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'Writers' as they usually call themselves, do not get much chance to straighten out this 'misunderstanding' or talk people through the reasoning behind their activities.

What adolescent/youth interests are met by the subculture and why do these seemingly diminish as members get older and give up their involvements?

Of all the issues neglected in the study of subcultures those surrounding gender are the most glaring.

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Brewer & Miller 1990

Castleman 1982

Chalfant & Prigoff 1987

Cooper & Chalfant 1984

Films: WildStyle & Style Wars

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Street / Hip Hop is just over 30 years old, originating in New York

TAKI 183

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“I can’t tell you whether that’s an art form, im not an art critic. But I can sure as hell tell you that that’s a crime” Crime Prevention Coordinator for the New York Transit Police Department

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“That’s my money that’s being diverted from providing me with good clean safe secure rapid transit"

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“It’s for me to see my name and to know I’ve been there that I bombed it, it’s not for them. It’s for other graffiti artists and me.” Paraphrase of ‘SKEME’

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“It’s a whole miserable subculture”

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“Theres plenty of art courses in the schools, why don’t the parents tell them that it’s wrong” – Mayor of NY

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“We’ve drenched the city in our names,we’re trying our damnest”

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“I never realized it meant so much to them” Street interview

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“Everyone had their own arrow”

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An living example of art wars, inner rules and battles between artists

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The transition to graffiti becoming paletable potentially started in galleries, what was innately temporary started to become something that could last a lifetime

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A massive overhaul of the transit system and defence of the trains, yard dogs and barbed wire made bombing and train graff much harder and rarer,

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‘Old enough to know better, but still young enough  to fucking love it!’

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The book is an exploration into why graffiti is so prominent in male youth as well as the various circumstances that lead to ‘deviant’ behaviour. She also leans into a similar observation to other writers that graffiti is a premeditated and careful artform, not a reckless lashing out of vandalism.

It was written by Nancy Macdonald a qualified and passionate ethnographer who has an extremely self-reflective approach to her work. She observes the impact of her gender and the limitations and lack thereof in her interactions with informants.

As an academic paper it is heavily laden with intellectual language with a phenomenal understanding of graffiti jargon. I feel like this thus narrows the target audience from a wide commercial usage, it’s for other academics and potentially graffiti practitioners to better understand the history and origins of their craft. It also has high potential in a ethnographic audience along with studiers of Gender and Sexuality with its exploration of gender roles and the predominance of men in the field.

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Critical Review / Deeper analysis of Primary Sources & Media

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Critical Review / Deeper analysis of Primary Sources & Media

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A collection of all my analytical writings on some key books & sources

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Critical Review of the Book by Jackson Lewis

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Critical Review of the Book by Jackson Lewis

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The text seems to be exploring the use of surfaces as a crucial conversation between citizens and their city and how both citizens and city use it to converse in a sense with each other and themselves.

I feel like the text is an exploration into the vast expanse of surfaces in the city and how they communicate an equally expansive relay of communications. It aims to bring the reader more in touch with their environments and understanding them.

It was written in 2024 by Sabina Andron, an architectural historian and ‘urban scholar’ interested in the surfaces of cities as sites of political contention. She seems to approach her writing from a political understanding as well as a sense of ownership of the city on behalf of the citizens in it. Whilst touching on graffiti a lot in her academic career, she has a phenomenal interplay with its effect and interaction with the city.

The writing touches on a rarely visited idea that graffiti was used as a scapegoat for the cities shortcomings, emphasised by a phenomenal quote by Sommer 1975:

‘I cannot stand by silently and hear the dirty, dingy and depressing stations hailed as an exemplary standard of urban design. No one can attribute the decades of which the stations remained dirty, poorly lit, foul smelling and crime-ridden to a few kids with spray cans.’

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I like this exploration, the city has a sense of duty, you could argue to maintain a certain standard of cleanliness and safety throughout the city and is expected to apply this to the eradication of graffiti. The idea that it could be used as a scapegoat too is another level to the cities encounter with it.

The paper looks at the predictable failures of various administrations to successively and predictably combat graffiti as itself an addition to public panic and ‘fear-mongering’. To save face and maintain a superior moral highground they’d have to double down on their efforts and image.

It makes a phenomenal point which I agree is prevalent in modern governments is ignoring the primary issues resulting in deviant and criminal behaviour. Rather than addressing the causes behind graffiti and homelessness and similar ‘crimes’ they push them to the side and deal with less scary problems as a performative measure to prove themselves to a public image.

I struggle to see who this is specifically aimed at, I think it’s a device to communicate to academics and higher authorities in a fantastically intellectual manner about the shortcomings and failures of government to circumnavigate the real issues they need to combat.

