Chapter 1
Yash Mathur
“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” This quote by Banksy perfectly suits the graffiti style as it has been one of the most controversial form art ever existed. Its purpose is to convey a message through a form of art which is why it is one of the most popular form expression in the west. Graffiti (both singular and plural; the singular graffito is rarely used except in archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire and this type of art has evolved a lot over the years from being simple glyphs to a complete modern and complex typography style. In modern times, spray paint and marker pens have become commonly used graffiti materials, and there are many different types and styles of graffiti, it is a rapidly developing art form and continues to grow and develop even today. There is always something new happening in Graffiti because this art style has no particular restrictions or method of how it should be done and with advancements in art supplies it will continue to grow even further. Graffiti is mostly seen as a filthy style of art that shouldn’t be practiced at all but sometimes the people who love art don’t agree to this. If you do not have permission it’s illegal but if you have permission it isn’t and this is the way that it works in most places around the world. Due to this many graffiti artists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous or to hinder prosecution. With the commercialization of graffiti (and hip hop in general), in most cases, even with legally painted “graffiti” art, graffiti artists tend
to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the one of four hip hop elements that is not considered formance art” despite the image of the “singing and dancing star” that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffiti artists still fall in the category of the introverted archetypal artist. Much modern graffiti on the streets of major cities like New York or Athens is either offensive or incredibly artistic and sometimes it is both. It makes me wonder why art programs in schools have declined graffiti and I wonder if there would be as much tagging of trains, walls and city streets if young people had less anger and frustration and more opportunities to be successful artists in school and daily life. In my opinion the only way we can normalize and elevate graffiti art is by following proper rules and taking permissions because no one wants their property vandalized. It is a beautiful form of art which should be taught in art schools so that more and more people can practice it. Graffiti will always be controversial but if it is utilized properly it can change the way you look at things and it can play an essential role in typography and graphic design for commercial use. As of now, graffiti doesn’t have the reputation that it deserves because of vandalism issue and I still have no idea how graffiti would be treated in future but I feel this art style definitely needs some attention from people and artists should be more mindful of people’s emotions before making any graffiti art anywhere.
This book is designed for the final deliverable of “Design A-Z, History + Action” assignment guided by Professor Kristen Coogan. This book wouldn’t have been possible without the feedbacks of Prof. Kristen and I sincerely thank her for the guidance throughout the project. This book is set in Avenir font family, a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1987 and released in 1988 by Linotype GmbH. The word avenir is French for “future”. As the name suggests, the family takes inspiration from the geometric style of sans-serif typeface developed in the 1920s that took the circle as a basis, such as Erbar and Futura.
10 What is Graffiti? 24 Why Graffiti? 38 Graffiti Culture 48 Is it Illegal? 60 History of Street Art 70 Graffiti vs Mural 82 Graffiti Styles 98 Messages on the Landscape
Introduction Graffiti (both singular and plural; the singular graffito is rarely used except in archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire. In modern times, spray paint and marker pens have become commonly used graffiti materials, and there are many different types and styles of graffiti; it is a rapidly developing art form. Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban “problem� for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system in the early 1970s to the rest of the United
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States and Europe and other world regions. On the other hand, graffiti artists, particularly marginalized artists with no access to mainstream media, resist this viewpoint to display their art or political views in public locations. The term graffiti originally referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Use of the word has evolved to include any graphics applied to surfaces in a manner that constitutes vandalism. The only known source of the Safaitic language, an ancient form of Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD. The term “graffiti” is used in art history for works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is “sgraffito”, it involves scratching
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through one layer of pigment to reveal another it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into it. In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object and sometimes chalk or coal were used.
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Modern-style graffiti The first known example of “modern style”[clarification needed] graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (in modern-day Turkey). Local guides say it is an advertisement for prostitution. Located near a mosaic and stone walkway, the graffiti shows a handprint that vaguely resembles a heart, along with a footprint, a number, and a carved image of a woman’s head. The ancient Romans carved graffiti on walls and monuments, examples of which also survive in Egypt. Graffiti in the classical world had different connotations than they carry in today’s society concerning content. Ancient graffiti displayed phrases of love declarations, political rhetoric, and simple words of thought, compared to today’s popular messages of social and political ideals. The eruption of Vesuvius preserved graffiti in Pompeii, which includes Latin curses, magic spells, declarations of love, insults, alphabets, political slogans, and famous literary quotes, providing insight into ancient Roman street life. One inscription gives the address of a woman named Novellia Primigenia of Nuceria, a prostitute, apparently of great beauty, whose services were much in demand. Another shows a phallus accompanied by the text, mansueta tene (“handle with care”).
What is Graffiti?
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Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka scribbled over 1800 individual graffiti there between the 6th and 18th centuries. Etched on the surface of the Mirror Wall, they contain pieces of prose, poetry, and commentary. The majority of these visitors appear to have been from the elite of society: royalty, officials, professions, and clergy. There were also soldiers, archers, and even some metalworkers. The topics range from love to satire, curses, wit, and lament. Many demonstrate a very high level of literacy and a deep appreciation of art and poetry.
