hey! read my blog post about graffitis
31st of March, 2025hey! did you know that graffiti comes from italian plural of graffito? and hey! did you know that graffito originally used to refer to writings in the wall in ancient Pompeii[1]? isn't that cool?? isn't that fun??? don't you feel more connected to (not-so) ancient humans??? but, hey! why so many people are against graffitis? let me rant for a little bit (bear with me 🐻).
let's immediately clear one very important thing about graffitis: nobody likes graffitis that were done in important archeological/historical/natural sites (i'm looking at you, mr. tourist). but we can (hopefully) all agree that graffitis in cities usually don't ruin important archeological work (even though it can technically be argued that any place is a historical place since it will eventually become history). so we'll be talking about those graffitis, the ones that are not impeding the work of conservationalists and archeologists.
so what's up with everyone talking 'bout stuff like vandalism and such? so many people want graffitis "off the street." why? do they want to have sterile public spaces without anything touched? humans build things to use things. look at any public sculpture made out of bronze or other metal. it's gonna have visible spots where many humans have touched it. if it's a person, usually it's the breasts and the crotch. if it's some animal, usually it's somewhere you can pet it. isn't that beautiful? doesn't that scream at you "i have been here; we have been here; we've lived; please remember us"?
say, isn't it strange that those same people are (i assume) fascinated (or at least like or feel neutral) by cave art? hey, isn't that graffiti too? remember what i said about graffiti originally meaning "inscriptions on the wall in ancient Pompeii"? why, then, cave art and Pompeii graffiti gets a special place, while modern graffiti is considered vandalism? (of course graffiti in Pompeii and cave art provides us, currently, with valuable historical information, but at their times they were just as "useless" and "vandal" as modern graffiti is considered). imagine if people back then decided "i believe graffiti is vandalism and should be removed" and they stopped doing it. completely. would current historians want that?
"but modern graffiti doesn't provide any valuable historical information!" well, a) history and anthropology isn't focused on some shocking, revelatory historical findings, they're mostly focused on understanding how regular humans have lived throughout the years and b) well, neither did the Pompeii or other ancient graffities. Pompeii graffiti included advertisments[2], hell, they even included messages recommending good and cheap prostitutes in the city[3]! if some ancient Rufus Shmufus could write "i have a big penis" in ancient Pompeii, why can't modern Joe Shmoe write the same thing?
graffiti uphold the long human (!) tradition of leaving behind yourself a trail, both literary (look at this 20,000-year-old footprint from Australia) and figuratively (see: literally ask any human whether they would want to leave some legacy before they die). oh, also, haven't we forgotten that graffiti is a very important part of the black culture? i won't talk about that, since i'm not a black person and i do not know a lot about the black graffiti culture and scene, but it's weird~ how banksy (a white[4] english artist) can have police search for a person who paints over his graffiti[5], yet when other minor artists, especially black and POC artists (!) do that, it's suddenly considered vandalism? i wonder if there is some societal trend that lies underneath such an attitude, hmmmmm.
but enough about that. i've written this in the span of like half an hour and i could probably do some more research and build some more constructive points that will uphold better. but i intended to write this more as a rant, rather than as an essay. graffitis almost always speak the language of anti-establishment (especially graffitis like "ding dong the bitch is dead" and other inscriptions on the wall [hmm, i wonder what this phrase reminds me of]) and i don't think i need anyone reading my blog that pissing off landlords and property owners and the government is a good thing. go paint the pebbles purple. go be annoying to your boss. go be malicious and draw that penis on the wall.
2 historyandarcheologyonline/pompeii-graffiti
3 historyandarcheologyonline/pompeii-graffiti
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