Graffiti: The Importance of Street Art
Graffiti is all around us. We can see it in places as common as a park bench, or on a larger scale in cities and places like Philadelphia that are known for their beautiful murals and street art. With graffiti, sometimes the lines between vandalism and a work of art are blurred. Yet, regardless of the legality of some graffiti, I find that graffiti is an essential part of society and it actually does have a significant importance to our lives. Not only does graffiti offer a platform to many artists in struggling situations, but for viewers, many graffiti has an important message that can be interpreted within the piece as well. Finally, eye-catching graffiti and street art has proven to be an important asset to all types of communities and neighborhoods around the world. However, not only is it beneficial to communities as a whole, but the effect that art has on businesses individually can extremely help a business grow. Even though graffiti can sometimes carry a negative connotation such as that used by gangs, there is a value in the actual art that I find outweighs the damaging kind of graffiti.
Graffiti in the Real World
A few months ago, a friend and I decided to take a walk through the city of Lancaster in Pennsylvania. On this walk, we came across a beautiful brick wall with a work of spray-painted art on it. There were tons of colorful skeletons playing on a large-scale piano, and there were more skeletons on a set of drums in the background. In bold lettering on the top of the wall it read, “Under the skin, we are all bones”. Upon reading this and connecting it to the art itself, as a viewer I was able to develop my own interpretation of this message. I believe that what the artist was trying to portray was that regardless of external factors like race, gender, or appearance, underneath the skin we all have similar bones, meaning nothing really sets us apart when we go deep enough under the surface. We are all one in the same, as humans, and are able to connect to things like art and music without needing to bring external factors into it. When we as viewers are able to form our own opinions on the art, it allows us to take a moment and reflect on important things in our lives. Whether that be giving art a message like the one I previously stated, or simply asking ourselves why the artist chose a particular color. With this in mind, artists like the one who painted the piece in Lancaster City are able to get a message across to viewers, as well as let them form their own interpretations of it. With just one single work of street art, we are able to get a deep, strong message from it and reflect on it. Now, in cities like Philadelphia or New York where graffiti art is everywhere, imagine the life lessons that you could take away from just a walk down a few blocks. It is important to recognize that not all graffiti is like this, however many graffiti artists are driven by their passions, and aim to deliver their message to the public using platforms like the sides of commonly passed-by buildings.
One example of a popular well-known artist that rose from the public platform of graffiti is Keith Haring. Keith Haring is known for his colorful pop art style, and his work is very commonly replicated on clothes and in many other places. Graffiti has the power to transform an artist’s work from being seen on the streets to inside of museums. Haring grew up in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, and did not seem to grow up in a middle to upper class household. When discussing art school and how he got there, Haring said, “I’d been convinced to go [to art school] by my parents and guidance counselor. They said that if I was going to seriously pursue being an artist, I should have some commercial-art background” (The Keith Haring Foundation). Haring found that his first art program was not for him, and wound up hitchhiking to visit more schools. These humble beginnings do not sound like Haring grew up extremely privileged, but through his art, he was able to become extremely successful. Haring was a very talented artist; he began to rise in popularity in the 1980’s for using graffiti art on the walls of the subway stations of New York. “The subway became, as Haring said, a “laboratory” for working out his ideas and experimenting with his simple lines” (The Keith Haring Foundation). This reference to the subway being a laboratory is extremely helpful in showing the benefits of graffiti and street art. Artists are allowed to experiment and create art that has a more “go-with-the-flow” style to it. Like so many other artists, Haring used graffiti to fine-tune his work and create the masterpieces that we admire today. Graffiti’s ability to provide artists with a platform to grow and improve their work proves beneficial, and has created several of the talented and well-known artists that we know today such as Jean-Michel Basquait and Os Gemeos.
Although graffiti has many benefits, not all graffiti is considered “street art”. Along with the modern art and murals, some graffiti has earned a negative reputation, after being classified as gang graffiti and/or being related to juvenile delinquency. In the words of the Los Angeles Police Department,
The purpose of gang graffiti is to glorify the gang. Gang graffiti is meant to create a sense of intimidation and may increase the sense of fear within a neighborhood. Gang members use graffiti to mark their territory or turf, declare their allegiance to the gang, advertise a gang’s status or power, and to challenge rivals. Graffiti is used to communicate messages between gangs using codes with common meaning.
Graffiti like that used by gangs is actually very harmful, there is no argument there. Gang graffiti publicly labels a location as dangerous by identifying it as a gang territory. Gang graffiti usually consists of more symbols and lettering rather than physical art; allowing for the quick, efficient spread of communication between gangs. Furthermore, as stated by the Los Angeles Police Department, it creates fear in a neighborhood. This not only affects those in the neighborhood directly, but also the social network of those in the neighborhood and other potential visitors.
