Graffiti's impact on society, Feature article by Tristan

A.r.t or C.r.i.m.e? Who is responsible for the pervasion of this so called "artcrime" in today's society??? The word "graffiti" is derived from the Latin term "graphium" which means "to write". Graffiti evolved during ancient times but first impacted on modern society in the late 1960's, when political activists used it as a medium of revolt against governing powers. Thereafter, individual artists began to gain recognition. TAKI 183 was the …

…on society, as the regular removal of graffiti costs an enormous amount of money. An estimated $15 billion (US) worldwide each year is spent on the consistent removal of sprayed, marked and scratched surfaces. If, as Constable Steele suggests, the artistic form of graffiti as street art can override the more defacing form of tagging & scratching, the graffiti culture may yet prove an asset to society by minimising graffiti done as vandalism.♫TN