Tagging

Just a short one today, folks. Mostly looking for opinions.

Today’s subject is tagging.

I’m gonna be taking about tagging in the ‘I’m gonna write my name on that wall in black ink, without much thought’ sense. However, it’s probably a good idea to note that that’s not all that tagging refers to. Ahem, ‘A"tag" is the most basic writing of an artist's name, it is simply a handstyle. A graffiti writer's tag is his or her personalized signature… Tags can contain subtle and sometimes cryptic messages, and might incorporate the artist's crew initials or other letters.’ (Ancelet)

I took a walk around my neighbourhood the other day. Now, around where I live pretty cool. There’s a huge huge park, a couple of good schools, and some shops. It’s all very nice and pretty. Seeing as I don’t live in Newtown, I don’t have all this amazing graffiti at to look at everyday, and that’s a shame. But, big colourful, political paintings would honestly look a tad out of place. HOWEVER, we seem to have an absolute abundance of tags.

No, they’re not the pretty, colourful kind, that a genuinely good to look at (as seen above), or the witty satirical kind, that when you see them, they actually make you stop and think. Nah, I’m talking about the ones where they scrawl their names, or nicknames, or whatever, on any available surface as if claiming it as their own. Personally, this always reminds me of 15 year olds that really have nothing better to do with their time. Yeah, I know.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I was walking round my neighbourhood. I don’t know if its just coz I’ve been paying more attention lately, or whether tagging really is on the rise, it doesn’t really matter, but I’ve been noticing it a lot more.

Below are some examples of tagging from around where I live.

In my humble opinion, these scrawls add nothing to their surroundings.

These two images are of the same property in Ashfield. Its pretty much the only house on the street with so much graffti on it.

This is across the road. The tags really accentuate the sleek lines of those arrows. Yeah, right.

These last two are right near my house. all four sides of this little box are tagged all over. I really, really, don't get it.

Alright, so what do you guys think? Should tagging be considered art? Is it just a way for kids to creatively express themselves publicly? or should we be condemning it, seeing as many people do not see any artistic merit behind it, and just see it as an eyesore?