As an art form, graffiti has always been seen as a more obscure, grimier medium, and it has been long argued whether it should be classified as art or not. In Craig Castleman’s piece “The Politics of Graffiti” he quotes a mayoral aide who assisted in the flagship anti-graffiti programs in New York having said: “The public is frightened and disgusted by graffiti and they want us to do something about it. We’re going to do whatever is necessary to wipe it out” (28). Even was graffiti was first popularized about four decades ago, there has always been a polarized view of graffiti. As Castleman touched upon, graffiti has a history of being seen as form of vandalism that makes cities appear dirtier and in turn deserves to be punished by law. For …show more content…
Each burrow or city in New York that has “turfs” that it is divided into by different graffiti artists or gangs. Different graffiti artists use their areas or “turfs” in their burrows to showcase their art, and there is a community of competition and mutual respect among them. Other artists are expected to respect and adhere to their respective “turfs” and interact to form a community with other artists in their “turf”. In David Ley and Roman Cybriwsky’s article “Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers” they talk about how “the power to claim territory endues the claimant with both identity and status among his peer group” (494). Here it is made clear that graffiti artists are trying to make a name in their community so they will be recognized and respected by others. As an artist, Banksy has been known to not respect the “turfs” of other graffiti artists, and to put his art up wherever he pleases. Banksy wants to catch the attention of people outside of the graffiti community, who would potentially purchase his art in a gallery, not his “peers”. As an outsider using other people’s “turf”, he isn’t a part of the different communities in New York, he is just using them. This is a source of disrespect and a topic of discussion in the graffiti community of New