Types of graffiti: Encyclopedia II - Types of graffiti - Aerosol or spray can art

Types of graffiti - Aerosol or spray can art

The strand of graffiti art which is considered one of the four elements of hip hop culture is usually denoted 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. Different genres exist, from Philadelphia's wicked style to California and New York's wild style graffiti. Graffiti artists are classified based on their style and sometimes even on what surface they use.

Graffiti tagging existed in Philadelphia during the 1960s, 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 New York, where it gained popularity 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, TAKI 183, a Greek-American foot messenger, would tag his nickname around New York streets that he daily frequented en route. His tag expressed a diminutive for Demetrius, while 183 came from his address. After The New York Times showcased him, hundreds of urban youth rapidly started mimicking his tag.

Other active writers existed in New York City before Taki, such as JULIO 204, but an article about Taki in the New York Times brought attention to the movement. With the innovation of art, and the craving to gain the widest audience, taggers made attempts. There developed a preference for spray-paint (due to the fact that artists had to paint their art fast to evade police and security) and a strict adherence to spraypaint, sampling foreign calligraphy, and the much-anticipated mural (that usually covered an entire subway car). The graffiti vandal became a "writer," and groups of associated "writers" became "crews". The movement spread on the streets, returned to the railroads where hobos had popularized tagging, and spread nationwide with the aid of media and rap music; thus spurring imitation worldwide.

New York City's "Lady Pink" became one of the earliest active women on the graffiti scene. Also known as Sandra Fabara, Lady Pink starred at the age of 18 in the classic 1982 hip-hop film Wildstyle. The 1984 film Beat Street documented all the elements and many of the personalities of the early hip-hop movement. Graffiti features strongly in the film, with one of the main characters a writer who works on walls and on subway cars.

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, became two of the most widely recognized graffiti artists. In some cases, the line between "simple" graffiti and unsanctioned works of public art can become blurred.

Types of graffiti - Bombing

"Bombing" in the graffiti world refers to the act of vandalising property with one's signature or logo. "Bombing"-type graffiti can manifest itself in many different forms, but always happens illegally.

• Tag: The simplest and earliest form of modern graffiti, a tag consists of a stylised signature - commonly executed with spray-paint or markers.

• Throw-up: The throw-up involves the execution of one's name in large bubble-like letters. Throw-up design emphasises fast and easy painting.

• Block letters: Different names apply to this style of lettering according to where one comes from, but in general it refers to large, angular, easily-read characters

• Piece: Commonly refers to the complicated letter styles characteristic of graffiti art. Bombers execute pieces illegally, and usually with the least amount of decorum possible.

• Rollers: Graffiti done with paint rollers. Usually very large. Often done by leaning over the edge of a building and painting one's name, logo, etc.

• Other: A lot of bombers have come to use logos, characters or other types of designs to represent themselves.

A primary target for graffiti in urban environments are subway trains. This is especially true for New York City, where "going all city" is considered the holy grail. This phrase means to have your tag inside and outside on a train running each of the many lines of the NYC subway system. Would-be taggers will be hard pressed to paint the modern NYC subway, however: Mayor Giuliani's aggressive "Broken Window" approach to policing the city has all but eliminated subway graffiti. The Mayor's Anti-Graffiti Task Force has more details.

Different names serve to describe different formats of subway graffiti.

• Panel piece (below the windows from door to door)
• coverall (entire side, windows included).
• whole trains (entire train segments, usually of between 8 to 10 train cars)
• whole cars (entire side, windows included)
• top-to-bottoms (from the top to the bottom of a car)

Many instances of this type of artwork can be seen in the movie Style Wars, in the documentary titled Bombing by Afrikaa Bambaataa, and in the book Subway Art by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant.

Freight cars and other railroad cars make another popular target for writers. The origins of train writing probably date back to the hobos of the early 20th century. Generally hobos while freighthopping would write their name or initials on the inside (or less frequently, the outside) of a boxcar to show they had been there, occasionally they would write other hobo symbols in chalk or grease pencil to indicate the train's destination and other routes. Hobos also used water towers in train yards to let other hobos know who had passed through and who had gone where, as depicted in the film Emperor of the North Pole; this system could serve to locate individual hobos by reading the graffiti they had left on the water tower. Railroad workers also wrote graffiti on the outsides of train cars in chalk or grease pencil. One of the most famous railroad-worker tags appeared on train cars throughout the 1970s and 1980s: "Herby," a drawing of a man wearing a sombrero and sleeping under a palm tree.

Although hobos probably originated chalk and grease-pencil train-graffiti, the origins of the use of spray paint on trains remains unknown. Freight train graffiti often (but not exclusively) occurs in a rural setting, perhaps because of the relative unavailability of other objects to paint, although it also happens commonly in Southern California, which has few subways. Freight and subway "writers" share the urge to make their name widely known, as trains run their long and often circuitous routes other artists see and occasionally write over the graffiti already there, creating the occasional nation-wide challenges. Freight graffiti can appear wherever cargo rail travels, however it seems more common in the United States, Central Europe, and South America.

Railroad companies in modern times, in the United States at least, dislike taking a locomotive or car out of service merely to remove graffiti, so they will generally wait until the next scheduled repaint to do so. This means that tags and art on trains may last for quite some time. Graffiti artists have learned to modify their behavior to discourage the railroad from quick repainting. Railroad cars must show certain markings to meet laws or railroad regulations. If these become covered over, the railroad must re-mark them, requiring a total or partial repaint. Such markings include car or locomotive numbers, data stickers, warning labels, etc. Graffiti artists now commonly leave such areas of the car or locomotive alone, meaning that their work may remain for longer.

Graffiti on freights counts as a federal offense in some jurisdictions.

Types of graffiti - Graffiti art battles

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 renowned graffiti artists, including Wolverhampton local artist Goldie, Bristol's 3D (who went on to form Massive Attack), London's Mode from the Chrome Angelz, with Bronx Man Brim and his New York alter ego Bio attending for good measure.

The city erected massive boards with scaffolding in place to enable free movement of the artists. It provided 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. A Channel 4 documentary titled Bombing preserves clips from the Battle.

Types of graffiti - Aerosol safety and removal

Spray paint usually contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—often highly toxic. Some graffiti artists who regularly work with spray paint develop neurological problems due to overexposure to VOCs. An article from graffiti.org contains more information on the subject and recommends that spray painters wear a filter mask when painting. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) also have protective guidelines for working with spray paint [1] [2] [3].

Some heavy duty permanent markers also contain harmful VOCs such as xylene, although the quantity of VOC released will probably be less than with spray paint. Paint markers are another concern, while on the surface they may seem to be less toxic due to lack of particularization, they also contain chemicals like xylene which can be absorbed through the skin (not just through inhalation). Those who use permanent or paint markers should check the label and follow the recommended safety instructions. Care should also be made to reduce skin contact; latex or vinyl gloves are useful for this purpose.

It is not just graffiti artists who must deal with these volatile chemical compounds; the compounds designed to remove graffiti can also be highly toxic. The maintenance workers who work with these substances, however, are usually trained to use them safely. To remove graffiti they generally use techniques such as high pressure cleaning or paint thinning solvents such as Acetone or Toluene; they may also paint over or, as a prevention, apply a specially formulated anti-graffiti coating to the surface of high-risk areas.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Aerosol or spray can art", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki