Graffiti argument.

Now when I say the word graffiti your minds most likely going to think straight to that swear word that you saw on the bathroom wall or that inappropriate picture in the alleyway by the rubbish bins but think again. Believe me, you have seen the absolute worst that the urban art of graffiti has to offer. In my opinion almost any graffiti should be allowed only if they follow these two conditions. Condition one: no swearing, negativity or inappropriate pictures of any kind, NO exceptions. Condition two: the graffiti can only be painted if there is a signed contract from the owner of the property that fully understands exactly what is being painted. Still don't agree with me? Well hopefully these four reasons will help you see things from my point of view. Oh and  please try and keep an open mind.

Reason one, art:

Believe it or not graffiti is actually considered to be a style of urban art and there are many graffiti festivals all over the world every year. One of the most popular graffiti festivals is the under pressure graffiti festival which occurs annually each year and is located in a  small city just outside of New York, and as crazy as it may seem this graffiti festival has been going for just over 20 years. Another famous graffiti festival is called the Tate Modern which is actually more of an exhibition than a festival and opened in spring of 2008, and was the world’s first major public museum display of graffiti and street art, to create this art the organizers of the event decided to invite six international artists to decorate its facade with enormous, eye-catching paintings.

Reason two, expression:

Graffiti is also a way to be creative and express yourself and is a great way to leave the rest of the world behind and forget about all your worries; and on top of this, when painting graffiti it can also be a relaxing and calm experience.

Reason three, advertisment:

As crazy as this reason may sound some companies actually do pay professional graffiti artists to paint them billboards or very rarely actual logos. Even mcdonald's used graffiti as an advertising technique and payed multiple graffiti artists from all around the world to paint an estimated 10 billboards all for the grand release of the New York bagel and almost all of mcdonald’s graffiti billboards were featured in a television commercial, which currently has had near enough 250,000 views on youtube. There are also many other companies using graffiti to advertise there products, for example: coca-cola, pepsi and disney just to name a few.

Reason four, giving you something to look at:

Spice walls up and make them more alive with graffiti. In my opinion graffiti is a lot nicer to look at than a blank wall, I mean, would you want look at a boring old plain white wall? Or would you rather look at something that is going to make you happy, alive and energetic, something full of beauty, colors and life, something called graffiti.

I hope that now when I say the word graffiti that you will think of something a bit more positive than before.

By Alessio Lane 7GM