Graffiti: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Note: This page is about "graffiti", the wall-markings. See Graffiti (PalmOS) for the PalmOS handwriting system.

Note: Graffiti is the plural of graffito, but the singular form is rarely heard. The origin of both words (taken from Italian) is the Greek γραφειν (graphein), meaning "to write", which is also the root of graphic.

Historical forms

Graffiti originally was the term used for inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on the walls of ancient sepulchers or ruins, as in the Catacombs, or at Pompeii. But has evolved to include any decorations inscribed on any surface that are considered to be vandalism or pictures or writing placed on surfaces, usually outside walls and sidewalks, without the permission of the owner.

The Romans carved graffiti into both their own walls and monuments and there are also, for instance, Egyptian ones. The graffiti carved on the walls of Pompeii was preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius and offers us a direct insight into street life: everyday Latin, insults, magic, love declarations, political consigns. One example has even been found that stated "Cave Canem", which translates as "Beware of Dog".

On the other hand, Viking graffiti can be found in Rome, and Varangians carved their runes in Hagia Sophia. Many times in history graffiti was used as form of fight with opponents (see Orange Alternative, for example). The Irish had their own inscriptive language called Ogham.

Frescos and murals are art forms that involve leaving images and writing on wall surfaces. Like the ancient cave wall paintings in France, they are not graffiti, as they are created with the explicit permission (and usually support) of the owner of the walls.

In the 20th century, 'Kilroy was Here' became famous graffiti, as did Mr. Chad, which was a face with only the eyes and a nose hanging over the wall saying "What No...?" (thing that lacked at the time) during the time of rationing.

Some graffiti may be local or regional in nature, such as the wall tagging of gangs in Southern California such as the Bloods and the Crips. Commonly, in the Washington, DC area, the name Cool "Disco" Dan (including the quotation marks) tends to be seen.

A record number of words have been invented or joined to express different styles of graffiti. One such word is back to back, which means a piece of graffiti that is done all the way across a wall from one end to the next. This could be seen in some parts of the Berlin Wall on the West side.

Theories and use of graffiti by avant-garde artists has a history dating at least to the Scandinavian Institute of Comparative Vandalism in 1961.

Graffiti is subject to different societal pressures from popularly-recognized art forms, since graffiti appears on walls, freeways, buildings, trains or any accessible surfaces that are not owned by the person who applies the graffiti. This means that graffiti forms incorporate elements rarely seen elsewhere. Spray paint and broad permanent markers are commonly used, and the organizational structure of the art is sometimes influenced by the need to apply the art quickly before it is noticed by authorities. In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by graffiti artists. This discourages petty vandalism yet encourages artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being caught or arrested for vandalism or trespassing.

Some of those who practice graffiti art are keen to distance themselves from gang graffiti. There are differences in both form and intent. The purpose of graffiti art is self-expression and creativity, and may involve highly stylized letter forms drawn with markers, or cryptic and colorful spray paint murals on walls, buildings, and even freight trains. Graffiti artists strive to improve their art, which is constantly changing and progressing. The purpose of gang graffiti, on the other hand, is to mark territorial boundaries, and is therefore limited to a gang's neighborhood; it does not presuppose artistic intent.

Others regard graffiti as an unwanted nuisance, and many more consider it be expensive vandalism that must be repaired. To remove graffiti, high pressure cleaning can be used; it can also be painted over or, as a prevention, a specially formulated antigraffiti coating can be applied to the surface of high-risk areas.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 is the latest anti graffiti legislation to be passed in Britain.

The strand of graffiti art which is considered one of the four elements of Hip Hop is usually denoted as urban 'Aerosol Art'. Sometimes synonymous with "Hip-Hop heads," so-called graffiti artists have gone beyond that stereotype and are abundant even among middle-class white children. There are different genres, from Philly's wicked style to California and New York's wild style graffiti. Graffiti artists are classified based on their style or even on what surface they use.

