Every day I take my dog for a walk, across the street and down a hill. We go onto a path leading us to Rainbow Creek Park. Once we get there, I play with my dog in the large open space this park has to offer.  It is a really nice park that boasts a great soccer field with bleachers and lights for night games, a tennis court that is often used by the people from the neighborhood and St. Peter’s Elementary school, located on a hill overlooking it all.  Still, with such a great landscape to enjoy, it also has one glaring issue that I have had to endure for years.  Just to the end of the park, on the south side of the soccer field, is Highway 7, from there the creek flows beneath a bridge that cars pass over and away onto the other side of the road.  Since I go to this park quite frequently, I have noticed that under the bridge, on the walls, there is a great deal of graffiti. On the one side of the bridge that is not flooded, one can observe the wall which is covered in meaningless, yet colorful graffiti from end to end.

Usually when I see graffiti, I do not think much of it. There are other areas near my house where there is graffiti and it really does not bother me at all.  But on this occasion, in this particular spot, it caught my eye and not in a good way.  In such a beautiful landscape, with a shallow creek running through it, the beauty of nature is displayed to the fullest extent.   I think to myself that such an area of land could be so beautiful if only human destruction could be prevented.  Sadly, this graffiti really creates an almost dark side of the park, where people tend not to go.  I remember as a child exploring this area with my friends and our moms.  They would tell us not to go near the bridge, and if a ball was to be lost in there, they would get it.  It was obvious to me that the marks on the wall were not supposed to be there and posed some sort of dangerous and unwelcoming presence.

Throughout the years, the graffiti has gotten worse, the water levels have risen and one side of the bridge wall is no longer accessible for walking, without stepping into the water.  The other side, however, has been absolutely covered from end to end with all sorts of words ranging from curse words to violent remarks, left there for anyone to notice. I do not think that this graffiti is gender specific, as there is no real way of knowing whether a male or female created it.  The words mean nothing and are random to the observer. Some phrases may be more male oriented, but one cannot be certain that a female did not have some hand in the creations.  Overall there is no real defining signs that show that this is either a male dominated space or female.

As out of place as this graffiti is, I do not necessarily believe that it makes this park unwelcoming, considering that the park is quite large, and the graffiti is in one area.  I do believe, however, that it provides people with an idea of what may go on at night, when the park is less crowded.  It is a disturbing part of the park and as you get closer to the area under the bridge, there is an unsettling feeling, like someone is watching, as the constant rush of vehicles pass right over your head.  When under the bridge, you are standing on smooth rocks that make up the banks of the creek.  At this point one can view the wall littered with graffiti; so much graffiti, that the people responsible ran out of room and resorted to overlapping one another.  It really is an unpleasant sight and a disappointment, especially when you have slowly seen this area become worse and worse, from the time you were a child, when there were only a few words painted on the wall, to present day, when the wall is barely visible.

Now, in no way am I completely against graffiti.  I think there are times when graffiti is totally inappropriate and sends a negative message and times when it makes the appearance of an area better. This is explained perfectly by the famous street artist Banksy:

“Is graffiti art or crime? It would be difficult to over-state the dominance of this question in popular discussions about graffiti in the urban environment. As the quote by the street artist Banksy playfully reveals, discussions of graffiti which start with this dualistic premise that it is either art or crime rapidly reach an impasse. This is not because one position is right and the other is wrong, but because both positions are (partly) right” (McAuliffe, Iveson pg.129)

Banksy can defend both sides of the argument for and against graffiti.   There is a time when it is a menace to society and a time when it enhances society.  Writing such things as “SLAUGHTER” in big red bubble letters beside a school or park, where people, especially children come to play, is EXACTLY the type of graffiti that needs to be removed from our streets.  But an image of a peace sign on an abandoned downtown building, for example, does no harm to anyone whatsoever, in fact, it may actually be a positive message for all to see.  It is all about what one’s intentions are in creating the graffiti.  This is explained by authors Cameron McAuliffe and Kurt Iveson: “A critical understanding of the forms of graffiti and the practices of those who do graffiti marks the divide between public discourse and much of the academic work on graffiti and street art” (McAuliffe, Iveson pg.129).  I completely agree with this statement. Some graffiti can be seen as academic and creative, displaying a positive image in the area, but some, such as the one I observed, shows the divide the authors are referring to between illegal graffiti and street art graffiti.  I believe that if you are going to write anything on any sort of property, you must think about your intentions, the impact it will have on the observers and if it is a suitable area for the message.  The graffiti I viewed under the bridge, does not reflect that the people who created this display, took any of these points into consideration.  I feel that there is no good reason to write what they wrote under a bridge located near a school and park, where children can view it. It has a negative and unwelcoming message and it is completely unsuitable for the beautiful area that many enjoy.

I am all for free expression of ideas and creativity, but this is the type of graffiti that I do not support.   The words are meaningless and violent and it portrays a dark, unwelcoming presence.   I hope that this type of graffiti can be eliminated from such areas, and those who are thoughtful in the messages they want to share with others through graffiti are not labeled as vandals.  The fact is, not all graffiti is problematic.  It is the graffiti that is created with the wrong intentions, that is thoughtless, and is intended to destroy an area, rather than enhance it, that is the problem.

 

Video- Graffiti Bridge

 

Reference

McAuliffe, Cameron, and Kurt Iveson. 2011. “Art and Crime (and Other Things Besides … ): Conceptualising Graffiti in the City: Conceptualising Graffiti in the City.” Geography Compass 5(3): 128–43.