Graffiti: Assertion, Transgression, & Reclaimation Angela Viaje + Lauren Ngo
Graffiti: Assertion, Transgression, & Reclaimation Tagging is the act of leaving a mark with graffiti. It can be used both as a form of selfassertion and self-expression. It marks the presence of groups or individuals in their respective neighbourhoods, and claims its surrounding area (however small it may be) as one’s territory. This act of laying claim to space is not “based on . . . legal writ or a document of ownership, but . . . based on proximity, from the fact that the wall adjoins public space, the street, the pavement.”1 This territorial act manifests in different ways.For private properties graffiti is a subversion of proprietary authority. For street gangs it negotiates the boundaries of their ‘turfs’. For xenophobes, it is a weapon of alienating minority groups. For innercity youths, it is their only means of spatial mastery. For activists, it is an act of bringing awareness and regaining social control. These manifestations are explored in the following drawings. 1
Young, Alison. “Graffiti: Art of the Tag”. ABC News Melbourne, 2016.
Between the Lines: Borders, Territory and Space
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Graffiti: Assertion, Transgression, & Reclaimation Angela Viaje + Lauren Ngo
A Wall is a Battleground David Storey writes,“human territories and their boundaries may be subject to periodic or continuous contestation, modification, transformation and destruction,”1 Walls are subject to this cycle through the act of tagging. This can be done by any individual, subverting the wall’s proprietary authority.
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This cycle is shown as follows: [1] Wall A physical border, enclosing and securing one’s property. [2] Graffiti Tag An often stylized drawing of one’s name claiming space. [3] Vandalized Vandalism In the graffiti community one must never write over someone else’s work. This is not always followed. [3] Surveillance and Policing Securitizing one’s property through legal means.
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[6] Restoration Painting or cleaning the wall to its former condition. Creating a blank canvas once more.
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2
Storey, David. Territories: The Claiming of Space, Chapter 2: Territory and Territoriality. 1st Ed. London: Routledge 2012. 24.
Between the Lines: Borders, Territory and Space
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Graffiti: Assertion, Transgression, & Reclaimation Angela Viaje + Lauren Ngo
Gang Turfs & Territorial Markers In street gangs, graffiti is used to mark territories. Gangs use graffiti not just to assert their power, but also their identities.
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Ley, David, and Roman Cybriwsky, Gang Graffiti in the Northwestern Portion of Fairmount and Vicinity. Annals of the Association of American Geographers: Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers., Vol. 64., Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 1947. 495
[1] The embellishments and style of the tags are distinctive in the way they convey the gang’s presence. Each specific mark carries the personality of the gang it represents, marking their territories.1
Each symbol represents a graffiti tag from a different gang.
[2] For non-gang members it labels the area as unsafe, calling for precaution or retreat from the space.2 2
[3] Crossing out or tagging over another gang’s markings is a way of asserting dominance and taking control of a rival’s territory. Here the graffiti is not only a self-asserting autograph but is also a transgression against the competing gang.
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[4] A network of tags from a specific gang determines the boundaries of its territory. However, these discrete tags do not create rigid borders, lending these territories to be highly contested, sometimes through violent means. 3
1
Ley, David, and Roman Cybriwsky. Annals of the Association of American Geographers: Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers., Vol. 64., Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 1947. 495
3
Ibid, 497.
4
Ibid, 497-501.
Between the Lines: Borders, Territory and Space
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Graffiti: Assertion, Transgression, & Reclaimation Angela Viaje + Lauren Ngo
Discriminatory Epithets & Symbols
Self-Expression for Inner-City Youth
In the discourse of territoriality, Storey mentions that some social scientists argue that “people are genetically programmed to defend those who are like themselves.”1 Although this is a dangerous statement as it may lead to the justification of xenophobia as a natural phenomenon, this behaviour is displayed through discriminatory graffiti often used against minory groups.
Ley and Cybriwsky writes, “Climbing mountains, descending to the ocean depths, landing astronauts on the moon who leave behind their own territorial marker, colonial adventures, riding the freeway, possessing a home on a large lot, middle-income Americans have ample opportunity to sublimate their territorial needs, but many of these options are closed to the inner city dweller,”1
Tagging walls with racist and xenophobic statements not only alienates minorities, accused of ‘invading’ the agressor’s territory, but sets a prelude to the hostile behaviour and asserts the aggressor’s power within the space.2
For many inner-city youths, then, graffiti is one of their only means of spatial mastery.
1 Storey, David. Territories: The Claiming of Space, Chapter 2: Territory and Territoriality. 1st Ed. London: Routledge 2012. 15.
1 Ley, David, and Roman Cybriwsky. Annals of the Association of American Geographers: Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers., Vol. 64., Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 1947. 494
2 Ley, David, and Roman Cybriwsky. Annals of the Association of American Geographers: Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers., Vol. 64., Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 1947. 504 Between the Lines: Borders, Territory and Space
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