San Diego Graffiti

During my exploration of the streets of San Diego, I found that it is a surprisingly diverse place to find graffiti and street art. I wanted to share a little of that variety in blogging about the controversial Poseidon piece, the classic early graffiti hippie inspired VW bus, the live-art street character pieces, the installation of orange bikes, and the community mural. Although all of these art forms are different from each other and represent San Diego in distinct ways, there were commonalities between the artworks that I was drawn to. One thing I found particularly interesting was that the only one of these works that was done illegally was the Poseidon piece in Ocean Beach, and that artist was fined $50,000 for committing such a crime. All of the other art was either commissioned, like the community mural in Ocean Beach or done legally, like the orange bikes in La Jolla. Granted, most of the places where I looked for street art were in high-traffic areas in San Diego, but the strict laws and high penalties that control street art were shocking to me. I even visited the less trafficked, less upscale district of Mission Beach and all the remnants of graffiti I could find were painted over, hence, no art is pictured in my blog from Mission Beach. On a San Diego government website there is a graffiti control program which states,

“Children and young adults become involved in graffiti vandalism for a number of reasons: gang association, peer recognition, lack of artistic and recreational alternatives, the element of danger, and lack of appropriate parental supervision and discipline.” ("Graffiti Control Program ")

The city of San Diego has a no tolerance policy against graffiti. It makes sense why it was so difficult for me to find any graffiti or street art that was done illegally. Even when graffiti is done illegally it seems as though the city makes a point of covering over it right away. I understand why it is illegal to vandalize private property, but they stereotype graffiti artists on the city’s government website as follows:

“Involved in graffiti vandalism for a number of reasons: gang association, peer recognition, lack of artistic and recreational alternatives, the element of danger, and lack of appropriate parental supervision and discipline.” ("Graffiti Control Program ")

The city is efficient at addressing the negative aspects of graffiti, but is not as skilled at recognizing the powerful messages that street art and graffiti send to the public. "Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem." (Rollo May) Even though the city strictly enforces the graffiti laws in San Diego, I am happy to see that many artists are still able to express themselves despite the legalities and are still able to communicate to the public through their art. Tazroc and Swank One’s mural was commissioned, yet it was still edgy and not watered down for public consumption. The orange bikes in downtown La Jolla and the VW bus in Ocean Beach bring art to the public without making it a legal matter. Even the Ocean Beach murals is an annual project that the community takes part in, and allows people to appreciate street art more. Unexpected art brings something to the public that gallery art cannot accomplish: it places art in the realm of daily life, not in a rarified, controlled setting. We usually do not go out and seek out street art, instead it finds us.

Work Cited:

The City of San Diego , "Graffiti Control Program ." Accessed July 29, 2013. http://www.sandiego.gov/graffiti/reporting/index.shtml.