Graffiti: the arts

The first article talks a lot about how graffiti built communities within the boroughs in New York.  They created rivalries and other competition based on power and expression within the graffiti itself.  I also realized that outsiders of the city and urban areas tend not to understand the true meaning behind graffiti.  It is only once one enters the urban environment and is exposed to the people and mental thinking behind the meaning of graffiti that he/she appreciates it.  Otherwise, others just consider it vandalism.  I, however, think that graffiti does express inner emotions and such.  I think it utilizes the personal function of language, as well as imaginative.  It portrays a message and establishes a name for the artist.  However, I can also see where the idea of vandalism comes from - these forms of art are placed on other people's and the government's property.  It makes me consider whether or not this takes away from the purity and beauty of graffiti.  I am not sure, but I can definitely say that this one aspect does bothers me to an extent.

The second article also talks about how it is a form of art.  Graffiti allows for freedom and gives the artist a sense of personal expression and power. The artists want to influence their viewers.  They want to make a difference in the community; they want to be known.  I feel like the only difference between graffiti and the other art forms of hip-hop (like break dancing and rapping) is how it affects others in ways other than influentially and emotionally; graffiti can cost others a lot of money.  I feel that pure art must be expressed in ways that are not "physically" harmful and hurtful to others, but just beneficial.  This is the only problem with graffiti.