What is it about Graffiti that gets people all hot and bothered?
Many of my friends think that Graffiti is a blight on city streets, no better than discarded garbage clogging gutters. It’s an offensive upstart, not an enduring tradition.
Never mind that Graffiti, a form of art in which drawings or inscriptions are put on walls or other surfaces, has been around longer than most civilizations. You can find hand prints stenciled 9,000 years ago at Cueva de las Manos in Argentina, names engraved on Egyptian temples, or highly-prized contemporary Brazilian Street Art on tours of Sao Paulo. It is an ancient and yet vibrant art form.
You’d never know it from the criticism I’ve received for introducing my kids to Graffiti Art.
Our introduction to Graffiti Art started out innocently enough. On a recent trip to New York City, we visited the Communications Exhibit at the Liberty Science Center where Graffiti is included as one of the many forms of “self-expression that enables that which makes us human, as it is a form of communication, which lets us share information, wisdom, hopes and even dreams.”
It’s fascinating to see the many ways that people communicate. Included in this exhibit are displays on: Chinese calligraphy, Incan Knot Numbers, Codes, Rebuses, and many more. You can discover connections between environment and writing, explore the origins of language, or the biology of communication. At the exhibit’s end, you’ll find a large display covering digital communication, including a Citizen Media blogging kiosk.
Quickly bypassing all the other educational displays, my daughter headed straight to the Graffiti Wall where she used digital “spray paint” to leave a “tag.”
She learned that there is a wide variety of modern Graffiti Styles:
Tags – a writer’s coded identity, usually created with one color, these were used to mark territory, and are now often used as signatures.
- Throw-ups – More complex and unique than tags, they may include bubble letters, more
colors, or other styles.
- Pieces – Large paintings, often with 3D effects and more than three colors.
Afterwards, she was gung-ho to look for Graffiti in New York City, but it’s not easy finding outstanding pieces. There aren’t any museums currently featuring Graffiti Art in New York City.
Mostly, we ended up looking around as we explored the city. I couldn’t even find any of Keith Haring’s work on display, except for the ‘Crack is Wack’ Mural that we passed driving by on Harlem River Drive. Not surprisingly, I did notice that as you get away from the center of Manhattan, into the less upscale areas, you do see more Street Art.
Fortunately, through the magic of digital communications, you can go online to access photo galleries of Graffiti Art from all over the world. You’ll find that Street Art looks very different from region to region, and even artist to artist.
I think it is that freedom of expression, the fact that Graffiti is not governed by rules and regulations, that draws me. Anyone can create Graffiti, although not all will produce a “piece.”
Likewise, anyone can blog, and the product can be whatever you wish it to be. Of course, not every article will be a masterpiece, and not every blog will be popular.
But it doesn’t matter if your blog isn’t fabulous, or even if you don’t garner many readers. When you blog, you make a connection. You leave a mark.
Comment, please. I’d love to find the equivalent of tags, throw-ups, and pieces for the Blog Glossary. Any suggestions? What do you think of the following: Blog, BlogUp, BlogPiece, and PopBlog?
Graffiti In New York City:
‘Crack Is Wack’ Mural – Located in the Crack Is Wack Playground on Second Avenue, 127th Street, and Harlem River Drive, within Harlem River Park, this Graffiti Art painted on a handball court has endured over twenty years.
5 Pointz – A warehouse turned artist studios, The Institute of Higher Burnin’, is an outdoor museum featuring the art of famous and novice graffiti artists. See Long Island City Art Tour for directions and dining advice.
Graffiti Online:
Art Crimes – Graffiti images from around the world.
Graffiti Creator – Flash application that allows you to create graffiti-style logos.
Graffiti Playdo – Wield a digital spray can in a game pitting Graffiti artists.
Is This Art? – Video of Muto, a wall painted animation by Blu.
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I love your graffiti/blogging correlation! New York seems like the perfect place for the graffiti introduction with your children. Thanks for sharing the resources.
I didn’t read the comments from your original post, so I apologize that I don’t know what other readers said there, but I think part of the animosity that people feel for graffiti relates to so much of it being put on private property. As a nation, we have canonized the concept of private property. I know I would (instinctively?) be outraged if someone tagged my home, car or privately-owned business building. I also live in a relively small midwestern city where graffiti is almost unheard of… It wouldn’t be the topical matter so much as the idea that these things are “mine”. (I guess I’ve bought into the capitalist system pretty well, haven’t I?)
That said, I find much of graffiti that I see intriguing and even beautiful, and enjoy trying to decipher the meaning in the pictures. Admittedly though, most of the graffiti that I see is placed on things completely unrelated to me, my neighborhood, or my daily life (on train cars going past, in other cities that I travel to, in the more “dodgy” parts of my city… It certainly does appear to fit my idea of art though, an outlet for personal expression – especially as to feelings of outrage, joy, wonder, disenchantment, etc. I’m glad you posted about it.