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Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there. One reads: Wet with cool dew drops fragrant with perfume from the flowers came the gentle breeze jasmine and water lily dance in the spring sunshine side-long glances of the golden-hued ladies stab into my thoughts heaven itself cannot take my mind as it has been captivated by one lass among the five hundred I have seen here. Among the ancient political graffiti examples were Arab satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, an Umayyad Arab and Persian poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls between Sajistan and Basra, manifesting a strong hatred towards the Umayyad regime and its walis, and people used to read and circulate them very widely.
What is Graffiti?
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Level of literacy often evident in graffiti Historic forms of graffiti have helped gain understanding into the lifestyles and languages of past cultures. Errors in spelling and grammar in these graffiti offer insight into the degree of literacy in Roman times and provide clues on the pronunciation of spoken Latin. Examples are CIL IV, 7838: Vettium Firmum / aed[ilem] quactiliar[ii] [sic] rog[ant]. Here, “qu” is pronounced “co”. The 83 pieces of graffiti found at CIL IV, 4706-85 are evidence of the ability to read and write at levels of society where literacy might not be expected. The graffiti appear on a peristyle which was being remodeled at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius by the architect Crescens. The graffiti were left by both the foreman and his workers. The brothel at CIL VII, 12, 18–20 contains more than 120 pieces of graffiti, some of which were the work of the prostitutes and their clients. The gladiatorial academy at CIL IV, 4397 was scrawled with graffiti left by the gladiator Celadus Crescens (Suspirium puellarum Celadus thraex: “Celadus the Thracian makes the girls sigh.”). It was not only the Greeks and Romans who produced graffiti: the Maya site of Tikal in Guatemala contains examples of ancient Maya graffiti. Viking graffiti survive in Rome and at Newgrange Mound in Ireland, and a Varangian scratched his name (Halvdan) in runes on a banister in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople.
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Another piece from Pompeii, written on a tavern wall about the owner of the establishment and his questionable wine: Landlord, may your lies malign Bring destruction on your head! You yourself drink unmixed wine, Water [do you] sell [to] your guests instead.
What is Graffiti?
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It was not only the Greeks and Romans who produced graffiti: the Maya site of Tikal in Guatemala contains examples of ancient Maya graffiti. Viking graffiti survive in Rome and at Newgrange Mound in Ireland, and a Varangian scratched his name (Halvdan) in runes on a banister in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople. These early forms of graffiti have contributed to the understanding of lifestyles and languages of past cultures. Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls.When Renaissance artists such as Pinturicchio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio, or Filippino Lippi descended into the ruins of Nero’s Domus Aurea, they carved or painted their names and returned to initiate the grottesche style of decoration. There are also examples of graffiti occurring in American history, such as Independence Rock, a national landmark along the Oregon Trail. Later, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic campaign of Egypt in the 1790s.
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Contemporary graffiti Contemporary graffiti style has been heavily influenced by hip hop culture and the myriad international styles derived from Philadelphia and New York City Subway graffiti, however, there are many other traditions of notable graffiti in the twentieth century. Graffiti have long appeared on building walls, in latrines, railroad boxcars, subways, and bridges. The oldest known example of modern graffiti are the “monikers” found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker Bill Daniel in his 2005 film, Who is Bozo Texino?. Some graffiti have their own poignancy. In World War II, an inscription on a wall at the fortress of Verdun was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World: Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1918 Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1945 This is the last time I want to write my name here.
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During World War II and for decades after, the phrase “Kilroy was here” with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed “Yardbird” or “Bird”), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words “Bird Lives”. The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such as L’ennui est contre-révolutionnaire (“Boredom is counterrevolutionary”) expressed in painted graffiti, poster art, and stencil art. At the time in the US, other political phrases (such as “Free Huey” about Black Panther Huey Newton) became briefly popular as graffiti in limited areas, only to be forgotten. A popular graffito of the early 1970s was “Dick Nixon Before He Dicks You”, reflecting the hostility of the youth culture to that US president.
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What is Graffiti?
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Uses Theories on the use of graffiti by avant-garde artists have a history dating back at least to the Asger Jorn, who in 1962 painting declared in a graffiti-like gesture “the avant-garde won’t give up�. Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a form of public art. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles, that type of public art is, in fact an effective tool of social emancipation or, in the achievement of a political goal. In times of conflict, such murals have offered a means of communication and self-expression for members of these socially, ethnically, or racially divided communities, and have proven themselves as effective tools in establishing dialog and thus, of addressing cleavages in the long run. The Berlin Wall was also extensively covered by graffiti reflecting social pressures relating to the oppressive Soviet rule over the GDR. Many artists involved with graffiti are also concerned with the similar activity of stenciling. Essentially, this
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entails stenciling a print of one or more colors using spray-paint. Stickers of her artwork also often appear around places such as London in Brick Lane, stuck to lamp posts and street signs, she having become a muse for other graffitists and painters worldwide in cities including Seville. Personal expression Many graffitists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous or to hinder prosecution. With the commercialization of graffiti, in most cases, even with legally painted “graffiti” art, graffitists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the one of four hip hop elements that is not considered “performance art” despite the image of the “singing and dancing star” that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffitists still fall in the category of the introverted archetypal artist.
