Heard In The Hall

Concordia on: Artists or Vandals

OpinionsSanaz Sunnie Hassanpour — Published November 1, 2011

This week The Link decided to take to the halls of Concordia to find out what students think about graffiti murals. We asked them whether they view graffiti as a public art form or as an act of vandalism. Here’s what they thought:

“I currently live in NDG where there is a lot of graffiti art going around. It’s predominantly around community buildings. There is a brand new graffiti painting on the corner of Madison Ave. and Sherbrooke St. [Graffiti] really brings NDG together; it brings all these images together. So, I find it to be more community art than vandalism.”

—Philip Creamer
BA Communication Studies

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“I think it’s very beautiful. Last night, I was walking outside Atwater Metro and there is a lot of graffiti on the walls. It is very interesting.”

—Hanqing Peng
Masters Computer Science

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“I think it is great to have those places for people to express themselves in the city. For example, I am in contemporary dance—I could do contemporary dance in the street. Is it vandalism? Or, is it a piece of art? My intention is to create a piece of art.”

—Marie-Christine Boucher
BFA Contemporary Dance

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“I mostly view it as community art just because usually people work together— all contributing to a certain image. When people work together or go around together and give a certain political message or some artistic view, it is definitely nice community art.”

—Shannon Walker
BFA Art History and Studio Art

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“I don’t think it is art if you go around spray-painting your name somewhere, but if you are doing something that makes somebody think or see something more beautiful, it’s good.”

—Alicia Segura
BFA Studio Arts

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“[I view] graffiti as a community art and tagging as scribble, as vandalism. Graffiti, I think is beautiful. It’s very vibrant and it speaks to a lot of people. It’s something that colours up your community a little more. But tagging your name on something I don’t find artistically pleasing or necessary, and I find that vandalism. I think there is a strong line between the two.”

—Matt Dawson
BFA Theatre Performance

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