tagged bridges,

橋墩上

mural-covered walls.

畫在牆壁上

Graffiti pops up boldly throughout our cities.

塗鴉充斥在我們居住的城市中

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

它宣示了身分認同、藝術、權利和政治意涵

while simultaneously being associated with destruction.

同時也和破壞有關

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

然而塗鴉並不是現代才興起的產物

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

塗鴉，或是在公共設施上寫字、畫圖的行為

has been around for thousands of years.

已經有幾千年的歷史

And across that span of time,

在如此長的一段時間中

it's raised the same questions we debate now:

一直有我們現在爭論的問題

Is it art?

塗鴉是藝術嗎？

Is it vandalism?

還是對藝術的破壞？

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

公元前一世紀，羅馬人定期在公共牆壁上刻字傳遞訊息

while oceans away,

而海洋的另一邊

Mayans were prolifically scratching drawings onto their surfaces.

馬雅人在上面刻滿了豐富的圖畫

And it wasn't always a subversive act.

並不是所有的塗鴉都是破壞性的行為

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

在龐貝古城，市民們定期在公共城牆上寫魔咒

prose about unrequited love,

無償之愛的散文

political campaign slogans,

政治活動的標語

and even messages to champion their favorite gladiators.

甚至還有對他們最愛的鬥士所說的話

Some, including the Greek philosopher Plutarch, pushed back,

往回追溯，有些人，包含希臘的哲學家普魯塔克

deeming graffiti ridiculous and pointless.

認為塗鴉很荒謬又沒有意義

But it wasn't until the 5th century

直到西元五世紀

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

塗鴉是破壞藝術的概念才生根

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

當時，一個野蠻粗野的種族，也就是汪達爾人攻擊羅馬

pillaging and destroying the city.

四處打劫，並且破壞整座城市

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

但是直到幾個世紀以後，「對藝術之破壞」一詞才真的出現

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

譴責法國大革命對藝術的毀壞

And as graffiti became increasingly associated

當塗鴉逐漸變得和

with deliberate rebellion and provocativeness,

蓄意反抗以及刺激相連結

it took on its vandalist label.

就被貼上了破壞藝術的標籤

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

那也是現今許多塗鴉藝術家匿名的部分原因

Some assume alternate identities to avoid retribution,

有些人認為轉換身分是為了要避免懲罰

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

但是有些人這麼做是為了要發展同袍情誼，並且宣示佔有的領域範圍

Beginning with the tags of the 1960s,

從1960年代的標籤開始

a novel overlap of celebrity and anonymity

一種新奇的、有名與無名共存的現象

hit the streets of New York City and Philadelphia.

在紐約和費城的街頭出現

Taggers used coded labels to trace their movements around cities

追隨著依據編碼的標籤，來追蹤彼此在城市裡的蹤跡

while often alluding to their origins.

這些標籤常常暗示著他們的所在位置

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

因為塗鴉是違法的，導致塗鴉不能出現在公共場合

also added to its intrigue and growing base of followers.

讓它被用來密謀，而且追隨者不減反增

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

空間和所有權是塗鴉歷史中最核心的問題

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

它在現代的演變和反傳統文化運動有異曲同工之妙

While these movements raised their anti-establishment voices,

這些運動助長了他們反體制的聲音

graffiti artists likewise challenged established boundaries of public property.

塗鴉藝術家同時挑戰公共財產的界線

They reclaimed subway cars,

他們在地鐵

billboards,

布告欄上塗鴉

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

甚至有一次還在動物園的大象身上塗鴉

Political movements, too,

政治運動也是

have used wall writing to visually spread their messages.

在牆壁上寫字，來散播思想，並且讓思想視覺化

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

二次世界大戰期間，納粹黨和反對黨都

covered walls with propaganda.

在牆上佈滿了宣傳圖樣及標語

And the Berlin Wall's one-sided graffiti

柏林圍牆其中一面的塗鴉

can be seen as a striking symbol of repression

可以被視為打擊壓迫

versus relatively unrestricted public access.

與民主自由相互比較的象徵

As the counterculture movements

當反傳統文化運動

associated with graffiti become mainstream,

和塗鴉變成主流

does graffiti, too, become accepted?

塗鴉也因此被接受了嗎？

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

自從1970年代，塗鴉協會創立

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

十年後，塗鴉藝術家的作品可以進入畫廊時

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

塗鴉橫跨在主流與非主流之間

And the appropriation of graffiti styles by marketers and typographers

為不同塗鴉風格撥款的商人及印刷商

has made this definition even more unclear.

更是讓塗鴉的定義變得更不清楚

The once unlikely partnerships of graffiti artists

曾經最不可能和塗鴉藝術家合作的

with traditional museums and brands,

傳統博物館和品牌

have brought these artists out of the underground

都讓這些地下藝術家

and into the spotlight.

來到鎂光燈下

Although graffiti is linked to destruction,

雖然塗鴉和破壞相連結

it's also a medium of unrestricted artistic expression.

它也是表現自由的藝術媒介

Today, the debate about the boundary

現在，仍然在爭論著

between defacing and beautifying continues.

塗鴉是破壞還是美化

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

同時，塗鴉藝術家也在挑戰一般人對藝術價值的定義

and the degree to which any space can be owned.

還有藝術可以佔有多少空間

Whether spraying, scrawling, or scratching,

不管是噴漆、塗寫、或是刻畫

graffiti brings these questions of ownership, art, and acceptability

塗鴉把所有權、藝術還有可接受性

to the surface.

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