Reflection Paper on Graffiti

“Style Wars 1983” made me have a greater perspective of graffiti artists. The way they express themselves is truly unique to me. I wish I was able to draw or do graffiti, because it would be the type of way I would want to express myself: to establish my own artwork and make it possible for the entire city to see. I feel as if graffiti is another way to bring people together. When people take a certain class, the people in that class are brought together by it because they have a common interest in it. It may not be the best way, but graffiti artists are brought together in the same way. I see graffiti as a way for people to have their voices heard. I believe it’s a way for things to be recognized when people are afraid to voice them. To me, graffiti is an art. People who paint draw on paper and have their work in a museum for people to come and look at. Graffiti artist do the same thing writing on walls and subways, even though it’s considered “defacing government property”. When they write on subways, I see that as the artists giving their work a chance to travel to other people for them to see. It gives their artwork a chance to be seen and their name being recognized city-wide. Watching the video, I felt that the people speaking negative about graffiti were close minded. They didn’t see the deeper meaning in graffiti. They didn’t understand that behind graffiti powerful words are being spoken. For instance, political issues, racial issues, people being brought together, a simple form of getting out unresolved emotions, etc. It was also just a bond that was shared globally between graffiti artists. I saw it as a way for people to communicate with each other and say to one another, “I understand you.” Graffiti was very powerful and whether people saw it as something positive or negative, it was still strong enough to turn people’s heads and say to them, “I am here.”