Graffiti (singulargraffiti orgraffito, the latter only used ingraffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view.[1][2] Graffiti ranges from simple written"monikers" to elaborate wall paintings, and has existedsince ancient times, with examples dating back toancient Egypt,ancient Greece, and theRoman Empire.[3]
Modern graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is consideredvandalism.[4] Modern graffiti began in theNew York City subway system andPhiladelphia in the early 1970s and later spread to the rest of the United States and throughout the world.[5]
Etymology
"Graffiti" (usually both singular and plural) and the rare singular form "graffito" are from the Italian wordgraffiato ("scratched").[6][1][2] In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimeschalk orcoal were used. The word originates from Greekγράφειν—graphein—meaning "to write".[7]
Mostpetroglyphs andgeoglyphs date between 40,000 and 10,000 years old, the oldest beingcave paintings in Australia.[8] Paintings in theChauvet Cave were made 35,000 years ago, but little is known about who made them or why.[8] Early artists createdstencil graffiti of their hands with paint blown through a tube. These stencils may have functioned similarly to a modern-daytag.[8]
The oldest written graffiti was found inAncient Rome around 2500 years ago.[9] Most graffiti from the time was boasts about sexual experiences,[10] but also includes word games such as theSator Square, "I was here" type markings, and comments on gladiators.[8] Graffiti in Ancient Rome was a form of communication, and was generally not considered vandalism.[8] Certain graffiti was seen as blasphemous and was removed, such as theAlexamenos graffito, which may contain one of the earliest depictions ofJesus. The graffito features a human with the head of a donkey on a cross with the text "Alexamenos worships [his] god."[11]
Medieval graffiti
The only known source of theSafaitic language, anancient form of Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southernSyria, easternJordan and northernSaudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.[12][13]
Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel atSigiriya in Sri Lanka write their names and commentary over the "mirror wall", adding up to over 1800 individual graffiti produced there between the 6th and 18th centuries.[14] Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there.
Among the ancient political graffiti examples wereArab satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, anUmayyad Arab andPersian poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls betweenSajistan andBasra, manifesting a strong hatred towards theUmayyad regime and itswalis, and people used to read and circulate them very widely.[15]
The oldest known example ofgraffiti monikers were found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmakerBill Daniel in his 2005 film,Who is Bozo Texino?.[21][22]
Contemporary graffiti has been seen on landmarks in the US, such asIndependence Rock, a national landmark along theOregon Trail.[23]
InWorld War II, an inscription on a wall at the fortress ofVerdun was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:[24][25]
Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1918 Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1945 This is the last time I want to write my name here.
During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death ofCharlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".[26]
World War II graffiti
Soldier with tropical fantasy graffiti (1943–1944)
Soviet Army graffiti in the ruins of theReichstag, inBerlin (1945)
Modern graffiti style has been heavily influenced byhip hop culture[27] and started with young people in 1960s and 70s inNew York City andPhiladelphia.Tags were the first form of stylised contemporary graffiti, starting with artists likeTAKI 183 andCornbread. Later, artists began to paint throw-ups andpieces on trains on the sides subway trains.[28] and eventually moved into the city after the NYC metro began to buy new trains and paint over graffiti.[29]
While the art had many advocates and appreciators—including the cultural criticNorman Mailer—others, including New York City mayorEd Koch, considered it to be defacement of public property, and saw it as a form of public blight.[30] While those who did early modern graffiti called it "writing",the 1974 essay "The Faith of Graffiti" referred to it using the term "graffiti", which stuck.[30]
An early graffito outside of New York or Philadelphia was the inscription in London reading "Clapton is God" in reference to the guitaristEric Clapton. Creating the cult of the guitar hero, the phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall inIslington, north London, in the autumn of 1967.[31] The graffito was captured in a photograph, in which a dog isurinating on the wall.[32]