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Banksy is one of the world’s most notorious and popular street artists who continues to remain faceless in today’s society. He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly in Bristol, England, but his work may be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to Palestine. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest. Much of Banksy’s artwork may be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, although he has painted pictures throughout the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel’s controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side. One depicted a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side. A number of exhibitions also have taken place since 2000, and recent works of art have fetched vast sums of money. Banksy’s art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art and some councils, such as Bristol and Islington, have officially protected them, while officials of other areas have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it. Pixnit is another artist who chooses to keep her identity from the general public. Her work focuses on beauty and design aspects of graffiti as
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opposed to Banksy’s anti-government shock value. Her paintings are often of flower designs above shops and stores in her local urban area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some store owners endorse her work and encourage others to do similar work as well. “One of the pieces was left up above Steve’s Kitchen, because it looks pretty awesome”- Erin Scott, the manager of New England Comics in Allston, Massachusetts.
Why Graffiti?
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Radical and political Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques. One early example includes the anarcho-punk band Crass, who conducted a campaign of stenciling anti-war, anarchist, feminist, and anti-consumerist messages throughout the London Underground system during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Amsterdam graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered with names such as “De Zoot”, “Vendex”, and “Dr Rat”. To document the graffiti a punk magazine was started that was called Gallery Anus. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s there was already a vibrant graffiti culture. The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such as L’ennui est contre-révolutionnaire (“Boredom is counterrevolutionary”) and Lisez moins, vivez plus (“Read less, live more”). While not exhaustive, the graffiti gave a sense of the ‘millenarian’ and rebellious spirit, tempered with a good deal of verbal wit, of the strikers. The developments of graffiti art which took place in art galleries and colleges as well as “on the street” or “underground”,
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contributed to the resurfacing in the 1990s of a far more overtly politicized art form in the subvertising, culture jamming, or tactical media movements. These movements or styles tend to classify the artists by their relationship to their social and economic contexts, since, in most countries, graffiti art remains illegal in many forms except when using non-permanent paint. Since the 1990s with the rise of Street Art, a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints and non-traditional forms of painting. Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such as Alexander Brener, have used the medium to politicize other art forms, and have used the prison sentences enforced on them as a means of further protest. The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each other’s practices. For example, the anti-capitalist art group the Space Hijackers did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of political imagery. Territorial graffiti marks urban neighborhoods with tags and logos to differentiate certain groups from others. These images are meant to show outsiders a stern look at whose turf is whose.
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Advertising Graffiti has been used as a means of advertising both legally and illegally. Bronx-based TATS CRU has made a name for themselves doing legal advertising campaigns for companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Toyota, and MTV. In the UK, Covent Garden’s Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hopes that cross referencing would promote their store. Smirnoff hired artists to use reverse graffiti (the use of high pressure hoses to clean dirty surfaces to leave a clean image in the surrounding dirt) to increase awareness of their product.
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Why Graffiti?
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Offensive graffiti Graffiti may also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti may be difficult to identify, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly). Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight, not easily recognized as “racist”. It can then be understood only if one knows the relevant “local code” (social, historical, political, temporal, and spatial), which is seen as heteroglot and thus a ‘unique set of conditions’ in a cultural context.
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A spatial code for example, could be that there is a certain youth group in an area that is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti containing only the name or abbreviation of this gang already is a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases, the herald of more serious criminal activity to come. A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by asylum seekers, for example, its racist character is even stronger. By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints), these drawings are less likely to be removed, but do not lose their threatening and offensive character. Elsewhere, activists in Russia have used painted caricatures of local officials with their mouths as potholes, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads. In Manchester, England a graffitists painted obscene images around potholes, which often resulted in their being repaired within 48 hours.
Why Graffiti?
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Decorative and high art In the early 1980s, the first art galleries to show graffitists to the public were Fashion Moda in the Bronx, Now Gallery and Fun Gallery, both in the East Village, Manhattan. A 2006 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form that began in New York’s outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early 1980s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze, Keith Haring, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It displayed 22 works by New York graffitists, including Crash, Daze, and Lady Pink. In an article about the exhibition in the magazine Time Out, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti.
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From the 1970s onwards, Burhan Dogancay photographed urban walls all over the world; these he then archived for use as sources of inspiration for his painterly works. The project today known as “Walls of the World” grew beyond even his own expectations and comprises about 30,000 individual images. It spans a period of 40 years across five continents and 114 countries. In 1982, photographs from this project comprised a one-man exhibition titled “Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent ...” (The walls whisper, shout and sing ...) at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within the arts. Oxford University Press’s art history text Australian Painting 1788–2000 concludes with a long discussion of graffiti’s key place within contemporary visual culture, including the work of several Australian practitioners. Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Why Graffiti?
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Motivation and inspiration What truly motivates someone to write on a public wall, for others to see? Who is it that is doing this, and why didn’t they just grab a pen and a pad and keep it to themselves? These questions have caught the interest of many sociologists, psychologists, and cultural anthropologists. To get a better understanding of how graffiti culture came to be what it is today, one first needs to step back and look over the basic elements of hip-hop culture, elements that may have been overlooked because of the diversity that it has today.
