Graffiti

Personally, I love graffiti. I think its a vibrant and creative art form. I dislike the fact that graffiti is seen as vandalism. Companies like "Graffiti-Busters" are popping up and portraying graffiti as a pest to be exterminated. I can understand why people get pissed off with taggers... there's a difference between a work of art and a scribbly tag over someone's freshly painted white fence. But the problem is that graffiti artists have to start somewhere. They need practice to develop their artistic talent. But no matter where its done, its bound to annoy someone.

In about 2003 I picked up the first issue of Disrupt magazine which is full of photos of New Zealand graffiti. This, and the opening of the Disrupt gallery on K road (and now a second in Grey Lynn called Gallery With No Name that just opened on the 11th of May) gives a place for graffiti to be showcased. On their website ( http://www.disruptiv.com/) they advertise shows where graffiti art is practiced, have galleries of commissioned works, and sell graffiti art on canvas. This all gives not only inspiration for aspiring graffiti artists, but also direction.

Disrupt don't just show professional graffiti though. The disclaimer on the first page of their magazine reads; "We do not support vandalism but it is our intention to show an unbiased cross-section of art on the streets of New Zealand." This honest approach is appropriate for a fairly un-institutionalised art scene and leaves opportunities open for amateur as well as expert graffiti artists. This is good because I think something would be lost if all graffiti was sold or used to advertise. It would lose the use of urban space that is part of hip hop culture. There's something fun about tags in public space. I love seeing graffiti in hard-to-get-to places like on the side of a tall building; I think of that person who has gone on a mission up an old rickety ladder, or climbed over concrete piles to put that graffiti there. I also think that the temporality of it is an interesting factor. Graffiti literally appears overnight, and it is only a matter of time before it is either removed, or tagged over by someone else. It reflects the idea that hip hop is constantly changing and is a reason why graffiti is such a lively art form.