Films likeStyle Wars in the 80s depicting famous writers such as Skeme,Dondi, MinOne, andZEPHYR reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip-hop culture. Although many officers of the New York City Police Department found this film to be controversial, Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s.[33] Fab5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983.[34]
Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop culture
With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giantIBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks apeace symbol, aheart, and apenguin (Linux mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." IBM paid Chicago and San Francisco collectively US$120,000 for punitive damages and clean-up costs.[35][36]
In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched bySony and executed by its advertising agency in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, to market its handheldPSP gaming system. Inthis campaign, taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle, or a rocking horse".[36]
Global movements
When graffiti is done as an art form, it often utitlises theLatin script even in countries where it is not the primary writing system.[37] English words are also often used as monikers.[38]
Europe
Stencil graffiti artists such asBlek le Rat existed in Western Europe, especially inParis, before the arrival of American graffiti and was associated more with thepunk rock scene than with hip-hop.[39] In the 1980s, American graffiti and hiphop began to influence the European graffiti scene.[39] Modern graffiti reached Eastern Europe in the 1990s.[39]
Some of the earliest graffiti exhibitions outside of the USA were inAmsterdam, The Netherlands.[39]
Middle East
Graffiti in theMiddle East has emerged slowly, with taggers operating inEgypt,Lebanon, theGulf countries likeBahrain or theUnited Arab Emirates,[40]Israel, and inIran. The major Iranian newspaperHamshahri has published two articles on illegal writers in the city with photographic coverage of Iranian artistA1one's works on Tehran walls. Tokyo-based design magazine,PingMag, has interviewed A1one and featured photographs of his work.[41] TheIsraeli West Bank barrier has become a site for graffiti, reminiscent in this sense of theBerlin Wall. Many writers in Israel come from other places around the globe, such as JUIF from Los Angeles and DEVIONE from London. The religious reference "נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן" ("Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman") is commonly seen in graffiti around Israel.
A graffiti piece by the artist DeDe found inTel Aviv
Graffiti has played an important role within thestreet art scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), especially following the events of theArab Spring of 2011 or theSudanese Revolution of 2018/19.[42] Graffiti is a tool of expression in the context of conflict in the region, allowing people to raise their voices politically and socially. Famous street artistBanksy has had an important effect in the street art scene in the MENA area, especially inPalestine where some of his works are located in theWest Bank barrier andBethlehem.[43]
South America
South America has a very active graffiti culture, and graffiti are very common in Brazilian cities. This is blamed on the high uneven distribution of income, changing laws, and disenfranchisement.[44]Pichação is a form of graffiti found in Brazil, which involves tall characters and is usually used as a form of protest. It contrasts with the more conventionally artistic values of the practitioners ofgrafite.[45]
There are also a large number of graffiti influences inSoutheast Asian countries that mostly come from modernWestern culture, such as Malaysia, where graffiti have long been a common sight in Malaysia's capital city,Kuala Lumpur. Since 2010, the country has begun hosting a street festival to encourage all generations and people from all walks of life to enjoy and encourage Malaysian street culture.[47]
Stencil graffiti is created by cutting out shapes and designs in a stiff material (such ascardboard or subjectfolders) to form an overall design or image. The stencil is then placed on the "canvas" gently and with quick, easy strokes of the aerosol can, the image begins to appear on the intended surface. Some of the first examples were created in 1981 by artistsBlek le Rat in Paris, in 1982 byJef Aerosol in Tours (France);[51] by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney, andMelbourne, where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.[52]
Stickers, also known as slaps, are drawn or written on before being put up in public. Traditionally, free paper stickers like theUnited States Postal Service'sLabel 228 orname tags[53] were used.[54] Eggshell stickers, which are very difficult to remove, are also frequent.[55] Stickers allow artists to put up their art quickly and discreetly, making them a relatively safer option for illegal graffiti.[56]
Tagging is the practice of writing ones "their name, initial or logo onto a public surface"[57] in ahandstyle unique to the writer. Tags were the first form of modern graffiti.
