Graffiti Research Paper

Submitted By hgdangkhoi
Words: 1048
Pages: 5

Khoi Hoang-NOON SECTION
English 101-Wyman
Feature Story
December 12th, 2011
Graffiti
Why graffiti has become a subculture and why it gives hopes, desires to teenagers around the world? Floating on a skateboard through the wet streets of Seattle and Oregon in the small hours of the night, Nick is like a dilettante who cares nothing about the world. Nick is a high school graffiti artist; he steals what he need and sleeps when he is tired. He wanders the city at night with no other ideas than completing his graffiti. His hopes and his desires are drawn on the back street building, the abandon railroad cars and lonely wall. This is the story in the film The Graffiti Artist, one of the best films about graffiti. The graffiti has become a subculture around the world, especially in the United State. Graffiti is words, drawings, especially humorous, rude or political, on walls, doors, etc in public places. The word “graffiti” was first used in English in 1851 to refer to an ancient wall inscriptions found in the ruins of Pompeii. There are examples of graffiti in the ruins of ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Syrians, Arabians, Vikings, Mayans, First Nations, and many other cultures, even going back 40,000 years …

The graffiti were and will be one of the most interesting and attractive arts of the twenty century. They are especially attractive also because of the fact that the author usually keeps his anonymity. The graffiti are an inseparable part of the city culture and also of the city subculture. They take an enormous place in the life of the city man, because he gazes unconsciously in them and he does not think how they govern to him. Usually the graffiti territory is a territory of the youth subcultures, because by the graffiti art the young people identifies and find their place in the society.
Graffiti has become more and more popular. Since its first emergence in the late 1960s, graffiti has become both a form and a culture blossomed in New York. The practice of drawing has been growing in popularity as a contemporary form of emotional expression and a need to establish a place in public domain among teenagers. From the psychological and sociological perspectives, adolescence is often defined as a developmental stage or a form of continuous socialization transforming people from childhood into adulthood. During this formative stage, teenagers start to develop a sense of autonomy and to forge their identities. Parents, institutions and public organizations often attempt to intervene in this progress in order to prevent misbehavior and social disorder. Consequently, youngsters often have fewer opportunities to express themselves; therefore becoming less involved in social activities as they used to. The disengagement in social life forces individuals to break away from parental control and societal ties. Many of them choose graffiti as an ideal strategy. As an excessively expressive medium, limited only by time, money, skills and writers’ readiness to take risk, graffiti allows youngsters to make a statement targeting to a narrow audiences or a specific social organization without any censorship. The message conveyed by graffiti also become more engaging as it rarely go through other forms of media and channels; thus often directly asserting writers’ expression.

Graffiti is understood as artistic expression, artistic practice and artistic work that demonstrate skills, aesthetic considerations and artistic integrity. Graffiti not only provides individuals the freedom to demonstrate their emotional struggles and portray their personal identities but also stimulates one’s imagination. A person at first can be inactive but after he indulges in graffiti, he can create such wonderful masterpieces that are engaging and appealing. Graffiti not only affects the youngsters but it also becomes known worldwide and accepted as part of mainstream US culture. Graffiti art becomes commercialized, appearing in the advertisements