Why Do People Do Graffiti?

Why do people do graffiti? When you see a wall strewn with this ‘art form’, it kind of makes you wonder how you should classify the people who create it. Graffiti, by definition, is anything that is scrawled, scratched, nicked, written or painted on any available surface for the purpose of, well, easing boredom. Are they vandals or artists? You find graffiti on the walls and doors of a toilet, on the sides of buses and trains, desks and – most ubiquitously- on public walls. Waiting seems like a good a reason as any for the graffiti artist. Maybe the lure of a blank surface is too much to refuse. It doesn’t take much. The simplest and most basic graffiti is basically just a sign “____ was here.”

The reasons for doing graffiti are as varied as the graffiti styles created. Written graffiti can feature expressions of affection for a particular person, an ad for a mate, or a rant against a leader or politician. These would seem to be effusions of unspoken thoughts or reflections of what a person is currently thinking at the time. Why do people do graffiti instead of just writing their statements on paper or just saying them out aloud?

For individuals who like ranting on walls, the anonymity provides them safety while giving them the opportunity to vent. If you examine the writing in men’s toilets, bragging quite often seems to be the order of the day. A tag is one of the means through which graffiti writing became so popular. Tags proclaim the author of the graffiti without completely divulging his identity. Artistic tags done with flair have made several graffiti artists popular.

With the invention of the spray can, graffiti work became even more exciting. With the use of spray paint, writers became artists. Graffiti artists were able to add color and dimension to their work. Their work became more artistic. Walls were filled with colorful graffiti murals. This brought more popularity to graffiti artists and to graffiti writing. As with pen or permanent marker graffiti, it became a form of expression. It’s also used to mark out areas that are known as a certain gang’s territory.

Graffiti artists operate in teams, too. These teams protect their work and sometimes become violent with other graffitists who tamper with it. When you see graffiti work in impossible places, you wonder why they would hazard to etch their work there. For the artists, this is another great reason why they do graffiti, so as to be anonymously famous for doing something so daring. Still some people will not be able to truly understand and answer the question “Why do people do graffiti?”