What is Graffiti ?
Graffiti vandalism means deliberately defacing private property without the owner’s permission. It is against the law regardless of who owns the property. The impact on the community is significant both in monetary and human cost. Graffiti can have an impact on community spirit, create a loss of pride and impact on peoples perception of safety.
Graffiti does have a culture and graffitists vary in their motivation for performing graffiti. The most common form of graffiti in the Wyndham area is crew graffiti or tagging, which is generally a crew marking their local territory. It may involve a scrawl, a nickname or an initial, which could cover a whole wall or appear as just one symbol on the surface.
Hip Hop Graffiti, is another form of graffiti which is well known and is an international graffiti culture structured around complex hierarchies. Advancement is made through the hierarchies by the quantity, quality and location. In general this can be a very dangerous activity as it is often found on train carriages and areas surrounding train lines and highly visible areas such as main roads or on high structures.
Opportunistic graffiti is graffiti found in areas with minimal surveillance around such as toilet blocks and parkland. The aim is to find a location where they are unlikely to get caught or be seen.
Political and Social graffiti is viewed internationally; however this is not believed to be widely regarded as part of the graffiti culture, it is made as a statement to be viewed by many, but it still causes damage to property.