While gang graffiti does add a significant negative connotation on the world of graffiti, it is still important to remember that not all graffiti carries this damaging effect, and actually provides many benefits to communities. In an article by Productcare recycling, they highlight three benefits of murals. Firstly, “[murals] create vibrant neighbourhoods that people want to visit, live in, and take care of” (Productcare.org). Murals provide these neighborhoods with art, which in turn encourages the upkeep of the community, and actually provides the community with more visitors which can be beneficial to store owners. In fact, I have seen first hand this effect.
Street Art: It’s Eye-Catching!
In Newark, Delaware, there is actually a fair amount of murals and street art. When walking around the city, I noticed a really beautiful mural that had records all over it. Upon noticing it, I mentioned to a friend that we should go into the store and check it out. As humans , there is this natural instinct to move towards things that catch our eye. This is actually due to a psychological effect on our brain. Interestingly, “people subconsciously respond to visual stimuli. In fact, this is one of the core principles of marketing psychology” (Lundin). When businesses use the tactics of marketing psychology by having artwork associated with their building, it actually has this same eye-catching effect that attracts customers. As written about by Henry Kurkowski of Forbes magazine,
Many corporate visionaries see the value of deeper cultural engagement and being connected to the community. Such engagement opens the opportunities for companies to stand out in the eyes of consumers, employees and investors. It’s also a way to stand out from the competition.
When people are able to connect to the cultural aspects of art, they can develop deeper connections to a business and promote this business to others. Consequently, the spreading word of a good business allows for a stronger community, and in the words of Kurkowski, “The stronger the community is, the better the business opportunities can be for a company” (Kurkowski). The effect that murals have is actually quite strong, and has the ability to increase a store’s business which in turn is beneficial to the entire community. Kurkowski states, “a city with a vibrant artistic and cultural scene often attracts better talent, and a company that is directly involved with that vibrancy is set up to better retain and grow that talent” When people make these connections surrounding the “vibrancy” to the business that orchestrated it, they become attracted to the businesses and increase their popularity (Kurkowski). Not only does this provide more of an income to the community, but it also increases traction in the community and provides them with more visitors- potentially leading to more residents.
The second reason Productcare recycling provided was that “Murals encourage you to slow down and admire your surroundings” (Productcare.org). In How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell, she discusses this topic quite frequently. The opening line to her introduction reads,
Nothing is harder than to do nothing. In a world where our value is determined by our productivity, many of us find our every last minute captured, optimized, or appropriated as a financial resource by the technologies we use daily.
Throughout the majority of this book, Odell is stressing the importance of taking a break, and appreciating things that are already there. In a similar fashion, murals encourage us to take a second to appreciate what is in front us, with the absence of technology or the stressors of our daily lives. A lot of the topics discussed in How To Do Nothing are valuable in understanding the importance of taking a moment to ourselves — and we can apply them to our daily lives, such as going on a walk around the city to observe the art.
Finally, in the article by Productcare recycling the author stated, “[murals] create important conversations and expand thought” (Productcare.org). Murals and graffiti often have a message behind them. Whether it is similar to the graffiti in Lancaster City as previously mentioned, or if it is something closer to a political statement, many of the street art today has a message. In many cases, the artist may leave the message up to interpretation by the viewer, which would certainly have the ability to create a conversation. Conversely, even pieces that practically spell the message out for the viewer are capable of expanding thought, or thinking more deeper into the topic of the piece.
Overall, I believe that the benefits of graffiti outweigh the negative stigma it carries. I find it valuable to recognize that graffiti and murals actually have a significant importance to not only the viewer as an individual, but also the community as a whole. While there will continue to be forms of graffiti that potentially do more harm than good, there is also art, and in it a message from the artist to the viewer. Graffiti is helpful to both the artist and the viewer, and recognizing its benefits is something that I will continue to advocate for, and encourage others to acknowledge as well.
Works Cited
“Bio.” Bio | Keith Haring, www.haring.com/!/about-haring/bio.
Kurkowski, Henry. “Council Post: Why It’s Good Business To Support The Arts.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 4 June 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2019/06/04/why-its-good-business-to-support-the-arts/?sh=557f0383720f.
Lundin, Katie. “4 Psychology-Based Design Tips For Eye-Catching Packaging Design.” Crowdspring Blog, 7 Oct. 2020, www.crowdspring.com/blog/packaging-design-tips-psychology/.
Odell, Jenny. 2019. How to Do Nothing. Brooklyn: Melville. eBook.
“The Importance of Community Murals and Dialogue through Art.” Product Care Recycling, 9 Dec. 2020, www.productcare.org/about/blog/importance-of-community-murals/#:~:text=It's%20no%20secret%3A%20murals%20make,the%20economy%20of%20an%20area.
“Why Gang Graffiti Is Dangerous.” Los Angeles Police Department Badge, www.lapdonline.org/top_ten_most_wanted_gang_members/content_basic_view/23471