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Research has shown that the identity of a person is a direct consequence of heredity and environment. From birth, a person does not choose the path they’ll lead, but instead is guided in one direction or the other through socialization that has been dictated by opportunities around them. (Weiten) Someone may diverge from this and form their own unique identity, but the roots of that identity still hold true to their socialized selves. In a larger context, this can be loosely applied to an entire culture. The people who first began the hip-hop movement were at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid. The founders of hip-hop were not born into wealth, but instead were expressing their jealousy towards those who were. In essence, graffiti is an indirect result and a modern response to the class struggle in America that has been going on for generations. In a class system, one naturally wants to move to the top and maintain that position. A majority of people born into a free-market society are indoctrinated with capitalistic values, and to them it is seen as a positive and
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constructive thing to gain wealth and maintain vast amounts of capital that will extend beyond that person or society’s lifetime. This is a basic survival instinct, and has been proven throughout history: the pyramids of Giza, the Roman Empire, or the practice of ascribed wealth, to name a few examples. Unfortunately, urban lower-class youth are often completely disenfranchised from any opportunities to move up the ladder and attain wealth. Instead, they are locked into a social situation in which they work full-time to make ends meet and have very little left over. Even worse, constant struggle to just meet basic needs encourages them to spend their free time (and money) doing things that are entertaining and not necessarily constructive.
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Luckily the instinct to remain alive that each person has cannot be dismantled so easily. Although older people who have been locked into these situations for a long period of time may grow apathetic and find such forms of expression meaningless, the youth have yet to be completely changed by their environment, and can still be influenced by their hereditary survival instinct. They still want to attain or create something that people will remember them by, something that will keep their message living beyond the grave. (Esposito) Taking this idea and adapting it to their urban environment and available resources explains the basic reasoning behind why they would choose to write something for the public to see.
Graffiti Culture
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Spray paint and permanent markers were chosen especially because they were much more difficult to censor. Devon D. Brewer, a sociologist who has studied graffiti extensively, claims that “there are four major values in hip hop graffiti: fame, artistic expression, power and rebellion.� (Brewer 188) Although artistic expression can be applied to any form of art, the other three values are fairly unique to hip-hop and symbolize the envy of disenfranchised youth. Upper-class youth are often born with power and fame, since these are things that come with ascribed status. Rebellion is something that rich youth often take for granted as an alternative to their current way of life, without realizing that many people who are locked into a certain economic situation are not afforded that alternative without risking further hardship or even death. Like the story of the forbidden fruit, lower-class youths have been denied these opportunities all their lives, so they want them even more than the rich do. These motives can be used to explain the origins of graffiti, but they do not thoroughly define graffiti today, now that it has spread beyond its original socio-economic barriers. Reiterating the opening point, culture is formed in a very similar way to the way a
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person’s identity is formed. To this effect, a culture is constantly changing, just like a person. What allowed this change to occur was creating new and improved technology that allowed different types of people to experience hip-hop culture.
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Graffiti changed because more and more people connected with the rebellious spirit of hip-hop. Middle- and upper-class youths, especially in suburbs, have lots of free time to do as they wish. Although this liberty often creates and encourages a materialistic consumer culture, at the same time the youth are afforded many more chances for educating themselves. Especially in the suburbs, this education is causing a conflict. (Ferrell 30) Suburban youth are educating themselves to the point where they reject the sterile, superficial culture of their surroundings and look for an alternative way of life with more meaning. Specifically, many turn to hip-hop and graffiti.
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Graffiti Culture
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Why is it illegal? Answer: If you do not have permission - YES it’s illegal. If you have permission - NO it’s not illegal. This is the way that it works in most places around the world. The reason that this is a confusing question is because the word ‘Graffiti’ has ambiguous meanings. Since there is a mysterious aura to it, the average person might refer to the following things as graffiti: 1) Any kind of drawing or words that were written without permission. 2) Anything drawn or written with spray paint. 3) Any kind of urban art that is displayed outdoors or in the street. In order to properly understand this subject, you must recognize these different categories. The 1st category above is generally going to be illegal. With the other 2 categories - it is not inherently a crime or not. It is going to depend on whether the artist received authorization from the administrator of the property where
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the art is located. Whether permission was provided is the deciding factor. Because paint, spray paint, brushes, etc are not illegal - the crime often committed when deploying graffiti is vandalism. It is a form of theft. There is nothing inherently illegal about drawing a picture of a cat. But if it is deployed on private property without the owner’s permission - then it’s illegal (in most places). Another example is a spray-painted portrait of a person. A picture of a face is not illegal in most places - in fact there are lots of faces displayed all over. What’s illegal is spray painting on somebody else’s property without their consent.
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How to Tell if Legal or Not? The question that arises from this is the following: how can you tell if a piece of urban art was made illegally or not? A way to determine this is through a simple formula. Ask the following 2 questions: A) What are the rules of the city/country, etc? B) How much are these rules being enforced? Based on the answers to these questions, you can estimate how much time somebody would have to deploy illegal urban art. We can call this the ‘illegal window’ of time. Then you would estimate how long any individual artwork took to deploy.
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If it seems like it was deployed in less time than the illegal window, then it was probably not authorized. If it seems like it took longer to deploy than the illegal window, then it probably was authorized.
