What do you think of graffiti?

Some Graffiti I pass by is just amazing.I should take a pic of them.
It is true art.

The other stuff, is from very messed up ideas, from people who do it to make a very different 'statement'.
They are as different as night and day.I love the graffiti pic I have enclosed, the robot in red is truly amazing on the wall...That is talent,at it's best.

by jonaj

I agree with Justine: murals are awesome. Street art that has been commissioned, as helenonthesofa has mentioned, is even better. I believe there is a difference between graffiti for art's sake and graffiti for the sake of damaging property. Nevertheless, I also believe that all graffiti is a form of self-expression. I think (and this is only my opinion), in most cases graffiti is a way for people to express themselves because they often do not have access to a constructive means of self-expression or because feel they are not being heard. I think more should be done to provide people with opportunities to positively contribute to their communities and places in which to do so.

by Vee

That picture is outside the ATP at Redfern - photo would have been taken on a train passing through. If it is artistic, I like it. If its scribble, it is disgusting and tasteless. Don't like our trains full of disgusting graffiti in Sydney. Murals are awesome :)

by Justine Crowley

Good spotting Justine!

I like street art that has been commissioned and is meant to be there otherwise I hate graffiti and I see it as vandalism. My biggest hate of graffiti is when its on playground or at grave stones. These senseless acts of graffiti should come with stricter punishments. There is a church that was on my old route to work that would often get graffiti on it, nothing arty just scribbles or profanities, and that made me so sad.

by helenonthesofa

If it looks great, I don't mind it. Some people in Newtown, Sydney, actually pay graffiti artists to do something on their wall. A lot of it looks great. Stuff that is just tagging is rubbish and downgrades the area it is done in.

by Sarah Bell

As long as it's tasteful and doesn't ruin heritage property - it's all good! :)

by Xarah

The worlds of graffiti and street art are exactly that; worlds apart.

Some graf artists become street artists, but street artists don't generally become graf artists.

From my dealings with both, I would say that both groups see themselves as achieving different things.

There are particular individuals from both groups who want nothing to do with the other. This further complicates the general public's view because of the general visual distinctiveness of each group: tags = graf, murals = street art.

If I were lucky enough to own property of my own, and someone wanted to visually express themselves on it, I would prefer them to come to me and ask. Maybe I would even collaborate. I suppose this statement would mean that I am not cool with the act of graffiti which happens anywhere and everywhere with no request. However I believe community spaces and the public domain is always open to negotiations between its participants, including those who feel the need to express themselves via graffiti.

by Amelia

Non-commissioned graffiti is by desperate attention seekers. It's wilful damage to property. It's vandalism.

by dom a

I love graffiti I think it really makes places much more interesting. Melbourne for instance has some amazing graffiti and so do the buildings on the train line into the Brisbane CBD. I'm currently looking for someone to do some graffiti on my caravan so I have some mobile art. The film 'Exit through the gift shop' is an interesting film about graffiti and the artists who do it. But tagging is a different thing. Tagging is a pain in the bum and done by talentless idiots.

by butterfly lady

Some graffiti is very artistic, but some of it I have seen is just awful.

One of the best places that I have seen graffiti is a lane-way down in Caledonian Lane, off Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. They actually run tours down there of lane-ways and Streets that have graffiti done on the walls.

I don't like what they call tagging.

by gbrow