The Beauty that is Graffiti

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The Beauty that is Graffiti
Grafficar (singular for graffiti) is an Italian word which can be connected to the Greek words grapheion or graphion. The two Greek words derive themselves from the word graphein which means to write. It is generally accepted that the word graffiti refers to markings, drawings scribbles, or paintings on a surface. In short it is a form of art (which as we all know, is a form of expression). When a person talks of graffiti in our current age, negative emotions are spurred. I fail to understand why this is the case. From the beautiful art that resurrected itself in the 1960`s: it has come to be associated with vandalism or worse yet, unpleasant images.
The earliest form of graffiti can be dated back to approximately 30,000 BC in the form of prehistoric cave paintings. It was also witnessed in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. This helps to put across the fact that graffiti is not a modern form of art; it is as ancient as history itself. To be fair I can classify it amongst the great works of famous painters: Leonardo, Monet, and Picasso to be precise. Let us just be realistic for a moment and try asking ourselves; if any of the recognized artists was to paint on the walls of our houses, would we consider the drawing as graffiti? According to me I would not, in fact I would consider it to be a masterpiece. Why then should we not respect graffiti as we know it today? There are a number of reasons for this negative perception of graffiti.
For every action, they say, there is an equal reaction. Every idea has got its own elastic limit. Let me give an example; when the gun was first invented, was it meant for killing? The famous AK-47 was in fact intended for hunting purposes! But look at what people have over the years turned it into: a killing machine! But, that is not reason enough to say that the AK-47 is the worst form of a gun and that it should be shunned. On the contrary, if placed in good hands it helps in maintaining world peace. The same can be said about graffiti. I do not dispute the fact that graffiti has fallen prey to monsters along the way. In fact it has earned the "evil art" tag from the same monsters who have decided to transform the beautiful art into what I may call a Beautiful Monster.
The term Beautiful Monster may seem a little bit weird I know, but look at it this way; graffiti has been linked to other types of crime and the escalating level of criminal behavior as well as facilitating the spread of gangs. In addition, a property that contains the graffiti always decreases in value. These markings on the walls are mostly done without the owner`s approval: it is a well-known fact that such intrusion has had negative impacts on businesses and it has contributed in reduced investments in areas wher...