Creating a new piece of art each day at his New York residence, the notorious street artist called Banksy enthralled the public. The art world anxiously wondered what each piece would look like and what type of social commentary would be made. Luckily, Banksy’s works did not disappoint. They now adorn a myriad of familiar locations such as Yankee Stadium and Coney Island, but have met resistance from law enforcement. His most recent piece, an inflatable installation, was torn down near the Long Island Expressway and crammed into the back of a police van within a matter of hours after being completed. The illegal nature of street art such as Banksy’s is undeniable; graffiti art, which comments on political actions and challenges social paradigms, occupies a pivotal niche in society similar to acts of civil disobedience. But even if you don’t consider it to be true art, it still warrants merit for being sincere to the human experience.

Graffiti is a unique form of protest; its goals depend on the motivation of the creator and are reflected in the work itself. Just as there are different types of civil disobedience, ethical and unethical, so there are different types of graffiti. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. laid out a framework for when it is justifiable to break the law as a form of protest when he said, “I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.” For example, mass rioting for the sake of destruction would be considered by most to be not only illegal but also unethical. However, making and selling salt like Mahatma Gandhi and his followers to protest for equality was illegal but is considered to be ethical. Similarly, “tagging” a shop window with arbitrary obscenity would be wrong, but painting an old wall with beautiful and thought-provoking art for the public, whose access to such works is limited, would be considered justified. Whether or not an individual supports a specific form of civil disobedience or a specific piece of art, the necessity of its existence as a means of protest is undeniable.

The graffiti is not always clear. It can be made as an objection to a government’s actions, to be beautiful or to engage in dialogue with a community. But is there a common thread that exists in all types of graffiti? Susan Phillips, an assistant professor of environmental analysis at Pitzer College, has asserted that “the medium itself implies alienation, discontentment, marginality, repression, resentment, rebellion: no matter what it says…” These unique facets of human existence can be neither bought nor sold, only experienced and portrayed. Graffiti embodies these critical parts of the human condition and selflessly displays them for the rest of the community. Banksy declarewd, while in New York, his desire to save the 5 Pointz “graffiti mecca” from destruction. 5 Pointz, an area designated to host graffiti as an art, exemplifies graffiti’s sincerity to the human condition and egalitarian nature. Contemporary philosopher and aesthetics specialist Roger Scruton holds that “much that is said about beauty and its importance in our lives ignores the minimal beauty of an unpretentious street.” Such streets that are true to their origin and their inhabitants are beautiful in this respect. Graffiti embodies the voice of the people and honestly defines the city they call home.

At its origins, graffiti is an honest and concise extension of the artist to the rest of society. Humans are social creatures and therefore have the desire to express themselves. Graffiti is a medium that portrays the will of the community regardless of the conditions in which it exists. Banksy captures the universal necessity of graffiti by, as he says, recognizing that graffiti “is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they’re having a piss.”