Graffiti's Case

Graffiti's affect on Politics

Political views are very touchy subjects. Society is heavily affected by the way politics change and the decisions made by government officials. Since America is a place where the people are allowed to vote on who they wish to be in office the changes in politics are in our hands. The impacts of art on people's political views play a huge role in who may or may not be elected. One form of art that is commonly seen is graffiti. It is seen everywhere in the modern day urban landscape that many people call home. How does graffiti affect the political aspects of society? Graffiti artists such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey have been extremely influential on politics. Graffiti affects politics by being visually captivating, highlighting current events and, expressing common feelings.

Walking down an urban street eyes are easily captured by the tags and graphics that have been scribed onto the walls. This is because the large print and inventive designs are visually captivating. One of the most greatly known political works is form the "OBEY" line from Shepard Fairey. The most influential piece for that line is the "Megaphone" print. This work is done in black, red and cream, those colors give power to the work. This piece of graffiti has a picture of a megaphone that is said to "Amplify your voice" and project the freedom of speech. from a political standpoint one would say that Fairey was encouraging people to take on their role as people and express their views. Another on of Shepard Fairey's works is one that had an image of two young Haitian children; it was painted to promote help for Haiti. One of Banksy's recent graffiti prints feature a child sewing flags together. The work is an example of child labor. Child labor may not be a current problem in the united states but, it is in third wolrd and developing countries. Graffiti like this depicts the willingness of mankind to help one another. In the graphic the child is sewing flags for a country he may not belong to. This portrays the lack of domestic production. Many stores are filled to the brim with items that are imported from other countries especially countries like China,Mexico and, Taiwan. Banksy also tagged the side of a building with a water tap. The water tap has the word "Brinnnng" surrounding it, there is a stick figure standing beside it saying "oh no... my tap's been phoned" This work was created shortly after many people discovered that their phones had been tapped. Phone tapping has become a major issue in which many of the people feel the need to revoke in our governmental system. A feeling of mistrust and invasion of privacy is provided when one has their phone tapped. Generally speaking people become uncomfortable when they are not able to say what they would like to say without the worry of being made the spectacle of investigation. The works made by these two artists are both visually captivating and satirical which are perfect ways to influence people to express political standings.

Since graffiti is a modern art form it is a great way to present current events. For example if a political artist has an opinion he will not wait until it is no longer a problem to confront it in his art. This is the same for graffiti artists. Though some works take time to become exposed to the world the people who know about them can be greatly influenced by the message being sent by the work. Care to recall that the earthquakes in Haiti took place in 2010 which was roughly three years ago, Shepard Fairey wasted no time in planning and creating his Haiti relief graffiti print. The project was released by the summer of 2010. The same goes for the work done by Banksy that calls attention to the current problem of gasoline. The topic of gasoline has a wide range of branching topics such as prices, exportation and, the effect on the environment. The work that includes the problem of gasoline is that done of a vulture that has the head in the shape of a gas pump nozzle. Many people commonly refer to the gas industry as a convergently evolved and scavenging, similar to the description of a vulture. The gas industry has been a raging topic for the past few years and continues to ascend, which makes Banksy's work very current. The effectiveness of any work of art can be easily determined by its relevance.

Many people live by a theory that if something is said enough by enough people then it must be true. This is very true in politics. Political activists restate their thoughts until the people listening give up and decide to accept the words being spewed at them. Political artists build their empire from the most "hot topics". It is a known fact that people are more interested and willing to accept things that are widely discussed. Artists want their work to be sold and payed attention to so they seek to receive good critiques by incorperating popular beliefs in their work. This had been true since the times of the Rennaissance in which all art was religious. Times have changed drastically since then but, many ideas have stayed the same such as the idea that people will be intrigued by things they are used to seeing. In the 2008 elections when President Barack Obama was elected Shepard Fairey created a graffiti