Take New York City as an example. What are the rules? Very strict - if you are caught you will be arrested immediately. How much are the rules enforced? Very aggressively - there are patrols, task forces, vandal squad detectives etc. So figure that the illegal window of time is approx. 3 minutes. Therefore: if you see a piece of urban art in New York City that appears to have taken longer than 3 minutes - assume it was allowed. If it seems like it took less than 3 minutes assume that it was illegal.
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Authorization The ways that graffiti authorization works can vary. For example, in New York City authorization is very simple: the owner of a property is the sole exclusive authority over how it looks - including any paint or murals. So the owner can decide if they will allow an artist to paint on their property. The government is not in charge of it and is not involved. The opinion of other people - such as neighbors or community members is also irrelevant.
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However it is different in other cities. Here are some of the most common municipal configurations regarding permission for street art: 1) Permit required for murals. The government targets vandalism and does not conduct a major initiative to spread murals around the city. If you want to make an authorized mural, the property owner must approve and also a permit must be obtained from the municipal government. Essentially the property owner must apply for permission to display the artwork on their property. 2) Neutral on authorized art and no permit required - like in NYC. The government targets vandalism but is essentially neutral on authorized urban art. There is no requirement to obtain a permit for art which a property owner has authorized. If it was deployed without permission - they will come after you for this vandalism. If it was authorized by the property owner it’s legal and the government will take no action.
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3) Major encouragement of authorized art - the government actively encourages people to paint on municipal-controlled properties around the city. An example of this is Philadelphia. They have a famous mural program where artists are recruited to paint on vacant properties and/or elsewhere. The rationale for this program is to beautify the city and to provide a legal platform to graffiti writers. However vandalism (art that’s deployed without permission) is still banned and enforced.
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4) Total discouragement - the government tries to prevent ANY spray paint on walls (even authorized by property owners). For example, in London there are local councils which have banned spray paint on any property regardless of whether the owner wants it there. Note, however, that spray painting there with the owner’s permission is not a crime - it’s only a violation of a civil ordinance. And the perpetrator of the civil violation is the property owner, not the artist. For a crime you can be arrested, for a civil ordinance violation you can probably receive a monetary fine at worst. But painting there without the owner’s permission is a crime, and the perpetrator is the artist.
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Types of Artists There is a variety among the artists who make graffiti and urban art. They can be divided into 2 main types: 1) Graffiti writer - an artist who deploys the original form of graffiti . They are writing their name, usually with stylized lettering. It is typically done with spray paint, but it could be with other materials too. The primary audience is other graffiti writers like themselves. It might be illegally done (usually lower quality) or authorized (typically higher quality). Many graffiti writers also make artworks that are not lettering (portraits, pictures etc), but their allegiance is to graffiti writing and they have spent substantial time honing their lettering skills. Graffiti writers are also known as ‘taggers’ or ‘bombers.’
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2) Street artist - an artist who is making any other type of urban art which is not comprised of lettering. It can be any material/presentation - paper, stencil, brush, sculpture, mural etc. The distinction between a street artist and a graffiti writer is that a street artist has not spent time honing their lettering skills. They create artistic works which are deployed out in the street, but they do not have a background of participating in the original form of graffiti writing. Many of them possess an advanced art education.
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Early days Modern street graffiti began in New York City in the early 1970’s (although the person who is credited as the world’s first graffiti writer was a student in Philadelphia named Cornbread). Young teenagers growing up in impoverished, marginalized communities started “tagging” their names on walls in public places. These ‘writers’ created alter egos, aliases that often combined a nickname with a number. Often the digits were based on the street the tagger lived on. Early leaders in the tagging world included people with street aliases like Fab5Freddy and Tracy168. These graffiti pioneers experimented with new styles and began the fad of tagging New York City’s subway trains. This historic era of graffiti was when the main widely-accepted customs and slang language developed.
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Recognition While locally in New York graffiti was seen and treated as vandalism, enthusiasts in Europe recognized artistic value in the “tagging” and brought these young writers to their continent to produce and exhibit work. Graffiti was an instant hit in Europe and by the mid 1980’s the writers, who in America were looked upon as criminals, were treated as celebrities in countries like Italy and Germany. Over the 1980’s there slowly began to be more recognition of graffiti artists in the US too. Some of the legendary pioneers were recruited to paint in music videos and on cable television.
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Rise of “Street Art” By the late 1980’s the original historic graffiti era in New York had ended and local writers proceeded to carry on and repeat the traditions and culture of their predecessors . Meanwhile in Europe the urban art movement was just gaining traction. In the 1990’s European artists experimented with new styles, which have become referred to as ‘post-graffiti’ or ‘street art.’ A French artist known as Blek Le Rat is attributed with introducing the stencil, a form of spray art which grew popular over the next decade. In recent years the stencil has been made famous by notorious British artist Banksy. Another noteworthy artist is Frenchman Space Invader who illegally installs ceramic tiles that portray pixelated old video game characters.
