Editorial: Mural's ruin was inevitable

Some would say it is one of those unwanted imports from the troubled streets of places they called ghettos.

The "art" of applying paint or felt pen to a surface ... someone else's surface.

The pursuit of tagging, or applying graffiti.

But this act of leaving a mark, a statement, a picture, a symbol or simply a mess on a publicly accessible surface is not something which sparked up in the 60s or 70s.

It goes back a little further than that. In ancient Greece it was called graphein, which basically means "to write."

In the days of ancient Rome, when blokes like Mr Caesar and Mr Anthony sat within the Colosseum awaiting their pizza delivery, it was called graffiato, which means "to scratch".

And scratch the ancient Romans did. Political and other statements were scratched into pillars and walls under the shelter of darkness by the aggrieved or the purely anti-social.

And it's been going on ever since.

During WWII the lads filling the bombers bound for Germany would scrawl chalked and painted messages on the bombs. Things like "To Mr A Hitler, Berlin."

Or "From you know who."

They were, however, messages which would, after about 45 seconds of freefall, be erased.

In neighbourhoods of big cities across America graffiti emerged as a method for gangs to mark their territory. Nothing pretty about it - just letters or symbols.

Yet some graffiti veered more toward art than vandalism. Some efforts, particularly across parts of Europe and even Russia, could be framed and sold.

Some spray can wielders were outed and later lauded for their creations and, in 1992, in the city of Tver in Russia, a "graffiti shop" was opened selling hundreds of variant spray-paint colours in cans and scores of industrial size marking pens. Go figure.

While it is essentially vandalism, I have seen some quite remarkable images and designs - many adorning railway wagons. It's wrong, sure, but the creators clearly have a spark of imagination and skill ... it's a pity it can't be adopted or applied in a more acceptable way.

The other graffiti (the singular by the way is graffito) is just urgently applied daubings designating the "crew" responsible. And it doesn't go down well. Culprits, when identified and caught, are often now sent to prison, where I daresay they scratch their names onto the walls of their cells.

Like inspirational and motivational artist Sallie Dunford, I was disappointed but not surprised to see a smear of graffiti upon the delightful Awatoto mural she inspired and which hundreds of community supporters assisted in creating.

Sadly, it was simply a matter of time, and sadly such activity appears the only way for some to make a statement or seek recognition.

It is wrong and breaks the hearts of many.

Get a canvas, get some paints, or help paint a mural. Get truly creative.