I have heard a call for more stringent punishment on graffiti artists. It makes me lower my head in appalled disgust. Before I tell you that the ills of society are not caused by spray paint, I have to begin with a small anecdote.I have been a site assistant in Ohio State Public Computing Sites for nearly nine months so I feel I have carried this idea to term. Lately, I have found the need to give some philosophical advice along with my technical assistance while working in the computer lab. Here is what I tell people and I think you will agree with me.It is important not to let your aspirations of manipulating the computer as a tool be negated or impeded by the iconography of the computer. Remember you drive the computer. The computer does not drive you. The computer is a creation of man to do man’s work. So, it is a tool and must be treated as such. Do not leave the inexplicable and frustrating to the mystique of being a “computer expert” or a “user.” All of that nonsense is tied to the computer as an icon. We must be iconoclastic.I have observed people in the lab treating the computer like a magic talking box. Honestly, I probably have just as much knowledge as the average public site user.Let me now begin. To ensure all creations of man are being put to their proper place in society, we must defile them from time to time. Asking questions at the basic philosophical, ideological, and theoretical levels reveals the thought processes of the human beings that brought these institutions to existence. It reminds us of the impermanence of human life on a large and small scale. Obviously, this is what the university teaches us. This makes graffiti in and around the campus area and actually anywhere in the world, a sign of a healthy proactive people.What is a building? It is wood, glass, concrete, steel, sand, dirt, and earth. Who put the building there? Masons, carpenters, welders, foremen, lumberjacks, and quarry men put the building there. What makes a building so beyond human comprehension? What makes it property of another person? To remind ourselves of the simple materialistic actualities these human structures represent, we must destroy them. Defamation of all institutions is the key to keeping these things from being classified as holy relics.Some would call this act “civil disobedience.” Those who hate our city’s talented graffiti artists actually fear their own mortality. To them, covering a brick wall with unwanted paint constitutes a crime against humanity. Wood, glass, steel, and concrete is their humanity, but they forget it is just as fleeting as the soul exiting the body at death. They want to be left in quiet complacency with the free worship of holy relics of manmade institutions, but it is a shame in this case that the complacency is equated to safety. Graffiti artists are our patriots, ever vigilant for liberty. Hearing their voices on the far fringe is the definition of democracy. We as a society are persecuting and prosecuting away our souls by not allowing their words to become additions to our society. Constantly destroy these institutions in the search for truth. Pick up a can of spray paint to tell us what constitutes a brick wall and to remind us it is only a brick wall that can be destroyed. We should live as one nation under graffiti.This is the graffiti artist identity ideology.
Paul Price is a junior from Waverly, Ohio, majoring in political science and journalism.