Holly Frith
The Digital Newsroom
Article Two
Graffiti – An unheard generation
Graffiti, is it such a menace to society? The art of graffiti which has recently been given a lot of negative press due to the graffiti tags around Lancashire and other areas of the country has been around for many years, but why are people so split on the issue.
The word and concept of Graffiti means many things to different people. Some people see graffiti as an act of vandalism whilst others see it as art.
So why is Graffiti seen as vandalism to many? Much of the problem seems to be the areas which graffiti artist use as their medium. Unlike many other art forms that are displayed on a canvas, graffiti artists use places like public buildings, trains and private walls. The artist apparent lack of consideration for the medium they use is what people’s main problem is.
As Sami Montage, Editor of Graphotism magazine says about the controversy surrounding graffiti, ‘Graffiti is no one thing; it is as broad as the mix of characters doing it. It is important to consider that some elements of writing are controversial and others are not; for example, painting a piece on a legal wall, permission wall or as a comission are not at all controversial or likely to upset anyone. Painting a train, scratching or using etch on windows or painting illegally in general are more likely to cause offence and, therefore, be more controversial.’’
‘‘For some, the heart of writing lies in it's illegality, the will of an individual to express themselves freely without asking permission from anyone; this is bound to be controversial. A common thing that you'd hear from people whilst painting a wall is 'I really like the big colourful paintings, but not all that scribbling.' To a writer 'the big colourful paintings' (pieces) are just a highly elaborate version of the 'scribbles' (tags), with throw ups or dubs somewhere in the middle.’’
Graffiti started in the 1960’s, teenagers around New York wrote their names on the neighboured walls, rather than using their real names they chose nicknames, giving them a whole new and unidentified image for the street. In 1971 The New York Times published an interview with Taki 183, who lived on the 183rd Street in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan, he spray painted his name and street number every where he went.
Kids around the neighbourhood were impressed by the unsavoury reputation with the public that somebody’s name appearing over a city could cause. The idea of a competition began between youngsters. Inspired by Taki 183, they ‘tagged’ trains and public buildings around the town.
The kids that tags appeared most frequently and in the most out-of-the way places became unsung heroes of the city.
From here graffiti grew, writers experimented with size and colour, large areas were taken up which later became known as ‘pieces’. New styles of script were created, including calligraphy, block-style and bubble-style. Writers then moved on to scale and colour. Tags became larger and depth was added to create three-dimensional effects. Writers also began to add design elements to their names, including arrows, stars, clouds, and crowns.
A campaign was launched in the late 80’s by the NYC Metro Transit Authorities (MTA) to get rid of the subway system graffiti. This act was seen by many to have ended the NYC subway graffiti era. Graffiti had already begun to spread across America and into Canada and Europe.
The reason for why people get into graffiti could simply be answered by anyone. ‘‘Think about the psyche of a young male (most writers are male) trying to make his way in the world, you’d probably think of an individual trying to be heard in the world , self actualise, rebel, have fun, belong and create or destroy.’’
Graffiti is seen as ‘trendy’ at the moment with graffiti expanding to include other art forms, including stencil work, sculptures, stencils and mosaics. ‘‘some people who are not directly involved in it also like it, they probably like the more aesthetically palatable elements of it, ie. Not drippy tags. Ask yourself how many of these people would have actively claimed to like it or even to have really noticed it had it not become trendy thanks to people like Banksy etc.’’
What ever people may think about graffiti, it is simply a generation expressing there views in a society that just won’t listen.
