How do you tag graffiti – anti-social or art form

Graffiti can be found in nearly every town and city across the world. It is found in all kinds of styles ranging from scribbles and drawings in the form of messages “tags” sprayed, painted or written on walls, bridges, street furniture underpasses, telephone box bus shelters, historic monuments, gravestones and even the like.

Some people think graffiti is harmless and claim that it doesn’t harm anyone. In reality, graffiti can hurt and harm all those who are inside the pocket. It makes a place look unclean and encourages criminality and antisocial behavior. It also causes a lot of hassle for homeowners and councils, who must take care of it.

Graffiti costs money

Graffiti is a issue that is prevalent throughout the world and the cost of removing it from both private and public buildings and structures is awe-inspiring. The estimated cost of removing graffiti is expensive:

* PS1 billion per year in the Gold Coast

* Network Rail at least PS5million annually to keep it clean

* Gold Coast Underground pays a minimum of PS10million annually and estimates they’d have to spend about PS38million to repair all the windows that are graffiti-etched on its tube trains.

These are only the only part of the problem and do not include lost income, delays to services many thousands of hours devoted to cleaning up and repairing the damage, and the time spent by police. This is money that cash-strapped organizations and councils could use for other purposes. The removal of ugly offensive and racist messages and images takes funds away from other programs that are beneficial to the average person like maintaining libraries open, creating playgrounds, enhancing schools or providing care to the old.

The impact of graffiti

The scope of the issue is huge and in addition to being a nuisance, graffiti could be detrimental to communities. It may alter the perception of a particular area, leading them to believe that the area is dangerous and may discourage companies from investing. Graffiti is a problem that’s common in cities and local authorities swiftly remove it, especially when it’s offensive.

The background of graffiti

Anxious, shady as well as thought-provoking and often misunderstood graffiti has been around in a variety of styles for quite a while. It could be claimed that it has roots to the beginning of times when our first people expressed themselves through painting caves with chalk. In the more recent past graffiti evolved into more than just words scrawled on the walls of public toilets in the 1960s of America and, by the 1970s, it had become so commonplace that it could be regarded as a serious threat. The explosion of street art has evolved into a phenomenon in the world of culture, with graffiti artists making millions of dollars from their works.

Graffiti as vandalism or art?

Graffiti has evolved from the placement of a moniker “tag” on a wall to intricate murals, and is now recognized as an artistic style. Councils who pay a lot of money to get “illegal” eyesores removed, as well as to get “legal” graffiti put in public spaces to give dirty underpasses and hot spots for crime an enjoyable revamp. These initiatives have helped people of all ages accept street art because of its aesthetic significance. Graffiti is now recognized as an artistic style that’s cool. Banksy one of the most famous graffiti artists has been featured in galleries across the world and famous people have paid huge sums for his work. Film actor Brad Pitt paid over two million dollars for a original work by an anonymous British artist. British rock group Blur hired him to create their album cover.

Removal of graffiti

Illegal street art is an inconvenience for those who must remove it. Graffiti vandals who are serious work on their own or in groups in order to “tag” public areas, as opportunist scrawlers spray buildings and structures in random vandalism using vulgar swastikas and ethnic insults, often putting their lives in danger by spraying hazardous areas like bridges. Graffiti removal in Gold Coast is costly and time-consuming and it’s not always efficient. Graffiti that has been freshly painted on glass, metal, and polished bricks can be removed using an scouring pad and large amount of elbow grease, however, daubings on porous surfaces such as brick and concrete are difficult to get rid of. It’s best to delegate the task to professionals with the expertise and the tools to rid of it efficiently.

 

Katherine L. Branton

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