TheDean:

the monopoly guy:
It depends what it is, if it's just some drawing if a peni, or some words no oen can really read then it's vandalism. But, if it's stuff like Banksy then I consider it art.

There was a picture here, taken out to save room

Now that's art!

The best thing about that one is it's on a sexual health clinic or something like that.

this picture is art i guess, but if it was put there by the owner, then it is a mural, not graffiti.

It was put there by Banksy, a british grafitti artist.

'Stella woz ere 2k8'
(As it says on many walls at my school)
That is graffiti.
What Banksy does is art. Some graffiti is so good, they could/should be artists. Some of the graffiti in Nottingham subways (I think that's where I saw it...) is amazing. They had Powerpuff Girls!
Such a waste of talent, scrawling on walls.

LewsTherin:

Labyrinth:
I believe it depends on the context. If someone's just marking territory it's vandalistic egoism. Like pissing on a lamp post, except you can see as well as smell it. If it's done as artistic expression, it's art.

Seconded.

Thirded (that isn't even a word is it?)

if no permission was given then it is vandalism and should be removed

Chekov:

MrGFunk:
If it's good it's Art. If it's bad it's Vandalism.

Practice on your own wall.

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Really.

Art is a way of putting emotions/feelings/thoughts/whatever into a physical form. Just like music. For example, Andy Warhol's "Campbell's soup can." Is it good? It's a fucking soup can. But it is still art.

Only if you're a tosser.

I see it as art plus its nothing comparied to what we as a species have put on the earth buildings, radio towers, cellphone towers, powerlines, gaslines, dams. If you look at it all those things can be concidered a type of graffiti.

Tagging for the purpose of tagging is vandalism. Writing general offensive and slanderous pictures/phrases, VANDALISM.

Painting positive or general words, scenes and figures, ART.

Even if it's controversial it is artwork as long as it was commissioned or the views were shared by the owners of the property.

If you can get a degree in spray paint art at UC-Berkley I believe it should recognized by the masses as an art form.

Vandalism

Art

Tagging is definately vandalism; a poorly scrawled name isn't art.
On the other hand, things like what Banksey does is art - there's a purpose to it.

Art can be vandalism and not all vandalism is art. Also, just because art is created doesn't mean that one is excused from the consequences of creating vandalism.

~I would say Banksy is more Propaganda than art for art's sake.

Anyway, the line between art and vandalism is drawn by execution.

My drawing teacher used to say that, amazingly, he didn't sound like a ponce when he said it either.

Depends. If it's just some reprobate scrawling their nickname on a wall it's vandalism. If it brightens up some drab, ugly wall though, it should be allowed.

wow, As a writer, I'm impressed and annoyed at this thread. I'm glad that a lot of people understand the art form behind the graffiti style, but I'm annoyed that people are clustering tagging with scrawling. I'm a formal graffiti artist, a writer or bomber, depending on the region and style. This means that I go out and do spray bombs on selected areas, and follow the original rules for graffiti art. This is not to say that it isn't illegal, this is also not to say that I'm not guilty of scrawling. I am not guilty of tagging.

now, before this starts a flaming session, let me clarify what the original rules are.

1. bombing is art, give it a meaning
2. only hit public spaces. this is a silent protest. It boils down to advertisement combat. It's meant to fight the over-saturation of media ads.
3. paint or ink, it's meant to be buffed. always have a sketch of your work if you want to remember it. the point is to draw attention to it. If you are doing this, then it will be wiped out sooner than later
4. don't get caught. it sounds basic, but an artist is a lot more powerful when you have a name, but no face to the art.
5. scrawling is accepted, but it's meant to be hidden anyway. This is not your message.

now, let's clarify a few things, scrawling is meant to sign your name, use it to sign your artwork, some use it to show what routes and paths they use to get to their location (so when you see one of those hard to reach places with a tag, look for a scribe on the ground level)
tagging is just a big obnoxious blob of paint. It's a poor rendition of some tool trying for chaos. scribes are meant to be able to be seen, but still out of the way.

I admit that I scribe on the way to a site, but it's always out of the way
if it's a weird peice o' crap carved in a window, it's poor tagging. Don't put me with that crap.

I'll be impressed if anyone actually reads this far into the thread. I won't post any of my work, you have my graf name, look for it in Canada sometime.

1) Tagging is not grafitti
2) Grafitti is not art
3) Painting a mural IS art- regardless of subject matter. Just don't go paint people &%^#$$% on the side of an elementary school and hide behind "freedom of expression". That's just stupid.

If you have permission, and you create something- great.