Week 7 Post: Graffiti is Art

 As I read Charles Bojoroquez's piece Graffiti is Art, I was reminded of my childhood. Growing up, my brother was somewhat in gangs, and he would constantly be in trouble with the sheriffs of our town because they would either always catch him tagging or recognize his writing style. I remember seeing the police report once, and it was filled with pictures of his graffiti. After that, my mom would always scare my little sister and me. For years she would say things like, "If you tag, you'll end up in jail like your brother," or "Don't write on anything but paper!" If someone grew up like that, I would understand why, as Bojoroquez said, "anti-graffiti forces demonize youth as the worst of society's evils, and worthy of being sent to prison..." (119).  

I like that Bojoroquez makes it a point to make a distinction between "cholo and hip-hop" (120) graffiti styles. For many, their exposure to graffiti is the hip-hop style and mistaking the "Old English" tagging for hip-hop style when it is so deeply rooted in cholo placas. I think I could distinct cholo from hip-hop style because of the stack of photos from my own brother's graffiti. The first figure embodies hip-hop graffiti and the second figure is cholo graffiti. 

To me, graffiti is an outlet for artists to express themselves freely on an earthly surface. Art on a canvas or piece of paper has a certain feel to it, but graffiti that is placed on walls or the ground is rooted in indigenous art being carved or painted into rocks and walls. I wish graffiti was not tied to vandalism, but I understand that certain buildings or homes for example would not want to have graffiti on them. I wish there was a way society could provide a space for graffiti artists to display their art. I think if my brother had something like that growing up, he would be a different person today. He would be called an artist and not a delinquent.