As an educator, you can help students develop the attributes of respect and responsibility, especially younger ones who are new to graffiti. Students who possess these qualities understand how they, their families and all members of the community are injured by graffiti and other forms of vandalism. They will also be able to channel their energies into more productive activities and help make their community graffiti-free. Melbourne is a leading Australian graffiti city where many of its alleyways are tourist attractions, such as Hosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography and backdrops for print advertising. The Lonely Planet travel guide names Melbourne Street as the main attraction. All forms of graffiti, including sticker art, posters, stencil art, and wheat clover, can be found in many places in the city. Major street art districts include; Fitzroy, Collingwood, Northcote, Brunswick, St Kilda and the CBD, where the art of stencil and sticker is in the spotlight. The further away you get from the city, usually along S-Bahn lines, the more prominent the graffiti becomes. Many international artists such as Banksy have left their work in Melbourne and in early 2008 a plexiglass screen was installed to prevent the destruction of a stencil artwork of Banksy, it has survived since 2003 thanks to the respect of local street artists who avoid posting on it, although paint has recently been spilled on it. [101] The term graffiti originally referred to inscriptions, drawings of figures, and other similar objects found on the walls of ancient tombs or ruins, such as in the catacombs of Rome or Pompeii. The use of the word has evolved to include all graphics applied to surfaces in a way that represents vandalism. [9] Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see the artistic value of some graffiti and recognize it as a form of public art.

According to many art scholars, especially in the Netherlands and Los Angeles, this type of art in public space is indeed an effective instrument of social emancipation or to achieve a political goal. [50] The graffiti was used both legally and illegally as a means of advertising. TATS CRU, based in the Bronx, has made a name for itself with legal advertising campaigns for companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald`s, Toyota and MTV. In Britain, Covent Garden`s Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hope that cross-references would promote their store. The ancient Romans carved graffiti on walls and monuments, examples of which have also survived in Egypt. Graffiti in the classical world had different content connotations than in today`s society. Ancient graffiti featured phrases of declarations of love, political rhetoric and simple words of thought, compared to popular messages of social and political ideals today. [12] The eruption of Mount Vesuvius preserved graffiti in Pompeii containing Latin curses, spells, declarations of love, insults, alphabets, political slogans, and famous literary quotes that give insight into ancient Roman street life.

An inscription gives the address of a woman named Novellia Primigenia de Nuceria, a prostitute, apparently of great beauty, whose services were in great demand. Another shows a phallus accompanied by the text mansueta tene (“treat with care”). It`s not just the Greeks and Romans who produced graffiti: the Mayan site of Tikal in Guatemala contains examples of ancient Mayan graffiti. Viking graffiti has survived in Rome and on the Newgrange Mound in Ireland, and a Varangian scratched his name (Halvdan) in runes on a railing in Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. These early forms of graffiti contributed to the understanding of the lifestyles and languages of past cultures. In February 2008, Helen Clark, then Prime Minister of New Zealand, announced a government crackdown on marking and other forms of graffiti vandalism, describing it as a destructive crime constituting an invasion of public and private property. New laws passed later included a ban on the sale of paint bombs to anyone under the age of 18 and an increase in the maximum penalties for violating from NZ$200 to NZ$2,000 or expanded community service. The issue of tagging was widely debated following an incident in Auckland in January 2008, in which a middle-aged owner stabbed one of the two young taggers to death and was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.

Developments in graffiti art that took place in art galleries and colleges, as well as “on the street” or “underground,” contributed to the re-emergence of a much more overtly politicized art form in subverted, cultural, or tactical media movements in the 1990s. These movements or styles tend to classify artists according to their relationship to their social and economic contexts, as in most countries graffiti art remains illegal in many forms, except when non-permanent paint is used. Since the 1990s, with the advent of street art, more and more artists are turning to non-permanent colors and non-traditional forms of painting. [58] [59] Graffiti often has a reputation for being a subculture that rebels against authority, although practitioners` considerations often diverge and can relate to a variety of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can only form a tool in a series of resistance techniques. An early example is the anarcho-punk band Crass, who campaigned in the late 1970s and early 1980s to stencil anti-war, anarchist, feminist and anti-consumerist messages throughout the London Underground. [55] In Amsterdam, graffiti was an important part of the punk scene. The city was covered with names like “De Zoot”, “Vendex” and “Dr. Rat”. [56] To document the graffiti, a punk magazine called Gallery Anus was launched. When hip-hop arrived in Europe in the early 1980s, there was already a vibrant graffiti culture.

2) Neutral on art allowed and no permission required – like in New York. The government targets vandalism but is essentially neutral vis-à-vis authorized urban art. It is not necessary to obtain permission for an owner-approved artwork. If it has been used without permission, they will come after you because of this vandalism. If it has been approved by the owner, it is legal and the government will not take any action. Pixnit is another artist who chooses to hide her identity from the public. Her work focuses on the beauty and design aspects of graffiti as opposed to Banksy`s shock anti-government score.[52] His paintings often range from floral motifs to shops and businesses in his local urban area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some traders support their work and encourage others to do similar work. “One of the pieces was left on Steve`s Kitchen because it looks pretty fantastic” — Erin Scott, the editor of New England Comics in Allston, Massachusetts. [53] The operation of graffiti authorization may vary. For example, permission in New York is very simple: the owner of a property is the sole exclusive authority on its appearance, including colors or murals. Thus, the owner can decide whether or not to allow an artist to paint on his property.

The government is not responsible for this and is not involved. The opinion of other people – such as neighbours or community members – is also irrelevant. In July 2008, a conspiracy charge was first used to convict graffiti artists. Following a three-month police surveillance operation,[95] nine members of the DMP team were convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage of at least £1 million.