, but there have been some major instances in recent history.

“(Graffiti is) illegal — it’s malicious destruction of property,” he said. “We’ve had some problems with the parking structure on Grove Street. People went on the roof and dumped paint down the side of the building.”

Johnson said the East Lansing Police Department encourages home and business owners to paint over any graffiti that is painted on their buildings, but it is at the owner’s expense so some people chose not to.

Though the art is considered vandalism from a legal perspective, not all artists intend it to be.

One Lansing artist who chooses only to go by Marshall to avoid legal ramifications said graffiti has a rough history, but as of late it has taken on a new role.

Marshall said many major art collectors have graffiti and similar street art included in their collections.

“There are guys who just do it to deface property and there are guys who do it for the artistic value,” he said. “It’s just a different medium.”

Dylan Miner, assistant professor of transcultural studies, said since its appearance in New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s, graffiti has been used for a number of purposes.

“Many artists are quite political, while others just want to get their name up,” Miner said in an e-mail. “Still others are interested in beautifying their environment.”

Rosie Williamson, a junior in the Residential College for Arts and Humanities, is from New Jersey and said her interest in graffiti came from seeing so much of it in New York City and other urban areas near her hometown.

Williamson took a class in the fall and learned how the techniques artists use have changed in recent years, making it faster and easier to get their work up.

“We experimented with stencils and different sorts of materials (in class),” she said. “More graffiti artists turn to stenciling as a quick option.”

But although these new, faster techniques have made it easier for graffiti artists to practice their craft, it also makes it more difficult for police to catch them.

Johnson said the biggest problem the East Lansing Police Department faces in terms of dealing with graffiti is not being able to identify suspects. Even in a city such as East Lansing with people constantly walking the streets, graffiti artists often go unnoticed, he said.

“Some of the graffiti only takes seconds to mark (buildings) up,” Johnson said. “It sounds weird but even in a city like East Lansing people can get away with it. They can just put (the spray-can) in their pocket and walk on like nothing happened.”

Many police departments such as East Lansing’s cannot afford to dedicate multiple staff members toward extensively investigating the vandalism.

Marshall said graffiti always will be misunderstood and considered illegal, but in recent years has gained more legitimacy in the eyes of the public.

“Guys are pushing for it to be — I don’t want to say it — acceptable because it never really will be accepted, but more respected,” Marshall said.

Despite being illegal, graffiti used as artistic outlet is a post from: Graffiti News & Blog

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Despite great obstacles they come into the streets. Markers, pens, paint brushes, paper, wheatpaste, and spray paint in tow they’re coming your way. Something will happen in the world and it will be recorded tonight. Not just in the news but on the street itself. On the walls and in the alley ways, in the doorways of abandoned buildings, art reclaims civilization.

Graffiti: the ultimate statement about yourself in the time you live. “I was here.” However it is not for posterity. It won’t last that long. Graffiti artists work in the now. They refine their craft at the risk of hefty fines and jail terms. And because of this we’ve got to get it while it lasts.

What was an abandoned storefront yesterday is transformed into a masterpiece by the morning. We drive by wondering, “how did he get up there?” and “I wonder if this place will ever be used again?” The art jogs our sense of greater development.

Although its been shunned graffiti art is continuing to manifest itself when and where it can. But it wont last long. By nature it is under attack and there are mere moments until it becomes just another proverb, another quote to be remembered in passing.

This is all we have in competition to the billboards. This is our streets talking. This is the opportunity for communication without major financial backing to broadcast to the masses in a format larger than 8.5″ x 11″. By supporting this we support our own personal freedom.

Graffiti – Get it Now – Before it’s Gone is a post from: Graffiti News & Blog

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Raids net alleged members of tagger crew that hit L.A., Las Vegas is a post from: Graffiti News & Blog

click here to find Graffiti for sale

is a post from: Graffiti News & Blog