Is graffiti art? Or vandalism? - Kelly Wall

譯者: Helen Chang 審譯者: SF Huang

Spray-painted subway cars,

被噴漆的地鐵車廂，

tagged bridges,

被標記的橋樑，

mural-covered walls.

被壁畫覆蓋的牆壁。

Graffiti pops up boldly throughout our cities.

塗鴉肆無忌憚地 出現在我們的城市裡。

It can make statements about identity, art, empowerment, and politics,

它可宣示身分、藝術、 權力和政治意圖，

while simultaneously being associated with destruction.

但同時也常與破壞畫上等號。

And, it turns out, it's nothing new.

事實上塗鴉並不是什麼新鮮事。

Graffiti, or the act of writing or scribbling on public property,

在公共場所或公物上 塗畫、書寫的塗鴉行為，

has been around for thousands of years.

已存在數千年之久。

And across that span of time,

經過這麼長的時間，

it's raised the same questions we debate now:

這個一直以來存在的難題 至今依然讓人爭辯不休：

Is it art?

「塗鴉究竟是藝術？

Is it vandalism?

還是破壞公物？」

In the 1st century BCE, Romans regularly inscribed messages on public walls,

公元前一世紀，羅馬人常在 公共的牆壁上刻寫消息；

while oceans away,

而遠在大西洋的彼岸，

Mayans were prolifically scratching drawings onto their surfaces.

馬雅人大量地在物件表面 刻畫出許多圖形。

And it wasn't always a subversive act.

塗鴉未必總是破壞性的行為。

In Pompeii, ordinary citizens regularly marked public walls with magic spells,

龐貝城的一般市民常在 公共牆壁上塗寫魔法咒語、

prose about unrequited love,

抒發單戀心情的散文、

political campaign slogans,

政治競選口號，

and even messages to champion their favorite gladiators.

甚至擁護他們最喜愛的 格鬥士的訊息。

Some, including the Greek philosopher Plutarch, pushed back,

但是，包括希臘哲學家 普魯塔克在內的一些人，

deeming graffiti ridiculous and pointless.

卻加以反擊並認為 塗鴉荒謬且毫無意義。

But it wasn't until the 5th century

然而，直到第五世紀

that the roots of the modern concept of vandalism were planted.

把塗鴉視為破壞公物的 新式概念才播種生根。

At that time, a barbaric tribe known as the Vandals swept through Rome,

當時，名為「汪達爾」的 野蠻部落橫掃羅馬，

pillaging and destroying the city.

掠奪和毀壞羅馬城。

But it wasn't until centuries later that the term vandalism was actually coined

幾個世紀後，「vandalism （蓄意破壞公物或文藝的行為）」，

這個字才被創造出來， 表達人們強烈抗議

in an outcry against the defacing of art during the French Revolution.

法國大革命時期，對藝術品的污損。

And as graffiti became increasingly associated

隨著塗鴉和蓄意反抗、挑釁 越來越緊密地連結在一起，

with deliberate rebellion and provocativeness,

it took on its vandalist label.

它被貼上了「破壞者」的標籤。

That's part of the reason why, today, many graffiti artists stay underground.

這是今天許多塗鴉藝術家， 選擇隱蔽身分的部分原因。

Some assume alternate identities to avoid retribution,

一些人變換不同的身分 是為了避免被報復，

while others do so to establish comradery and make claim to territory.

而其它人則是為了組幫立派， 並在地盤上宣示主權。

Beginning with the tags of the 1960s,

自1960年代簽名塗鴉興起，

a novel overlap of celebrity and anonymity

這個名人和匿名者 皆參與其中的新形態塗鴉，

hit the streets of New York City and Philadelphia.

在紐約和費城的街頭大行其道。

Taggers used coded labels to trace their movements around cities

塗鴉者用別名加上編碼， 來顯示他們在城市行動的蹤跡，

while often alluding to their origins.

而這些簽名塗鴉， 常暗示著他們源自何處。

And the very illegality of graffiti-making that forced it into the shadows

塗鴉的違法性 迫使它隱藏在陰暗處，

also added to its intrigue and growing base of followers.

也因此激起好奇心， 使得追隨者不斷增加。

The question of space and ownership is central to graffiti's history.

空間和所有權一直以來， 是塗鴉所面臨的核心問題。

Its contemporary evolution has gone hand in hand with counterculture scenes.

其現代化的演進 與反主流文化運動相伴而來。

While these movements raised their anti-establishment voices,

當這些運動者提出反體制的聲音，

graffiti artists likewise challenged established boundaries of public property.

塗鴉藝術家亦同樣地 挑戰公共財產的界線。

They reclaimed subway cars,

他們在地鐵車廂、

billboards,

廣告招牌，

and even once went so far as to paint an elephant in the city zoo.

甚至誇張到在市立動物園的 大象身上塗鴉。

Political movements, too,

政治運動亦然，

have used wall writing to visually spread their messages.

他們在牆壁上書寫， 散佈視覺性訊息給人們。

During World War II, both the Nazi Party and resistance groups

二戰期間，納粹黨和反抗組織

covered walls with propaganda.

都利用牆面進行宣傳活動。

And the Berlin Wall's one-sided graffiti

柏林圍牆的單側塗鴉，

can be seen as a striking symbol of repression

可視為壓制和自由民主

versus relatively unrestricted public access.

相互抗衡的醒目象徵。

As the counterculture movements

隨著反主流文化運動與

associated with graffiti become mainstream,

塗鴉的結合形成主流，

does graffiti, too, become accepted?

塗鴉是否也逐漸為人所接受了呢？

Since the creation of so-called graffiti unions in the 1970s

自1970年代創建 所謂的「塗鴉協會」，

and the admission of select graffiti artists into art galleries a decade later,

以及10年後一流的塗鴉藝術家 得以踏進藝廊殿堂後，

graffiti has straddled the line between being outside and inside the mainstream.

塗鴉已跨越在主流與非主流之間。

And the appropriation of graffiti styles by marketers and typographers

加上行銷與印刷業者， 也引用塗鴉風格，

has made this definition even more unclear.

使得塗鴉的定義變得更加模糊。

The once unlikely partnerships of graffiti artists

傳統博物館、產品品牌與 塗鴉藝術家的結盟，

with traditional museums and brands,

雖然讓人跌破眼鏡，

have brought these artists out of the underground

卻使得這些藝術家化暗為明，

and into the spotlight.

來到了鎂光燈下。

Although graffiti is linked to destruction,

雖然塗鴉與破壞相連，

it's also a medium of unrestricted artistic expression.

它也是表現藝術自由的媒介。

Today, the debate about the boundary

今天，對於塗鴉到底是污損或是

between defacing and beautifying continues.

美化的爭論持續進行著。

Meanwhile, graffiti artists challenge common consensus about the value of art

同時，塗鴉藝術家挑戰著 社會大眾傳統的藝術價值觀，

and the degree to which any space can be owned.

與空間使用權的界線。

Whether spraying, scrawling, or scratching,

無論是噴、塗或是刻畫，

graffiti brings these questions of ownership, art, and acceptability

塗鴉把所有權、藝術和可接受性 這些問題帶到檯面上來。

to the surface.