Dialectics: Body Art Vs. Street Art

        Body art has been used for thousands of years. History has shown that it has been used for religion and cultural purposes. However, in the 21st century, body art has stretched beyond the realms of religion and culture. Now, body art is seen everywhere as a form of expression. There's even a vast selection of colors one can choose from.

        Street art, in comparison to body art, is very similar. Graffiti has been around since ancient times as well. Artists like to walk around with cans of spray paint and leave their marks for the world to see. No different from tattoos, street art varies from pictures to words and black and white to colors. It's a form of expression many people today use, especially in the more urban areas.

         Although body art and street art have many similarities in aspects of designs and color arrangements, there are much more similarities that are much deeper in meaning. Both forms of art is a form of expression with hidden meanings. Many street artists and people with tattoos have symbols or phrases that have a rooted meaning in their lives. Some represent death of loved ones or one's life motto. In essence, both have hidden secrets of their lives. Many works of these forms of art can look bizarre and odd, but to the street artist and to the person with the tattoo, it goes beyond the factor of appearance and how "cool" it looks.

        These two forms of art share the idea of expressing one's feelings and emotions, but however they also share the idea of being looked down upon - sometimes even ridiculed for. Street art has always had its enemies due to the fact that it is vandalism! Street artists are usually viewed as hoodlums.

        Just as the street artists are viewed as thugs, people with tattoos all around their body are viewed as people who are being stupid and young. When parents, especially some cultures like Korean cultures, see people with tattoos all around, they scoff at them. Body art is being slowly accepted, but mainly from the younger generation of the 21st century.

        However, regardless of if they are looked down upon, with their share of enemies comes the share of fans. Society is slowly beginning to open up to street art and body art. Street art has been less viewed as a crime, but more as a public museum for everyone to view. Tattoos are being viewed as cool and meaningful symbols of each unique individuals. Even though the fans are more directed towards the younger crowd, the younger generation is the future. So eventually, and hopefully, society will see the kids walking around with spray cans as artists; I'm also crossing my fingers that society will view these people with tattoos as individuals and that they see there body art as a sign of freedom of expression and beauty.