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Mainstream Acceptance By the 2000’s, street art was followed around the world and top artists became household names. UK artist Banksy gained reverence and notoriety for his thought provoking images which appear in the unlikeliest of places. His work has subsequently commanded unheralded prices at top art auction houses. The rise of the internet and social media has allowed for fans to follow their favorite artists, and for writers to collaborate across continents, cultures and language barriers. Controversy Since ancient times, human existence has been recorded on murals. Thanks to studies of ancient cave art, we have learnt a lot about our ancestors and how they lived, as well as today, graffiti can be perceived as a mirror of our society. The acceptance of street art into mainstream art circles has created social controversies. In late 2012 a Banksy piece disappeared from a London wall and resurfaced at a luxury art auction in Miami, Florida. Residents of its original London neighborhood expressed protest. They felt strongly that as a work of art it belonged to the community where it was created, and that it should be returned. The auction went ahead and the piece was sold to a private collector for $1.1 million.
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Styles and Common Types of Street Art Tags are words written in spray paint on a surface of any sort: including walls, storefronts, signs or doors. The words are usually the name of the person who wrote it; or their crew. They are generally just one color, a few inches in size or a couple of feet. The traditional motivation of a tag is to create exposure for oneself and broadcast the audacity of taking the risk to spray paint in a dangerous, inaccessible or openly public place. For a tag the main audience are other taggers. Larger productions known as “throwups” and “pieces” are more stylized and feature multiple colors - although they follow the same premise as tags and are also typically a name.
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Murals Murals are generally large and portray an image or scene. They often tell a story or express feelings of the artist. Many of them carry a social or political critique, satire or message. Murals are generally larger than tags but come in all sizes. Today artists are granted permission or even paid to produce murals for public display on businesses and public buildings.
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Posters/Paste-ups Poster art is usually created in private, then brought to a public place and affixed to a surface. It is attached using an adhesive called wheat paste. In addition to paint, poster art can also incorporate multiple layers, cutouts, collages or stickers. The positive side to paste-up’s is that they can be deployed very quickly. The down side is that they are more susceptible to weather conditions or destruction than spray paint. Therefore they tend to last less long than other graffiti mediums.
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Understanding Mural What is a mural? What are the actual means of a mural? A mural is a word that quite enough foreign for some people especially layman. But actually, a lot of people have seen the mural directly. Understanding mural according to the language of mural derived from the Latin language of the word “Murus” which means the wall. Broadly speaking, the definition of a mural is drawing or painting on a wall, wall or other broad media that is permanent. So, from the explanation above or the meaning of mural, it is enough to give the understanding about the mural. Then, painting or picture whether that made on the permanent media such on the floor, the table, the wall includes to mural. Painting is a general name that we usually heard. However, are you often hear about “Mural”? If you don’t, IMURAL will discuss mural understanding and what is the difference between the mural and other paintings. Many people frequently see the painting on the walls that exist in the street or walking road. Even some of them often see the painting in the house or building that no longer use or
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none human being living there. The painting that you see in some places which already mentioned is a mural. It is just a lot of people assuming it is a picture or a painting.
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Mural History The truth is art mural has been existing for such a long time. Even if we take a look at mural history, the mural is existing since 31.500 years ago in the prehistoric. At that time there is a painting that drawn at the cave in Lascaux, South France. The mural its made by that time is using juice as the water paint (considering haven’t had paint) On the prehistory, the country that has a lot of wall painting or mural is France. One of the most popular is the creation by Pablo Picasso.
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Pablo Picasso makes a mural called Guernica or Guernica Y Luno. This mural made when the civil war in the Spain 1937. The purpose of this mural is remembering the bombing tragedy by the German soldier that happened in the small village where there is a lot of Spain people.
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The Difference between Mural and Graffiti Some of us still confusing to see what is the difference between mural and graffiti. If we take a look throughout media, usual mural and graffiti indeed often makes on the wall as the media. Especially on the street, maybe some of you have seen wall painting with various characters or shapes through its writing.Then what is the difference between mural and graffiti? Before we compare between mural and graffiti will be better if we know the meaning of graffiti first. Graffiti pronounce graffiti or graffiti is the sketches on the wall using the composition of colors, lines, shapes, ad volumes for writing a word, symbol, or certain phrases.
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The tools that use at the moment is pylox. Before pylox is existed, generally, graffiti use with brushing paint using a brush or a chalk. So, the difference mural and graffiti are if a mural is free and has a huge space while graffiti is a word or words and usually for this era graffiti is often made with spray paint. If back then a mural it is only a form of expression, social issues critics through its picture and phrases on the street, sidewalk and now a mural becoming “Sweet business of art painting.� You can see now, a mural is a top option for beautifying it is interior.
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Even mural become an attractive factor as the spot for taking a unique picture. Not in shock if now many cafes, restaurants, hotels, and apartment to houses using wall painting or mural as the point of view for the room. Mural becoming the attractiveness for the visitor who comes to the cafĂŠ or resto. Mural it is made adjusted with the taste, concept cafĂŠ itself, to the media branding. Yes! Usually, cafĂŠ and resto make the mural with various menus they provide, interesting right?
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The major difference between Graffiti, Mural and Street art is that Graffiti artists aren’t interested in public understanding of their work even though they place their work in public. Graffiti is only created to speak with other graffiti artists. Whereas in Street art artists make a statement, want everyone to view and get engaged by their work. Both Graffiti writing and street art are contemporary art movements, however, there technique, function, and intent is different. Graffiti is hard to read but this is not the case with either mural or street art. In mural and street art different painting methods are used. Also, both these art forms done in daylight, unlike Graffiti. Street art is abstract and artists sign under the painting.