Sorry, there wasn’t an original post, the comments were from offline friends.
I think you’re right about Americans and property rights. It just bugs me that often the discussion ends right there, without any effort to ever look at the art itself or to provide space that doesn’t violate private property.
Wow – what a cool post – isn’t that just like a blog to make me think of something I’ve never thought of before -brilliant. I’d say you surely have a ‘piece’ here!
I think the view of it as changing, just given even the name of it. It used to be “graffiti” and now it’s “graffiti art.” Plus there’s that guy who used to be a graffiti artist who is now was of the most well paid (and still alive) regular artists. Can’t remember his name at the moment. Cool that you are introducing your kids to art in a cool, interesting way.
Great idea to introduce kids to it as an art. I’ve always looked at graffiti and wondered just how they do that. I know there have been some community events that make it a point to include graffiti artists.
As one who has literally been on both sides of this wall, (as neighborhood watch captain, hand-scrubbing the blight on the landscape of our neighborhood playground and fresh cement walls of the tidelands recreation lagoon, and swearing under my breath at the miscreant gang taggers and machismo turf wars that literally make the community cringe as if there’s ‘encroachment’ and a threat/fear-driven rather than just developmental teen risk taking and ’show-off’ style…) I can say that I’m torn on the conceptualization of ‘art.’
As poetic as it may sound to have an artistic presence that lingers on in ‘daring’ bravado…it’s not so sexy when it equates to the young kids asking inquisitively, ‘mommy, is this playground still safe?’ or ‘what does F*** mean?’ ya know?
That said, I DO concur that there are levels of artistic expression here…and self-expression in the form of graffiti art when it’s in a ‘controlled’ environment (as in ‘have at it—there’s a blank wall on 6th and Mission, go to town, kids’ vs. having it show up on your local public works shed) seems embraceable…
Example? Dave, at Street Styles uses an after-school arts workshop in S.F. to teach middle/high schoolers how to develop their artistic abilities/visual thinking via street art and graffiti techniques, styles, and history as an inspiration and instructional tool.
http://www.woostercollective.com/2007/02/daves_street_styles.html
And here’s a video of his work via SF Chronicle’s coverage:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/culture/detail?blogid=3&entry_id=17453
Meanwhile, I wrote last year about the Sprite/MSN graffiti wall via interactive computer tagging, (which looks like it’s down) but the legacy and branding concepts appear left behind, as you can see in some of these Sprite-themed graffiti murals: http://www.ghava.com/Projects/SpriteMurals
So my point is this…it’s a fine line between celebrating art and self-expression and boundaries of personal/private and public property…Urban youth particularly can REALLY contribute a lot to the conversation (look at Youth Speaks, etc.) in a DIY forum of content/contests etc. vs. random mischief. There’s a big difference in the ethics of anarchy and overwhelm (because someone has to pay to clean up the mess when it’s random tagging) vs. artistic mural creations exemplifying the human condition. Ya know?
I dunno…tough boundary. Just sayin’…I see, hear, and live all sides of this debate, daily.
Amy – Thanks again for adding so much to the discussion! This is exactly what I’m arguing. Your examples demonstrate that it’s possible to make room for Graffiti, without making blanket dismissals based on fears of urban blight. I’m not saying it’s easy, especially if you’re living in an urban area where you’re on the front lines of sharing space.
As a suburban mom, however, I’m just exposing my kids to the idea that we can appreciate a wide variety of artistic expression. Just ’cause we can’t find Graffiti Art in the museum, doesn’t mean it isn’t art.
One more link for you…on a documentary about same:
http://wza.be/bomb-it
Okay…Onnnnnnnnnnnnnnne more…Currently being used as a Virgin Mobile promo/publicity hook…clever indeed: http://rightmusicwrongs.org
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
Hi ! ^_^
My name is Piter Kokoniz. Just want to tell, that your posts are really interesting
And want to ask you: what was the reasson for you to start this blog?
Sorry for my bad english:)
Thank you!
Your Piter
Only just stumbled across this blog and wow! First of all totally agree with the concept and while yes it is unfortunate that graffiti has the ‘rep’ of bein almost agressive it isn’t always the case.I have seen some amazing works done(granted on business walls at times) along my travels and while I understand proprietors being irked their building is defaced(not my word) would it not then give rise to promoting an actual outlet and space for the art to be displayed..best of both worlds no?! The was a display interactive kinda event on in Limerick(‘Writing’s on the wall’) little while back where walls were set up and diff artists came and took part…brilliant.Anyway just saying great blog hopefully things will be more pc in the future eh!