Week 7 - Graffiti Is Art

 In his essay Graffiti Is Art, Charles “Chaz” Bojorquez not only discusses the origins of graffiti art in Los Angeles, but also brings in his own experiences as a graffiti artist, weighing in on the controversial debate of whether or not graffiti is (or should be) considered art or vandalism. Bojorquez mentions that in mainstream news media outlets the rhetoric when talking about graffiti art is largely negative, equating it to “vandalism, destructive behavior, and meaningless scribbles” (Bojorquez, 117). Depending on where you might live, this polarization of graffiti as either lawless defacement or beautiful public art makes itself known through city efforts to either contain and erase graffiti or simply just allow it to be. In Los Angeles, these efforts may vary from city to city. While some cities may welcome this practice, other cities may be far more strict in enforcing anti-graffiti punishments, which makes this art-making practice especially precarious. 

Moving on from his discussion about graffiti as art or graffiti as vandalism, Bojorquez touches on the history of graffiti, and what attracts so many young people to graffiti and tagging. He states “For a young many (or woman!), graffiti is a personal voyage of trying to seek and/or manifest your self-esteem and self-expression” (Bojorquez, 118). Additionally, he talks about graffiti’s ties to gangs and its use as a way for individuals to claim their space in a given neighborhood or area. It emerged as a way to mark one’s presence and claim their identity while communicating this message to anyone who might pass.

My aunt (center right) with her friends and their tags

I was especially drawn to this essay because my aunts grew up taggers in the 90s here in Los Angeles. I loved when they’d tell me stories about getting in trouble at school for tagging on lockers, and how there were whole tagging crews. One thing that stood out to me was when my aunt mentioned that when they were teens in the 80s and 90s back before everyone had a personal cell phone, tagging became a way that they communicated with their friends. It allowed them to see who had been where, where they were going to be, and so on. The use of graffiti as a form of communication has been interesting to me since then. Additionally, growing up with friends who were taggers I became familiarized with certain individuals and their tags. There would be times when someone fell off the map for a while and then all of the sudden I’d see their tag blasted on the side of the freeway or building and got a sense of reassurance that they were alright and still doing their thing. I feel that artists still tag for many of the reasons Bojorquez mentions in his essay, and like Bojorquez I feel that for these reasons graffiti will never die.