Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.~It creates jobs cleaning it up.
~It’s artistic.
~People have been painting walls as early as the cave dwellers.
~The urge to leave your mark on the world is an indicator of the creator image instilled in us.
~We all want to create a sense of permanence, so we carve our initials into trees or draw them on school desks.
~As yourself this question: Why is this urge so universal?
~Sometimes the only reading material you have in a restroom is graffiti.
~Political and social commentary are often the content of graffiti
~It’s democratic. Even the poorest of people (who own no property, billboards, or printing presses) can express their ideas publicly this way.
~Some ideas are more important than the destruction (defacing) of property
~This is the only way for the young and the poor, who are systematically marginalized from social discourse because of their lack of economic power, to be heard.
~Most of the surfaces which receive graffiti were extremely ugly to begin with. Only a fascist would prefer a stark gray aqueduct to one with artwork on it.
Links:
In defense of graffiti (Fullerton)
A celebration of graffiti (WSJ)
In defense of graffiti and teen angst (Blog)
In defense of graffiti activity (English class blog)
In defense of graffiti (Blog)
2 comments:
Off-topic, but ‘graffiti’ is one of those words that give me fits when I need to spell it. Another is ‘lavender’ (not ‘lavendar’). I was given a mnemonic for spelling ‘embarrass’ but it is a bit on the crude side, so I won’t mention it here.
Maybe some frivolous Friday could be devoted to spelling mnemonics?
That's so funny. All day yesterday when I was typing the word graffiti for my show notes or the email, I kept feeling a sense of uncertainty. "Is this still the right spelling? Will spellchecker humiliate me again?" I think that would be a fun topic: Words you can't remember how to spell properly.
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