Thus I find it has a strong opinionated stance and political message behind its analysis and definitely focuses it’s attention towards the political and social actions of the ‘city’ rather than the artists.

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A large document of the sporadic notes, links and information I made during my research.

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GRAFFITI ROOT + PRESERVED POMPEIIAN GRAFFITI 

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GRAFFITI ROOT + PRESERVED POMPEIIAN GRAFFITI 

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The Bawdy Graffiti of Pompeii and Herculaneum

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Everyone is now familiar with the release of quite explicit photos and service charges found on the walls of a brothel excavated at Pompeii, the resort town destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CCE. Now for your viewing pleasure comes a list of bawdy graffiti scrawled on the walls of Herculaneum and Pompe

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Book is fantastic for links to other sources and information

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Book is fantastic for links to other sources and information

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In regards to graffiti in London: “Several groups are working to channel the creativity and energy of kids into something more constructive” 

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In regards to graffiti in London: “Several groups are working to channel the creativity and energy of kids into something more constructive” 

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One example of the groups in London https://onthelevelproductions.co.uk/conscious-graffiti-workshops-for-schools-and-youth-centres/

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Graffiti workshops for young people at schools and youth centres

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We promote personal development by providing responsible graffiti workshops for children and young people at schools and educational centres.

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Log in to HeinOnline, a premier research platform providing access to thousands of journals, government documents, international resources, and much more.

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This book was a foundation into my knowledge of graffiti, a look into the root causes of graffiti and the effect on society it has

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A phenomenal insight into the concept of a 'right to the surface'

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A phenomenal insight into the concept of a 'right to the surface'

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The book looks at the semiotics of city surfaces and a citizens ownership of a cities surfaces

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MENTIONS CHAKA – PROLIFIC ARTIST: SEE FACEism DOC

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MENTIONS CHAKA – PROLIFIC ARTIST: SEE FACEism DOC

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MENTIONS AERO SOUL WHO’S PROFESSED PURPOSE: 

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MENTIONS AERO SOUL WHO’S PROFESSED PURPOSE: 

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‘cover up “gang graffiti” with brilliantly hued artistic statements inspired by comic books, pop-song lyrics and personal relationships” see https://www.aerosoulart.com

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See Phil Sneiderman, Group Protests Graffiti at FurnitureWarehouse, L.A. TIMES (Home ed.), Apr. 21, 1990, at B3 (noting that community menibers protested a commissioned mural as graffiti which would stimulate illegal graffiti).

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A huge amount of information regarding the ineffectiveness on aggressive legal and financial repercussions are a gold mine for looking at why these practices faded out. A key note to revisit.

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While cleanup programs have been

somewhat effective in addressing the short-term effects of
graffiti, removing graffiti without addressing writers' motivations to paint ultimately will prove ineffective.

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Intensely negative reception from a lot of adult figures, see it on the same level as pickpocketing and theft.

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TAKI 183 was the one that made getting your name up everywhere famous

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If the problem continues, contact the site owner.

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TAKI 183 on Instagram: "Napoleon Crowning"

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1,526 likes, 28 comments - taki183 on August 13, 2022: "Napoleon Crowning". 

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by TAKI 183 (@taki183)

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Brotherhood and raising the younger generation to improve their style.

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Brotherhood and raising the younger generation to improve their style.

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Huge links to hip hop and break dancing and developing that individual style.

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The transition to graffiti becoming palatable potentially started in galleries, what was innately temporary started to become something that could last a lifetime

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A massive overhaul of the transit system and defence of the trains, yard dogs and barbed wire made bombing and train graff much harder and rarer,

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Style Wars is a bible and staple into the development of graffiti and vital to understanding the history of the subculture

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An extremely compelling documentary giving a voice to the, primarily, young men and the justifications, excuses, drives and passions behind their art. A particularly strong narrative is this idea of claiming the city, in a city rigid in aesthetic, It’s a way of making it yours. “It’s for me to see my name and to know that I’ve been there” Skeme. I always struggled understanding the “wildstyle” aesthetic and impossible to read tags, but I’ve since understood it’s about seeing yourself in the city you live in. On your walk to school, work wherever, seeing that you’ve been there. I personally love it as the world we live in is quite rigid feeling, the buildings are the way they are and the newer builds look the same.

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Another particularly striking thing I noticed in the film was just how young a lot of the writers were along with the tremendous sense of brother hood they had. Teaching the inexperienced and younger lads among them with a fatherlike dynamic and these kids were 14-16!