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Graffiti has a negative connotation whereas mural is completely different. The mural is directly painted on a wall, ceiling like graffiti but the process is different this is what makes both distinct. These are the major differences between these art forms. Painting is done to express what the artist thinks but the way they express and out it across publicly is what matters and makes these art forms differ.
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Development Developing a classification of graffiti styles may seem a daunting task. Graffiti developed over several decades but this relatively short time span when compared to other art forms does not seem to affect the richness of their stylistic expressions. History of graffiti goes back to Roman times, but these first graffiti scribbled on Roman houses were not created with any aesthetic idea behind them so they can’t be described as one of the graffiti styles. In the 20th century graffiti are considered an urban art form, but not by everyone. From the first widespread appearance in New York subway to buildings and walls around the city, graffiti had a bad reputation that often provoked negative actions by the officials. Some of the early graffiti masters were even incarcerated and persecuted for their work, which was pronounced as vandalism by political elites. From initial struggles to perhaps the most prevalent art form, graffiti developed in different styles following the initial dominant forms of tagging and throw-ups. Tags
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and throw-ups are the most basic forms of graffiti, which are the writings of the names of graffiti creatives in highly stylized letters. Throw-ups are slightly more complicated than graffiti tags and include the use of more colors. Some of the first taggers in New York were TAKI 183 and SNAKE-I.
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Over time graffiti styles developed into more complex representations that surpass the lettering and include figurative and abstract compositions. The quality of such images and their critical edge raised the importance of graffiti, and influenced their transition from streets to studios and galleries. Many of contemporary graffiti creatives now operate in both fields - they are still active on the streets, but the art market is now open for their works as well. Banksy, Lushsax, Shepard Fairey, and even the old-school taggers such as SNAKE-I now present and sell their works in galleries and auctions.
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From simple scribbled names on the walls, graffiti are today done in numerous styles. Some of these types of graffiti such as stickers and hardcore graffiti may not formulate a style per se, but are part of the street art scene. Stickers are created in studios or any other place where street creatives operate and are later applied on walls, while hardcore style is a slightly edgier form of tagging, and is described as a violent vandal form of tagging or throw-up.
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Graffiti Art Styles: A Classification System presents a classification system for graffiti styles that reflects the expertise of graffiti writers and the work of art historian Erwin Panofsky. Based on Panofsky’s theories of iconographical analysis, the classification model is designed to identify the style of a graffiti piece by distinguishing certain visual characteristics. The classification system also demonstrates the relevance of Panofsky’s theories of iconographical analysis to the provision of access to non-representational or abstract images. The result is a novel paradigm for Panofsky’s theories that challenges the assumptions of traditional models. This innovative book is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to learn more about graffiti and for information professionals concerned with both the practical and intellectual issues surrounding image access.
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Old School - From Subway to the World Old School refers to graffiti styles developed in the 1970s and 80s at the beginning of graffiti art. They are basic tag and throw-up graffiti that have been widely present in New York’s subway system at first. Later they emerged from this underground cradle to take over the city and initiate the burgeoning of this art form. SNAKE-I, TAKI 183, KIKO and DESA were among the first taggers in New York whose works swamped the subway system of the city.
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Wildstyle Graffiti This style may be hard to decipher, but is visually equally, or even more engaging than other graffiti styles. Many consider it the queen discipline of the New York graffiti. The convoluted and interlocked letters, arrows, spikes and other decorative elements merge into one another making it difficult to discern what has been written. The complex pattern of letters and other forms creates dynamic abstract images where letters can only be detected by professionals.
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Bubble - Rounding up of Tags and Throw-Ups The name of this graffiti style gives much apropos the style’s aesthetics. The rounding of letters in classical throw-ups was the initial phase that led to the development of bubble style. The letters are round, circular and often overlapping partially one another, creating an image that seems to expand and bubble-up in a way. Bubble graffiti style can be done in two colors, where letters are sprayed in one color, and later outlined with another, creating a contrast, or multiple colors can be applied for a more exuberant effect.
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Brush - Creating Painterly Results Relatively quick to execute once the initial design is settled, brush style stands for the use of brush or paint rollers which create a smooth final effect. Brush graffiti are devoid of unnecessary lines and petty details, but sometimes, brushes may be used for the execution of fine points, which creates a more painterly result. In the example we selected to illustrate this style, graffiti artist Zilda made a reminiscence of Renaissance art on a wall in Naples.
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Abstract - Following Historical Precursors In abstract style the main goal is not readability, but the visual excellence of each piece. There is no message or writing that addresses the viewers. Instead, the emphasis in on the combination of visual elements that creates dynamic and balanced pieces. Following in steps of the painterly and sculptural abstraction developed in the 20th century, abstract graffiti similarly represent intricate formal arrangements, where color, shape, lines and organization of compositions are of the foremost importance.
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Blockbuster Graffiti Blockbuster style stands for large murals made of sprayed letters that are done quickly, and sometimes with the use of paint rollers. The goal of blockbuster graffiti is to cover a large space in a short amount of time. Two groups are distinguished within the blockbuster graffiti style. The first is block graffiti. The use of large square and rectangular letters distinguish this style, while the second group - wholecar - stands for sprayed art that covers whole trains, from left to right and from top to bottom.
