h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Preventing graffiti is as easy as knowing what to plant. In NJ, to prevent graffiti artists from vandalizing sound barriers along the highway, many are planted with vines or even poison ivy. The paint fades quickly off the leaves and if the vines are pulled down to clear a surface, they grow back in a few weeks.

So blank grey walls are desirable to you?
I don't understand this way of thinking at all...there's bound to be people who don't like graff on here can someone explain to me why it is so objectionable as I really would like to hear your reasoning behind it...many thanks

Mr. Christopher wasnt asking for blank grey walls. He was talking about nice green growing walls. However ivy also eats into the cement and eventually crumbles it...
And Dodgy,
Graffiti is only amusing so long as it is amusing- if you get what I mean,
Even amusing grafitti isnt amusing when its across your picture window.

I really like some of the local graffiti that is painted on underpasses; it's like going through a fantasy tunnel. One is of an aquarium, another is of children at play, and yet another is a 60s pop-art explosion.

Oh, and the walls arn't grey, they're pink. Designed in California to blend with the reddish earth of the West, they clash painfully with the purple and grey stones of NJ.

Dodgy, I think you have a view that Graff artists are a noble bunch. My experience is that they are, like the rest of society, a mixed group. Locally we have walls painted by local school children which have been ruined by tags across the art work.

I've seen more racist graffiti than I care to mention. The damage that can be done by graffiti is often psychological. People whose external home walls have been tagged or fully painted can feel violated and unsafe. Some people have the same feelings towards their home as others have towards other possessions like clothing or their car or bike. Finding someone has defaced your property without your knowledge can feel like they are trying to get at you. By the way how do you feel if your tag is obliterated by someone else's?

Having said all that I do like more formalised graffiti projects which allow people to express their artistic side in a public venue.

I suggest a reading of the Broken Window Concept. Here's some stuff I found on a quick search for te concept:

The role of the urban forest in preventing graffiti
With respect to graffiti problems... are urban forests part of the problem or part of the solution? It is possible to landscape an area to deter graffiti artists.

Plant Selection
It's important to not confuse the selection and training of trees and shrubs for territoriality with the creation of a "green wall" which will provide screening and privacy (and decrease natural surveillance). The goal of landscaping to support territoriality is to communicate to the public ownership of property. For example, evergreen trees can mark property lines year round. Slow growing, columnar shape trees and shrubs will remain compact and not spread over property lines or block natural surveillance. Make sure tree selection matches the property owner's desire to keep up with maintenance. For example, fruit trees require a significant more amount of time and energy to maintain (pest problems, pruning needs, dropping fruit, etc) than a small ornamental flowering tree. Usually, pest problems and poor vigor occur for three reasons: first, the individual failed to properly select an appropriate tree for a particular site (see cultural site conditions above); second, the individual failed to research the plant material and selected plants lacking insect and disease resistance; and finally, because the individual failed to take maintenance into account when purchasing plants.

It is possible to plant and train ivy, or espalier other plants, to cover the wall or surface. Painful plant material can also be installed to provide some degree of access control, preventing the taggers from easily reaching an area. Trees can be strategically planted to block the view of areas routinely tagged. If plant material will be part of the approach to prevent graffiti, make sure your local arborist, public works superintendent, and department of transportation representative are all on the same page when it comes to removing impervious surfaces, preparing the planting site (soil pH, drainage, species selection, long term maintenance) and movement of vehicles and pedestrians. Hopefully, there is already a neighborhood located near this site that might be interested in assisting in the planting project. Make sure they're involved at the very beginning, otherwise they may not take on ownership, and then the area becomes yet another burden on the shoulders of the city arborist.

Existing Vegetation
Perhaps the problem is that the existing vegetation (planned and unplanned) is providing an area of concealment for the taggers. I strongly recommend you call in a certified arborist to help you identify options on pruning and/or removals to remove areas of concealment and to improve natural surveillance. For the tree's sake, use terms like crown raising and "windowing," not "limbing up," when preparing pruning specifications. The field of arboriculture has come a long way in the last 20 years. We know trees provide many wonderful benefits to our communities - it they can make it to maturity. In my opinion, the three most important steps in helping an urban tree make it to the ripe old age of 32 years are:

selecting the right tree for the planting site (which includes selecting structurally sound specimens from the nursery)
proper testing and preparation of the soil/planting pit
structural pruning (according to ANSI A300 pruning standards)
Landscape Lighting
Appropriate lighting decreases fear of crime and encourages the population to use a space for the intended purpose (even at night). Landscape lighting shows that someone may be at home. Motion detection lights provide an economical way of providing security without being irksome to the neighbors. Landscape lighting (spot beams) can also be used for highlighting important information like hours of operation or the presence of a security system.

i read about the broken window project as well. very interesting. but the new programs are much more about keeping kids with nothing better to do from getting into trouble (be it vandalizing or drugs or bullying), as they are about tags etc. they are about community pride not fixing up or repairing "things".

speaking of tags... my two cents worth: they remind me of male dogs pissing at corners... just a by-product of marking territory and, as such, i find them neither interesting nor artistic.

other forms of graffiti can make for a more complex discussion in terms of aesthetics and/or a politics of resistance, tho.

I think it's a shame when someone tags over a mural.

Graffiti is artistic its someones way of expressing themselves and it all looks good.
Some people can't accept modern art, i accept some people don't like how it looks.
There are times and places for graffiti but there should be more of these.

Sure, graffiti is an art, but like any art there is a time and a place. For example, a mural painter does not just decide to paint his mural over someone else's. Nor does a sculptor go out and grab someone else's statue and carve their own idea out of that. Artists must have respect for other artists in order that their art be respected. Those who tag over murals and on art are not to be considered artists, they are to be considered vandals. But the others are perfectly reasonable. For those interested, there is a movie in the US by the name of "Wild Styles" (or perhaps spelled "Wild Stylez", I'm not sure) which is a documentary by and for the "artistt" persuasion of graffiti makers.
-Rivaine

In an underpass near my home, across one entire side, is a large mural dedicated to someone's dead friend. Many people have added their own small dedications over the top, but not intrusively. This one person has an entire 10m by 3m wall dedicated to him. It looks brilliant. On the other side, someone had obviously taken quite a while just making their tag look nice. Then a local 'gang' (I use the word loosely, as all they do is get drunk and make noise) put their incredibly unimaginative tag over it several times (in marker pen, not one of the most renowned ways to create art). Any large or impressive pieces get my instant respect, as someone has obviously put time, effort and care into them, and some of them have good intentions or a point. However, when someone scrawls "4mersham i3 watchin" or "I <3 ?" on a wall, I am instantly irritated. I'm sure I am not alone in this.