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Paper loosely touches on the different applications of graffiti and the almost collaborative work with the government that’s unspoken. Graffiti is inherently temporary as it will be gone over, painted or buffed by the government and thus ensues a to and fro with it’s participants and respective combatants. The lines blur with street art and “impressive” pieces where people begin to even shrug the illegality of it in trade for its beauty and objective skill

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A thesis in which they explore the art of graffiti through its culture and process as it thrives in London, England

https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_theses/617/

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Graffiti is primarily a product of an urban environment that local governments need to engage with creatively, not

merely take a strict zero tolerance approach where engagement is seen as a diversion that hopes to tame a

vigorous and diverse form of expression.

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In reference to ‘The Love Melbourne group’: 

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In reference to ‘The Love Melbourne group’: 

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had as their objective the “eradication of any uncontrolled graffiti within Melbourne, through

tougher policing, new anti-graffiti legislation, commissioned works, education, penalties, establishment of graffiti

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Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne by Jake Smallman and Carl Nyman along with ‘The City Lights Street art gallery’ (https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/galleries/city-lights)

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Yet for most graffiti artists their work is not about destruction so much as being an addition to the environment, a considered

placement.

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Dlux, a Melbourne stencil artist, claims there is an ethic within stencillers’ circles about which sites constitute “fair

game” – artists, he says, avoid heritage buildings and, for the most part, residential properties.

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The City of Melbourne will work with property owners, mangers and occupiers, graffiti writers, Victorian Police

and local communities to investigate providing legitimate avenues for murals and street art to be displayed.

The City of Melbourne will engage with the arts community regarding murals and street art, for example, in

conjunction with cultural festivals or arts development projects in the public domain.

The City of Melbourne will positively engage with graffiti writers in mentoring and arts programmes to facilitate

opportunities for legitimate artistic expression and to divert their efforts away from illegal and towards high quality

work.

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It is just not possible to divorce most street art from

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It is just not possible to divorce most street art from

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tagging; a form that also has its own styles and levels of expertise.

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MelbourneGraffiti.com – Artist interviews etc

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MelbourneGraffiti.com – Artist interviews etc

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But in the eyes of some in the street art community, creating legal walls is robbing the work of its core practice, which is one of illegality.

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Graffiti is an art form, say public | YouGov

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Most British people think some graffiti is acceptable – and it can be a form of art

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My initial ideas surrounded creating and exhibiting works alongside collaboration with 100 Yards and Faith Jung

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I wanted to create this regal display of graffiti to totally contrast the illegality and 'dirty' association of graffiti.

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I think an essence of contrast & irony stuck throughout this project as I wanted to explore the hated aspect of graffiti. This extended to more 'cult' areas like grillz and street wear photography.

It was for this reason I wanted the displays in this original idea to be very regal. I loved this idea of showing this dirty vandalism as a prestigious achievement

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Despite these ideas not happening I still created some canvas pieces outside of the module for an event with the collaborators.

It just didn't take centre stage

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This idea generation had come before any written work for my dissertation, as I hadn't landed on a title, I lacked a source to relate it back to.

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Paul raised a fantastic point that a broad subject makes it very difficult to explore practically and make a definitive point of research. By choosing a specific location, be that a country, city, type of road, canalside, only on the side of vans etc, I can narrow down my frame of reference.

This then made me reconsider how stylised my 'frames' would be if I were to use that visual language as If it was in the form of a Japanese Pagoda, it will immediately put into the minds of a viewer that it is about Japanese Street art. which would be fantastic if that is what I chose to write about.

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As my title centred my work around the relationships between the groups that interact with graffiti a project reflecting those opinions and relationships started to grow from this root of irony and visual language.

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The issues of permission and a lack of understanding came up in regards to the root causes of graffiti and the root displays of it: Tagging. I wanted to look at this 'bottom of the barrel' sort of, aspect of graffiti and see if there's an ironic visual language to explore it in.

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How about, rather than creating a masterpiece and framing it, why not go out and frame tags around Birmingham and exhibit them like masterpieces!

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The canal route from City Centre - Bourneville

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The canal route from City Centre - Bourneville

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Broad explorational initial research

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Charity shops were the first stop, I had a few different options but they were all very expensive.

I then found an ancient second shop which sold frames for £5, I grabbed a couple.

There were some old frames knocking around the university from projects of old, ancient things but had been painted a bright gold

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I decided to bring along the bright gold frames. This was because I was shooting some dingey and dark places, and to lend itself to the ironic display of graffiti around birmingham.

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The canals felt the most contextually significant. It's the route I go to work, and get into town via. It's where I witness most graffiti in my day to day life and this is a chance to show it off and document it.

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City Centre

Digbeth

Canals

Highways

Trainstations

Tunnels