There' graffiti......

         .....And then, there's graffiti......

THE ANTI-GRAFFITI POSITION -

" Defining art and crime -
         Officer Frank Romero of the UAPD's crime prevention unit, says the issue of graffiti is over the expression of art versus the mentality of destruction.
         "If you've got an item or structure that was created one way, to serve a certain purpose and look a certain way, a building, a bench, a sign or even a tree, if someone alters that item and purposely intended to alter the appearance of that item, then it's graffiti.   Whether it says 'Susie loves Johnny' or 'whatever rules', it's all graffiti .
         "The graffiti found on campus (however) doesn't seem to be related to criminal street gangs, but rather a result of frustrated people with no other outlet.   When we see graffiti , it's just somebody trying to make a point and get attention.   The 'whale' and all the other things we see around campus mean something to somebody, even if that something is nothing.   That in itself is a statement.   Graffiti often is the product of people with communication problems and who fear to express themselves in another way," Romero said.

A graffiti ARTIST'S RESPONSE:
         Dan Tepper, a photography senior, considers himself a graffiti artist.   Tepper and a friend opened up an art gallery, 36 Chambers, located downtown, to not only display their artwork - whether it be graffiti, photographs or various other mediums - but also to provide a space for others to show off their skills.
         Tepper says, "....(But) despite providing a space to display graffiti legally, some of the essence of graffiti fails to translate to the gallery from the streets.   Graffiti is so much more than the final product; it's the preparation.   It's the illegal act.   It's getting away with it.   It's going back and taking pictures of it.   ...But, (he laments) ...everything gets painted over all the time, so there's no history.
         "One of the problems graffiti faces is people are quick to say, 'it's all either gang activity and it's all vandalism'.   You can't do that, you can't say graffiti is something and graffiti isn't something.   If you pick up a spray can and put it on a wall it's graffiti, it's art and it's usually illegal.   Police and people who have no understanding of graffiti as an art will always be against graffiti because it's everywhere and it's prevalent, but that's what graffiti is about.   That's what's cool about graffiti - no matter what, you can't get enough people to paint over it and speak against it.   It will still be there no matter what anybody does.   It's the good and the bad and the ugly. ..."   "