I Love Graffiti

Graffiti (singular: graffito; the plural is used as a mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is sometimes regarded as a form of art and other times regarded as unsightly damage or unwanted.

Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples going back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. In modern times, spray paint and markers have become the most commonly used materials. In most countries, defacing property with graffiti without the property owner’s consent is considered vandalism, which is punishable by law. Sometimes graffiti is employed to communicate social and political messages. To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions; to others it is merely vandalism. Graffiti has since evolved into a pop culture existence often related to underground hip hop music and break dancing creating a lifestyle that remains hidden from the general public. The controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials/ law enforcement and graffiti artists looking to display their work in public locations. There are many different types and styles of graffiti and it is a rapidly developing art form whose value is highly contested, being reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction.

Some of the most common styles of graffiti have their own names. A “tag” is the most basic writing of an artist’s name in either spray paint or marker. A graffiti writer’s tag is his or her personalized signature. “Tagging” is often the example given when opponents of graffiti refer to vandalism, as they use it to label all acts of graffiti writing (it is by far the most common form of graffiti). Tags can contain subtle and sometimes cryptic messages, and might incorporate the artist’s initials or other letters. As well as the graffiti name, some artists include the year that they completed that tag next to the name, for example “Tox” an artist from London, becomes Tox03, Tox04, etc. John Tsombikos claimed subsequent to his arrest that his “Borf” tag campaign, which gained recognition for its prevalence in Washington, D.C., was in memory of a deceased friend.

Another form is the “throw-up,” also known as a “fill-in,” which is normally painted very quickly with two or three colors, sacrificing aesthetics for speed. Throw-ups can also be outlined on a surface with one color. A “piece” is a more elaborate representation of the artist’s name, incorporating more stylized “block” or “bubble” letters, using three or more colors. This of course is more time consuming and increases the likelihood of the artist getting caught. A “blockbuster” is a large piece done simply to cover a large area solidly with two contrasting colours, sometimes with the whole purpose of blocking other “writers” from painting on the same wall.

A more complex style is “wildstyle”, a form of graffiti involving interlocking letters, arrows, and connecting points. These pieces are often harder to read by non-graffiti artists as the letters merge into one another in an often undecipherable manner. A “roller” is a “fill-in” that intentionally takes up an entire wall, sometimes with the whole purpose of blocking other “writers” from painting on the same wall. Some artists also use stickers as a quick way to “get-up”. While critics from within graffiti culture consider this lazy and a form of cheating, stickers can be quite detailed in their own right, and are often used in conjunction with other materials. Sticker tags are commonly done on blank postage stickers, or indeed anything with an adhesive side to it.

Stencils are made by drawing an image onto a piece of cardboard or tougher versions of paper, and then cut with a razor blade. What is left is then just simply sprayed-over, and if done correctly, a perfect image is left. Many graffiti artists believe that doing blockbusters or even complex wildstyles involves too great an investment of time to justify the practice. Doing wildstyle can take (depending on experience and size) three hours to several days. Another graffiti artist can go over that piece in a matter of minutes with a bubble fill-in. This was exemplified by the writer “CAP” in the documentary Style Wars, who, other writers complain, ruins pieces with his quick throw ups. This became known as “capping” and is often done when there is “beef”, conflict between writers.

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