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It’s always a struggle for me to accept that many people actually like graffiti. Maybe graffiti can add flavour to a city if it’s really drab and ugly (although

It’s always a struggle for me to accept that many people actually like graffiti. Maybe graffiti can add flavour to a city if it’s really drab and ugly (although I’m not too sure about this), but it only defiles cities which are aesthetically pleasing and beautiful. The technicality of graffiti has little to do with its appeal or it’s appropriateness. Something can be hard to make but still be garbage and/or misplaced w.r.t it’s surroundings.

microtonal 2y ago
Most so-called ‘pleasing’ cities are full of advertisement pollution. If I have to choose one of them, I’d choose art over advertising. I wish people would be as much against advertising as they are against graffiti.
- helboi4 2y ago
  Fr. Its so wierd for me when people get super mad about graffiti like they own any of these walls and could choose what was on them. If the graffiti wasn't there it would just be an ad, but I guess we're okay with that because consumerism is good because the our overlords tell us to like it.
  - kalaksi 2y ago
    Most graffitis I've seen are on empty walls or buildings with no ads. Brick wall looks way better without them. And to me it looks more like it's the graffiti maker that thinks that they own the wall and can choose what should be on it.
    - helboi4 2y ago
      Property that is used by the public should be owned by the public. By that logic, graffiti artists as regular people who use public infrastructure in the area should as much right to paint on the wall as you do to paint the wall in your house. And you can paint over it if you hate it so much. But its all down to the community. It should not be a crime enforced by a ruling class who nominally owns the wall but doesn't use it, so is totally not actually inconvenienced by it being painted. You are part of the community. So is the artist. The person who owns the wall is mostly likely not. Stop pretending you're on the same side because you think you may also become a millionare by osmosis.
      - kalaksi 2y ago
        I'm not thinking that I'm on some side or defending some class. As you said, I'm part of the community, the public. Why should the right to have wall painted override the right to have the wall as it is? I'm betting most would want it without graffitis, but apparently one person can decide themselves how it should look. It's a simple conflict of opposing tastes.
        helboi4 2y ago
        Again, they have the right to have that taste and you have the right to hate it. You both should have equal ownership over the wall. Therefore you should also have the right to paint something they don't like on the wall. Or paint over their art. Or paint a different wall in a way you like. Nobody should be prosecuting anyone for the case of a minor disagreement over personal artistic taste.
        kalaksi 2y ago
        What if I'm not skilled enough to paint it back to how it was? Or don't want to break the law. Or some other barrier. My point is that if given equal rights, it isn't clear cut if you should paint at all. For example, on dedicated graffiti walls the situation is different since people generally agree how they should be used. Sure, one way to solve a conflict is to let everyone do what they want and see what happens, but it's just a version of "might makes right", imo.
        helboi4 2y ago
        If we decided on all public use of space collectively, then yeah sure that would probably be better since it would be fairer. Unfortunately, this is not the system we live under. Therefore graffiti is a legitimate way for the community to express themselves in the face of undemocratic rule.
      - subjectsigma 2y ago
        Yeah this seems on-brand. Graffiti artist imagines himself as the hero in some epic class struggle, anyone who opposes him must be an enemy sympathizer! In reality we just want to live in a city that doesn’t have ugly graffiti all over it. It’s OK, when you grow up you’ll understand. Walking little kids past a wall that reads FUCK because “the community” (aka a single edgy teen) decided it should is not a comfortable experience.
wolverine876 2y ago
> It’s always a struggle for me to accept that many people actually like graffiti. It's a struggle for everyone to accept different perspectives on art and aesthetics, but we need to accept that others' perspectives exist and are as legitimate as our own.

microtonal 2y ago

Most so-called ‘pleasing’ cities are full of advertisement pollution. If I have to choose one of them, I’d choose art over advertising. I wish people would be as much against advertising as they are against graffiti.

helboi4 2y ago
Fr. Its so wierd for me when people get super mad about graffiti like they own any of these walls and could choose what was on them. If the graffiti wasn't there it would just be an ad, but I guess we're okay with that because consumerism is good because the our overlords tell us to like it.
- kalaksi 2y ago
  Most graffitis I've seen are on empty walls or buildings with no ads. Brick wall looks way better without them. And to me it looks more like it's the graffiti maker that thinks that they own the wall and can choose what should be on it.
  - helboi4 2y ago
    Property that is used by the public should be owned by the public. By that logic, graffiti artists as regular people who use public infrastructure in the area should as much right to paint on the wall as you do to paint the wall in your house. And you can paint over it if you hate it so much. But its all down to the community. It should not be a crime enforced by a ruling class who nominally owns the wall but doesn't use it, so is totally not actually inconvenienced by it being painted. You are part of the community. So is the artist. The person who owns the wall is mostly likely not. Stop pretending you're on the same side because you think you may also become a millionare by osmosis.
    - kalaksi 2y ago
      I'm not thinking that I'm on some side or defending some class. As you said, I'm part of the community, the public. Why should the right to have wall painted override the right to have the wall as it is? I'm betting most would want it without graffitis, but apparently one person can decide themselves how it should look. It's a simple conflict of opposing tastes.
      - helboi4 2y ago
        Again, they have the right to have that taste and you have the right to hate it. You both should have equal ownership over the wall. Therefore you should also have the right to paint something they don't like on the wall. Or paint over their art. Or paint a different wall in a way you like. Nobody should be prosecuting anyone for the case of a minor disagreement over personal artistic taste.
        kalaksi 2y ago
        What if I'm not skilled enough to paint it back to how it was? Or don't want to break the law. Or some other barrier. My point is that if given equal rights, it isn't clear cut if you should paint at all. For example, on dedicated graffiti walls the situation is different since people generally agree how they should be used. Sure, one way to solve a conflict is to let everyone do what they want and see what happens, but it's just a version of "might makes right", imo.
        helboi4 2y ago
        If we decided on all public use of space collectively, then yeah sure that would probably be better since it would be fairer. Unfortunately, this is not the system we live under. Therefore graffiti is a legitimate way for the community to express themselves in the face of undemocratic rule.
    - subjectsigma 2y ago
      Yeah this seems on-brand. Graffiti artist imagines himself as the hero in some epic class struggle, anyone who opposes him must be an enemy sympathizer! In reality we just want to live in a city that doesn’t have ugly graffiti all over it. It’s OK, when you grow up you’ll understand. Walking little kids past a wall that reads FUCK because “the community” (aka a single edgy teen) decided it should is not a comfortable experience.

wolverine876 2y ago

> It’s always a struggle for me to accept that many people actually like graffiti. It's a struggle for everyone to accept different perspectives on art and aesthetics, but we need to accept that others' perspectives exist and are as legitimate as our own.