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Fat Cap - Spraying the Widest Lines Fat cap is a name for a special nozzle invented for graffiti art. The nozzle is put on a can of spray paint, and was invented in the late 1960s by graffiti artist Supercool. It allows a wider stream of spray to come out of the can, creating the largest lines. It is particularly used for tags, throw-ups and fillings, which are, due to the width of lines, defined as a special stylistic group named fat cap.
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Stencil - Worldwide Subculture Perhaps the most popular style at the moment, stencil stands for graffiti style where shapes made of cardboard, paper or other materials are used for reproduction of images. The desired forms are cut out of these materials and applied with spray paint or roll-on paint on the walls and other surfaces. The use of stencils makes replication of images easy, and this also contributes to the popularity of this style, which has in recent years grow into a worldwide subculture. Some of the most recognizable names of stencil art are Above, Banksy, Blek le Rat, Vhils, and Shepard Fairey.
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Cartoon - Graffiti Comics Cartoons, superheroes from comics or surreal motifs define the style widely known as cartoon. The style combines figures and motifs either taken from popular culture or creatives invent their own cartoon figures. Creating a surreal world of cartoon characters is the mission of Cof, an urban artist from Argentina, who we picked to illustrate this style. His inspiration came from the 1980s Argentinian publication Fierro. Cof was inspired by the marvelous illustrations and stories in this periodical, which prompted him to create his own cartoon worlds on the walls of Buenos Aires.
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3D - Adding New Dimension As the name suggests, 3D graffiti create illusion of the third dimension in represented images. Besides the walls, making 3D graffiti on pavements and roads is also popular. Landscapes, crevices that seem to appear in urban textures, figures and other forms that seem to pop-up on the middle of sidewalks make this style particularly popular. Some of the creatives known for the masterful use of this style are Edgar Mueller, Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner.
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Sharp - Cutting Edge Street Art In sharp style the letters or abstract elements are sprayed or painted in as sharp and angular forms as possible. Although in other styles sharp forms may be present, this style pushes them to their limits. Thinning, stretching and contorting of letters is extreme, which often renders these works to appear violent, aggressive and forceful.
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Thoughts by Tim Merriman If graffiti is old enough, it is called pictographs or petroglyphs and we not only interpret it, we go to great lengths to protect it. Turkeys and waterfowl painted on the walls of shelter caves in Tsegi Canyon in Navajo National Monument tell a story of how the landscape changed due to drought. People who occupied the canyon before 1,000 A.D. enjoyed a more lush and verdant landscape with lots of wildlife. They kept what amounts to a library and art collection on the walls of the cave and I enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the culture of their times from what was left behind. Much modern graffiti on the streets of major cities like New York or Athens is either offensive or incredibly artistic and sometimes it’s both. It makes me wonder why art programs in schools have declined. I wonder if there would be as much tagging of trains, walls and city streets if young people had less anger and frustration and more opportunities to be successful artists in school and daily life. Some parks and museums in the U.S. have limited tagging by encouraging young
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people to create murals for public spaces or painting electrical boxes. How do we engage these highly motivated and talented individuals to keep graffiti in the realm of public art?
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Graffiti carved on living trees is the most objectionable for me. A tree is another living entity on our planet and should not have to endure the indignity of tattoos given by a human. It may not care, but I hate to see it. I don’t know how you stop it in remote settings but it is especially offensive in parks and natural areas. It’s usually a very temporary message about “John and Marsha,” not a broader cultural statement about profound events. Trees are thicker skinned than me, and eventually new growth may cover the offensive scars.
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I am both amused and mildly offended by the temporary graffiti made from chunks of bleached white coral arranged over black lava on the Big Island of Hawaii. As you drive north from Kona up the Kohala coast, you see silly messages, messages of love and other symbols meaningful only to the maker and few others. Tourists and locals often stop to dismantle another person’s art to create their own in this constantly changing mosaic of messages made from natural materials. There are other ways to use the landscape as a temporary canvas with sensibilities about not changing things forever. I rather enjoy cornfields turned into mazes or messages seen only by planes. Andrew Amador has made a career of decorating beaches with amazing patterns and pictures, knowing that wind, weather and water will erase his work on a regular basis.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenir_(typeface) https://unsplash.com/s/photos/graffiti https://www.nadib-bandi.com/en/peinture-toile/diptyque-post-graffiti-abstrait-swiss-trip/ https://cooltourspain.com/wildstyle-graffiti/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti https://www.shockblast.net/tats-cru/ https://www.graffiti.org https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/graffiti-styles https://www.artwhitecanvas.com/blog/how-different-are-graffiti-muraland-street-art https://www.imural.id/en/blog/mural-understanding/
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https://news.stlpublicradio.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2016-01-26/isgraffiti-art-and-what-is-the-difference-between-murals-and-legal-illegalgraffiti-in-st-louis https://artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/sQISuNYoljysIg https://wsimag.com/architecture-and-design/2424-street-art-controversy https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/28811.Banksy https://www.widewalls.ch/artists/mike-edwards https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/upper-intermediate-b2-reading/history-graffiti https://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/shepard-fairey https://learnodo-newtonic.com/famous-graffiti-artists
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