26 Dec 08 Graffiti and public art

NSW Citirail has recently updated the murals in the tunnel that stretches from Devonshire Street to Broadway at Central Station in Sydney. The old murals had been vandalised over the years and were looking worse for wear. The new murals all have a railway theme, and while rather generic in style help to add some interest to what would otherwise be a long and tedious walk. Despite their relative youth, the process of vandalisation by graffiti tag has already begun.

I am not against graffiti per se. Many works of graffiti art show a great deal of skill and imagination. Furthermore; it’s truly art of the people; not to be cloistered in some gallery for the dilletante elite or created for auction at Sotheby’s etc. Graffiti art has come some way to being recognised as a legitimate art form, but defacing public art works, no matter how pedestrian does this cause little good.

If graffiti artists and taggers were to confine their creative expression to faceless expanses of concrete, the majority of people might be a great deal more sympathetic. When outdoor murals, public sculptures and historic architecture is thoughtlessly covered in spray paint it doesn’t brighten anyone’s day and entreches the view that graffiti is nothing more than a wanton act of destruction.