Graffiti tagging existed in Philadelphia in the 1960's, pioneered by Cornbread and Cool Earl. Another Philadelphia product, Top Cat, later exported the characteristic Philly style of script (tall, slender lettering with platforms at the bottom) to NYC where it gained populariy as "Broadway Elegant". It wasn't until it reached popularity in the New York City subway system that it took on an extravagant artistic role, expanding from tags to full-blown "pieces". One of the originators of New York graffiti was TAKI 183; a foot messenger who would tag his nickname around New York streets that he daily frequented en route. A Greek-American, Taki was his nickname, diminutive for Demetrius, he took the 183 from his address. After being showcased in the NY Times, the "tag" (stylized signature) was being mimicked by hundreds of urban youth within months. It should be noted that there were other writers active in NYC before Taki, such as JULIO 204, but he brought the most attention to the movement. With the innovation of art, and the craving to gain the widest audience, attempts by taggers were made. What developed was a strict adherence to spraypaint, sampling foreign calligraphy, and the much anticipated mural (that usually covered an entire subway car). The artist was called a "writer," and so were groups of associated artists, called "crews". The movement spread on the streets, returned to the railroads where tagging was popularized by Hobos, spread nationwide with the aid of media and Rap music; thus, being yet mimicked again worldwide.

In the early 1980s, the combination of a booming art market and a renewed interest in painting resulted in the rise of a few graffiti artists to art-star status. Jean-Michel Basquiat, a former street-artist known by his "Samo" tag, and Keith Haring, a professionally-trained artist who adopted a graffiti style, were two of the most widely recognized graffiti artists. In some cases the line between "simple" graffiti and unsanctioned works of public art can be difficult to draw.

In the early 1980s one of the largest community Graffiti Art Battles took place next to the Bull Ring shopping centre in Birmingham, England. The City invited a selection of the UK's most renown graffiti artists such as local artist Goldie, Bristol's 3D (who went on to form Massive Attack), London's Mode from the Chrome Angels and Bronx Man Brim and his New York alter ego Bio attending for good measure.

Clips from the Battle can be seen in Channel 4 documentary called bombing.

It was a rare occasion of the age for so many prestigious artists to come together on one wall - many battles would lead to gang rivalry especially if one artist would "bite," or copy, another's style.

The massive boards were errected with scaffolding in place to enable free movement of the artists.

In the '80s and early '90s the writers Cost and Revs were the first to get up with their name with the new techniques that would be a new form of graffiti, ie Post-Graffiti or also known as Street Art. The participants use stencils, posters, stickers and installations to spread their art illegally in the streets. Since the '90s Shepard Fairey influenced many of today's street artists with his 'Obey Giant' campaign. Other important Street Artists are C6.org who incorporate new technologies into street graffiti art, Banksy probably the most famous of the stencil artists, D*Face (UK), Stak, HNT, Alexone, André (France), Swoon famous for the Cut-out Poster technique, Faile, (USA), Os Gemeos, Herbert (Brazil), Gomes, Graffitilovesyou, Flying Fortress (Germany), Influenza, Erosie (Holland) and many more.

Hip-hop

• Harald Naegeli
• Keith Haring
• Loomit
• DAIM
• Futura 2000
• Seen
• Goldie
• Brim
• 3D from Massive Attack
• Mode from Chrome Angels
• Dwane, in Sweden
• Jean-Michel Basquiat

Street Art/Post Graffiti

• Banksy

Avant-Garde

• Asger Jorn
• Alexander Brener

• Fatbucks Magazine Worldwide Graf Magazine
• Bomblondon.com
• C6
• Stencil Revolution
• Ekosystem
• Daim´s Homepage
• Banksy
• D-Face
• Tofer
• The Plug
• Invader
• Above
• Crooked Industries
• Shepard Fairey
• Flying Fortress
• Toasters
• The London Police
• Miss Van
• Wooster Collective
• Razhia Streetart Database
• DuncanCumming.co.uk
• Jefka
• Fafi
• 6-_-©||||||||>@rtist.info
• A Graffiti Wiki

van Treeck, Bernhard: Das große Graffiti-Lexikon, Lexikon-Imprint-Verlag, Berlin, 2001, ISBN 389601292X

van Treeck, Bernhard und Metze-Prou, Sibylle: Pochoir - die Kunst des Schablonengraffiti, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin, 2000 ISBN 3896023276

van Treeck, Bernhard: Street Art Berlin, Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf, Berlin, 1999 ISBN 3896021915

van Treeck, Bernhard: Wandzeichnungen, Edition aragon, Moers, 1995 ISBN 3895354244

