1
4
equation. When a community is outraged

issue over the placement of a new commercial
billboard, law enforcement officials simply
x
ion
state that nothing can be done about it be-
3


F
lu
cause the corporation that placed the ad
paid for it in full, so therefore it is rightfully
ture
theirs. In reality, it belongs to the commu-
Cul
nity just as much as the corporation, since
it is in plain view and the public must view
it every day, whether it wants to or not.
Graffiti artists claim they have just as much
a right to say what they want to say as do
corporations. Since street advertising and
large-scale billboards have become an
acceptable part of the landscape, only the
ones with money get to decide what goes
where. It is in the best interests of corpo-
rations to only make their voice heard and
4
for law enforcement officials to track down
5
people who put up messages without first
purchasing the rights to an area view-
able by the public. Artists find this very
offensive and an unfair advantage to the
upper-class. One interesting subculture
of graffiti art that specifically deals with
this paradox is “culture-jamming.”
Culture-jammers attempt to sabotage
large-scale advertisements with graffiti.
There are two ways in which they do
this. One is by renting out a billboard by
pretending to be a real company, and then
putting up a piece that satirizes corporate
advertising. The other is by writing over
existing corporate advertisements with
graffiti that changes the meaning of the ad.
2
GRAFFITI CULTURE
What truly motivates someone to write on
a public wall, for others to see?
The people who first began the hip-hop
movement were at the bottom of the
12
socio-economic pyramid. The founders
of hip-hop were not born into wealth, but
instead were expressing their jealousy
towards those who were. In essence,
graffiti is an indirect result and a modern
response to the class struggle in America
that has been going on for generations.
These motives can be used to explain
the origins of graffiti, but they do not
thoroughly define graffiti today, now
that it has spread beyond its original
socio-economic barriers.
Graffiti changed because more and more
people connected with the rebellious
spirit of hip-hop. Middle- and upper-class
youths, especially in suburbs, have lots
of free time to do as they wish. Although
this liberty often creates and encourages a
materialistic consumer culture, at the same
time the youth are afforded many more
chances for educating themselves.
64
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