Graffiti

When riding the light rail to the Univeristy of Colorado's Auraria campus, you will pass at least thirty signs of graffiti. Grafitti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings.

This form of art has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. In modern times, spray paint, normal paint and markers have become the most commonly used materials. In most countries, defacing property with graffiti without the property owner's consent is considered vandalism, which is punishable by law. Sometimes graffiti is employed to communicate social and political messages. To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions; to others it is merely vandalism. Graffiti has since evolved into a pop culture existence often related to underground hip hop music and b-boying creating a lifestyle that remains hidden from the general public. Graffiti is used as a gang signal to mark territory or to serve as an indicator or 'tag' for gang-related activity.

The controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials/ law enforcement and graffitists looking to display their work in public locations. There are many different types and styles of graffiti and it is a rapidly developing artform whose value is highly contested, being reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction." One of the most famous pictures of our new president was made from graffiti in his home town. The author was not shoned upon but praised for capturing the beauty of the president.

Graffiti is not always "bad" or always "pretty". Like an other art form, graffiti is coming from the heart, the core of the artist. Some graffiti expresses what the artist has went through, or what they are going through Like music, they want their art to relate to their art. On the light rail you see "End the War." It is their way of freedom of speech just on YOUR property.

One of the most unqiue forms of graffiti is the illusion. Illusions can be made anywhere but having a graffiti illusion in your face is unlike anything you have ever seen before. They can show you near a fall, an animal eating a baby, almost anything imaginable!