Urban Discipline 2000 ? Graffiti-Art Peters/Reisser/Zahlmann. 2000 Ausstellungskatalog getting-up (Deutschland) ISBN 3000061541

Urban Discipline 2001 ? Graffiti-Art Peters/Reisser/Zahlmann. 2001 Ausstellungskatalog getting-up (Deutschland) ISBN 3000079602

Urban Discipline 2002 ? Graffiti-Art Peters/Reisser/Zahlmann. 2002 Ausstellungskatalog getting-up (Deutschland) ISBN 3000094210

Exhibizion, Z 2000 Ute Baumgärtel. 2000 Ausstellungskatalog/Exhibition catalogue Akademie der Künste Berlin Die Gestalten Verlag (Deutschland) ISBN 393112634x

Graffiti Art #1 Deutschland - Germany Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf (Deutschland) ISBN 3896020285

Graffiti Art #3 Writing in München 1995 Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf (Deutschland) ISBN 3896020455

Graffiti Art #4 Ruhrgebiet-Rheinland Hrsg: O. Schwarzkopf. 1995 Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf (Deutschland) ISBN 389602051x

Graffiti Art #7 Norddeutschland 1997 Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf (Deutschland) ISBN 3896021362

Graffiti Art #9 Wände Hrsg: B. van Treeck. 1998 Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf (Deutschland) ISBN 3896021613

Graffiti Art #8 Charakters B. van Treeck. 1998 Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf (Deutschland) ISBN 3896021443

Broken Windows Graffiti NYC James Murray, Karla Murray. 2002 Ginko Press (USA) ISBN 1584230789

NYC Graffiti Michiko Rico Nosé. 2000 Graphic-Sha Publishing (Japan) ISBN 476611177x

Graffiti Oggi Karin Dietz. 2001 Ausstellungskatalog/Exhibition catalogue Arte Contemporanea Hirmer/M. Wiedemann (Italien)

Aspects of Graffiti Wortbüro Stefan Michel/Zürich. 2001 Ausstellungskatalog Rote Fabrik (Schweiz)

Backjumps Sketch Book Adrian Nabi. 1996 Backjumps (Deutschland) ISBN 3980684601

HamburgCity Graffiti 2003 Publikat Verlag (Deutschland) ISBN 3980747867

Cope 2, True Legend Donatien B. Orns. 2003 Righters.com (Frankreich) ISBN 2952006086

Le graffiti dans tous ses états 2002 Ausstellungskatalog Taxie Gallery (Frankreich)

AT Down 2000 Octopus (Frankreich) ISBN 295163840x

Stylefile, Blackbook Sessions.01 Markus Christl. 2002 Publikat Verlag (Deutschland) ISBN 3980747824

Hip-Hop Lexikon S. Krekow, J. Steiner, M. Taupitz. 1999 Lexikon Imprint Verlag (Deutschland) ISBN 3896022059

Swiss Graffiti S. von Koeding, B. Suter. 1998 Edition Aragon (Deutschland) ISBN 3895354619

Graffiti Lexikon B. van Treeck. 1998 Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf (Deustchland) ISBN 3896021605

Writer Lexikon Bernhard van Treeck, 1995

Edition Aragon (Deutschland) ISBN 3895354287

Street Art Köln B. van Treeck. 1996 Edition Aragon (Deutschland) ISBN 3895354341

Hall of Fame M. Todt, B. van Treeck . 1995 Edition Aragon (Deutschland) ISBN 3895354309

Best of german graffiti. Band 1 Timeless-X. 2001 Verlag H. M. Hauschild (Deutschland) ISBN 3897571218

Langages de Rue #2 Graff-It!. 2004 Verlag Graf-It! (Frankreich) ISBN 2914714025