Hacker News Reader

Comment by close04 | Hacker News Reader

Maybe it just boils down to the right to property and having your own stuff just the (legal) way you want it.

It's all great until your stuff gets destroyed because someone thinks it's better a different way. And when the graffiti is truly spectacular you can find some consolation in the result, maybe truly appreciate it. But that's not the case 99.99% of the time. Most graffiti is just trash, some rando spraying their name somewhere. Takes 10 seconds and 0 talent. It causes extra expense for people or the city to clean up, or it stays there as an eye sore for everyone.

View on HN

It's usually on public property, or sometimes on corporate property. I don't think I've seen much graffiti on some private individual's property. It's not on the front of people's houses.

> Most graffiti is just trash

People say that about modern art, and about that crazy 'rock'n'roll'!

> It’s usually on public property

Which gets cleaned up with public money that could be used elsewhere, or stays there as an eyesore.

> It’s not on the front of people’s houses.

Sometimes the sides too.

> people say that about modern art, and about that crazy 'rock'n'roll'!

Did you just compare modern art and rock and roll to the few letter “tag” sprayed in 10 seconds again and again hundreds of time throughout a city? Because that’s what 99.99% of graffiti is, simple tags and doodles [0][1] anyone can make.

Charitably I’ll say you just didn’t pay attention to tagging’s aesthetic effect on a city. The less charitable alternative seeing the “tag = modern art + rock and roll” opinion is that you’re one of the “artist”.

[0] https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fy...

[1] https://cooltourspain.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/tag-gra...

Maybe I just have a different perspective than you; it's not a mistake to disagree with you - or vice versa. Unless we're interested in the world outside our perspecitve, how will we learn anything new?

> Did you just compare modern art and rock and roll to the few letter “tag” sprayed in 10 seconds again and again hundreds of time throughout a city?

Yes! That's what rock'n'roll is at its core, three chords (or fewer) and the truth, and that's how it was characterized - artless noise, etc.

  People try to put us d-down
  Just because we get around
  Things they do look awful c-c-cold
  I hope I die before I get old

Much modern art is constantly ridiculed - 'I could do that myself!'

> Because that’s what 99.99% of graffiti is, simple tags and doodles [0][1] anyone can make.

It's just noise, I tell you!

Now get off my lawn geezer! :p :)

This isn’t about “things I don't like or understand suck”. I don't get the “completely white painting” but can say “original idea”. If the artist keeps coming out with white paintings everyone will say it’s junk.

Same for EDM, maybe it’s just noise to you but you can at least appreciate some effort went into it and every song is different. You don’t like it but you also can’t do it yourself in a way anyone likes.

Most graffiti is plain text tagging like in the pictures I showed above. Tagging is repetitive, same tag again and again, and literally anyone can do it because there’s close to zero effort or creativity involved. Take a spray can, spray a couple of letters, you got a tag. I can replicate all of the tags in those pictures, like a real artist. So I know what I’m talking about. :)

You make it sound like anything is art, “you just don’t understand it”. The problem with that view is that if everything is art, nothing is art. Me taking a breath is art. You just don’t get it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com