|
 Earlier
this year, Wigan’s Mesnes Park was struck by vandals armed with graffiti
paint.
This disrespectful incident turned the normally scenic park into
something far uglier, and it would be difficult to argue that this type
of graffiti could be ‘art’.
Acts such as this give graffiti art a bad reputation, yet elsewhere in
the country, a very different type of graffiti received a very different
type of reaction.
Back in March, council workers in Bristol were given a telling off by
their bosses for painting over an original work by renowned graffiti
artist, Banksy, after Bristol City Council ordered all his work to be
preserved.
Such actions have fuelled debate in magazines and websites on the
subject of graffiti. Is it art? Is it fair that whilst most graffiti is
scorned upon and wiped from the streets, Banksy’s is kept and adored
because of his profile?
As evidenced by the case in July 2006 when the decision to either keep
or remove a Banksy piece was put to public vote, many members of the
public claim to enjoy Banksy’s undoubtedly clever, humorous pieces,
whilst celebrities will happily pay up to £100,000 to display his work
in their homes.
Is this to say that if graffiti art looks attractive and offers some
sort of profound comment on society, it is then more acceptable than
someone’s name painted on a wall. Maybe, but the fact remains that even
much of Banksy’s work is still illegal.
“I’ve seen some of Banksy’s work, and I do quite like some of it,” says
Caroline Berkley, of environmental campaigners Encams. “But he does it
wherever he feels, and that’s illegal.
“Leaving graffiti up just because Banksy did it encourages more people
to do it. Our view is that anything which encourages people not to have
respect for how their area looks is bad.”
This is a fair comment on the views that many people tend to express
when pressed on the subject of graffiti.
On the one hand, even people who oppose graffiti will claim a fondness
for Banksy’s humorous, intelligent pieces, resulting in his work being
praised and preserved and others’ being reviled and removed.
Yet according to one anonymous Wigan graffiti artist, who we’ll call ‘Aymee’,
such things are of little importance to those within the graffiti
community.
“If people or the authorities revere his work and decide to keep it,
that isn’t necessarily a comment on the ‘staying power’ of other
people’s work,” she says.
“The purpose of my art isn’t to gain approval or stay up as long as
possible, it’s to provoke thought. If only one person sees my work and
that’s the guy removing it, that’s enough for me.”
It’s the old argument of ‘l’art pour l’art’, art for art’s sake, the
need of creative people to create by any means necessary, but again the
question is raised; is graffiti art?
“Anything creative and expressive can be art, a life can be art,” says
Aymee.
However Martyn Lucas, curator of the Turnpike art gallery in Leigh,
isn’t so sure.
“Graffiti can be art,” he says, “but most of it isn’t.”
“The kind of graffiti we see most is someone’s name on a wall, this
isn’t art, most of it is ugly. It doesn’t contribute anything positive,
but then you see something that is quite imaginative that does.
“If the function of art is to reflect upon the world or provoke us to
look at something from a different angle, then some graffiti could be
seen as art, yes.”
“Whether I condone it or not is another matter. I wouldn’t encourage
artists to break the law.”
Some established graffiti artists are now heading down the traditional
paths of legally exhibiting work in art galleries. In one sense this is
a positive move towards presenting graffiti as a ‘legitimate’ art in a
welcome environment. In another, it takes away the mass audience and
space to present their work that appeals to most graffiti artists.
“To me, the streets are a large canvas which give me and other artists
an open forum to express the things we want to say,” says Aymee.
The more we talk to Aymee, Caroline and Martyn, the more we realise
that, other than the legal issue, there are no clean cut arguments when
it comes to graffiti.
Is it fair that whilst Banksy’s work is preserved, Aymee’s is taken
away? Probably, probably not, she’s not really bothered. Is it better to
display work in an art gallery than on the streets? Maybe, maybe not, it
depends.
Is graffiti art? Yes, no, sometimes.
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