Virtual art for the natural world

Looking at senior Ben Warheit's Facebook profile, one will see an assortment of graffiti artwork. One drawing features a detailed multi-colored landscape depicting a skyline, while another has a man with a lobster claw and the quote over him bearing, "What are you doing?"

These graffiti messages were drawn by Warheit for his friends, ranging from happy birthday messages through the drawings to inside jokes he shares with them.

"I figured the graffiti application was a great way to leave something visually nice for them rather than just a simple wall post," he says.

Facebook graffiti started out as a simple application that enables users to draw pictures on friends' walls, similar to the paint application that comes with computers. Graffiti has now become a phenomenon, with millions of Facebook users across the world adorning their friends' walls with colorful drawings of scenery, people and even abstract art.

The graffiti home page, which features the top art drawn by users around the world, has gone beyond a form of procrastination for college students to a platform for artists. A portrait of the late Heath Ledger is shown on the main page alongside a scene drawn from the film "Ratatouille" and a sunset on the beach. These intricate drawings grabbed the attention of Dell spokesman for environment communications Sean Donahue, who helped decide to use Facebook graffiti as a platform for a going-green concept contest sponsored by Dell.

"There are so many passionate and creative individuals out in the world that I saw through this graffiti application," Donahue says. "I wanted to be able to have contestants have a chance to express their views about the environment and going green and graffiti was a great way to do that."

The contest was sponsored by Dell's ReGeneration program, which is a global movement that was started by Dell chairman Michael Dell in committing to sustaining the world's natural environment. Graffiti applicants were to draw their ideas of what it meant to be "green" and submit for the public to vote. More than 7,000 applicants submitted artwork and one million votes were cast to award six winners from the United States, Canada, Sweden and Maldives. Winners received a 22-inch flat display monitor, which is energy efficient and green-friendly.

Donahue says Facebook graffiti was a natural fit as grounds for the competition. He says the ReGeneration concept focused on promoting ideas and thought, whether it was enabling dialogue or creating art.

"There is a passionate community out there, especially on a hot topic like the environment," he says. "What better way is it to spread a message on a site like Facebook, and even better, through art on there as well?"

Although some applicants used a sketchpad tool in creating their graffiti art, Donahue says most applicants simply used a trackpad or mouse and the power of their hand.

"It's just unbelievable what people are capable of doing on an application like this," he says. "Many of these kids are simply pros."

Associate professor of art Robyn Phillips-Pendleton found the graffiti contest to be interesting because of its electronic nature, although she says it's not a new phenomenon.

"Graffiti has been around for decades," she says. "The graffiti that you'd find on Facebook though is not the style of graffiti that you would normally find outdoors."

Phillips-Pendleton says although the trend is on the rise, computer art will most likely never replace a paintbrush and canvas.

"Art has a certain tactile quality to it that people want to preserve," she says. "There are still mediums out there that can not be simulated on the computer."

Warheit finds the graffiti application a creative way to leave fun messages for his friends. As a fan of painting, he says that graffiti has its benefit for those who don't want to shell out the money for paint supplies, which can be expensive.

"Being a college student, you're already poor as it is," he says. "The graffiti application allows people to enjoy drawing and painting without having to spend a ton of money on art supplies."

Graffiti has a feature that allows users to replay how the artwork was drawn from scratch. With the click of the "replay button" below the artwork, users can see the complete formation of that piece. Warheit says he is inspired by watching how others create their graffiti.

"If I see something I like every once in a while, I hit the replay button which occasionally helps me get an idea," he says. "I get a lot of inspiration from just watching other people's work."

Warheit says the graffiti application continues to inspire him to push himself to do things that he previously thought weren't possible.

"Sometimes you don't believe that you're good at something," he says. "If you have a vision of something, graffiti can be pretty easy."