Graffiti

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom

I was thinking about what to write in this my next chapter. I decided to open up the penup app and quickly scribble something. This would be my subject matter. This would be my art. This would represent freedom. I had to ask questions like what does it look like? What does freedom look like? Then it occured to me that this looks like graffiti. Graffiti and freedom of expression. Then it occured to me that I do not know much about graffiti. So I set out to learn more about graffiti in the writing of this chapter. The first thing I did was read this blog post I found through search - Street Art for Freedom. I learnt about the #SprayForParis movement which was inspired by #PrayForParis. I like that the word spray contains the word pray. Almost as if there is some divine purpose or reason for graffiti. Maybe the G in graffiti stands for God. The blog post makes a good point in this quote, "In the past, and in fact still most of the time today, graffiti has been regarded as vandalism and illegal activity – but people are starting to really pay attention and at least see it as a symptom of a need for change." Many times society tries to fix the symptoms instead of fixing the root causes. We need to see and act where change is really needed. At the same time, I do not encourage anyone to break the law. I would ask for permission first or work to get graffiti accepted as a harmless form of protest and agent of change. I am thinking that there are many who would be willing to give up their spaces for messages of change. Maybe there is some middle ground where everyone is happy. Of course some will ask the questions. What is the price of change? What is the price of freedom?

The blog post includes one of Banksy's famous murals with the quote "If graffiti changed anything, it would be illegal" which is a version of another famous quote by political activist Emma Goldman who campaigned for Women’s rights. She said, "If voting ever changed anything, it would be illegal." At first I did not get the Banksy message but I think I do now. Maybe. The fact that the powers that be want to suppress graffiti and have made it illegal means that it is an effective tool for protest and challenging the status quo. If it was not then they would not be bothered by it. The word graffiti has a straightforward etymology and comes from the Italian word graffiato meaning scratched and the Greek word graphein meaning to write. The term graffiti originally referred to inscriptions, drawings and such found on the walls of ancient ruins. Modern day graffiti began in the sixties in cities like New York and Philadelphia. There are some results for graffiti in the Trinidad context when I do a Google search. There are some artists like Zinnia Cheewah and you can find glimpses of graffiti around Trinidad. I also found a facebook page with a small following dedicated to Trinidad graffiti. There are different forms and styles of graffiti like tagging, wildstyle, muralism, stickers and paste-ups. I think that graffiti represents freedom of expression and can be a tool for positive change. Not everyone will see it this way.

I was watching this TED-Ed video titled "Is graffiti art? Or vandalism?" and one of the comments under the video by @TheKayPitt caught my attention and left me with something to think about. "I was reading a masters thesis about graffiti and she had a quote that said, "if you put a pen in a child's hand, naturally he will go to the wall". I love that because it seems that there is something in human nature that wants a bigger canvas, aka the wall." This has me thinking that in a concrete jungle graffiti shows up like vines would in the real jungle. It really is human nature. It represents the veins (like vines) of the modern. My friend Gemini likes my thinking and analogy. Just as vines spread spontaneously, graffiti often emerges without official permission, challenging the controlled aesthetics of urban spaces. Both vines and graffiti demonstrate a capacity to thrive in harsh conditions, finding ways to exist and flourish in unexpected places. Vines reflect the health of a natural ecosystem, while graffiti can be seen as a barometer of social and cultural conditions. While some appreciate the artistic qualities of graffiti, others consider it vandalism. Similarly, vines can be seen as both beautiful and invasive. Maybe it can be said that they can take us out of nature (into concrete jungles) but they cannot take the nature out of us. I think I have a caption for my artwork now - the spirit of freedom runs through our veins.

Artwork created by Hassan Voyeau