A number of recent examples of graffiti make use ofhashtags.[58][59]
Throw ups, or throwies are large, bubble-writing graffiti which aim to be "throw onto" a surface as largely and quickly as possible.[60] Throw ups can have fills or be "hollow".[61] They prioritise minimal negative space[62] and consistency or letter space and height.[8]
Pieces are large, elaborate, letter-based graffiti which usually use spray paint or rollers.[63] Pieces often have multi-coloured fills and outlines, and may use highlights, shadows, backgrounds,[64] extensions, 3D effects,[64] and sometimescharacters.[65]
Wildstyle is the most complex form of modern graffiti. It can be difficult for those unfamiliar with the art form to read.[64] Wildstyle draws inspiration fromcalligraphy and has been described as partially abstract.[66] The term "wildstyle" was popularized by the Wild Style graffiti crew formed byTracy 168 ofthe Bronx,New York in 1974.[64]
Modern graffiti art often incorporates additional arts and technologies. For example,Graffiti Research Lab has encouraged the use of projected images and magnetic light-emitting diodes (throwies) as new media for graffitists.Yarnbombing is another recent form of graffiti. Yarnbombers occasionally target previous graffiti for modification, which had been avoided among the majority of graffitists.
Purpose
Theories on the use of graffiti byavant-garde artists have a history dating back at least to theAsger Jorn, who in 1962 painting declared in a graffiti-like gesture "the avant-garde won't give up".[67]
Public art
People who appreciate graffiti often believe that it should be on display for everyone in public spaces, not hidden away in a museum or a gallery.[68] Art should color the streets, not the inside of some building. Graffiti is a form of art that cannot be owned or bought. It does not last forever, it is temporary, yet one of a kind. It is a form of self promotion for the artist that can be displayed anywhere from sidewalks, roofs, subways, building wall, etc.[68] Art to them is for everyone and should be shown to everyone for free.
Personal expression
Graffiti is a way of communicating and a way of expressing onesself. It is both art and a functional thing that can warn people of something or inform people of something. However, graffiti is to some people a form of art, but to some a form of vandalism.[30] And many graffitists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous to hinder prosecution.
With the commercialization of graffiti (andhip hop in general), in most cases, even with legally painted "graffiti" art, graffitists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains theone of four hip hop elements that is not considered "performance art" despite the image of the "singing and dancing star" that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffitists still fall in the category of theintroverted archetypal artist.
Banksy is one of the world's most notorious and popular street artists who continues to remain faceless in today's society.[69] He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly inBristol, England, but his work may be seen anywhere from Los Angeles toPalestine. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest. Much of Banksy's artwork may be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, although he has painted pictures throughout the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel's controversialWest Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side. One depicted a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side. A number ofexhibitions also have taken place since 2000, and recent works of art have fetched vast sums of money. Banksy's art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art and some councils, such as Bristol and Islington, have officially protected them, while officials of other areas have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it.
Graffiti artists may become offended if photographs of their art are published in a commercial context without their permission. In March 2020, theFinnish graffiti artist Psyke expressed his displeasure at the newspaperIlta-Sanomat publishing a photograph of aPeugeot 208 in an article about new cars, with his graffiti prominently shown on the background. The artist claims he does not want his art being used in commercial context, not even if he were to receive compensation.[70]
Inscription inPompeii lamenting a frustrated love: "Whoever loves, let him flourish, let him perish who knows not love, let him perish twice over whoever forbids love"
Territorial graffiti marks urban neighborhoods with tags and logos to differentiate certain groups from others. These images are meant to show outsiders a stern look at whose turf is whose. The subject matter of gang-related graffiti consists of crypticsymbols andinitials strictly fashioned with uniquecalligraphies. Gang members use graffiti to designate membership throughout the gang, to differentiate rivals and associates and, most commonly, to mark borders which are both territorial and ideological.[71]
Many analysts and art critics see artistic value in some graffiti and recognize it as a form ofpublic art. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles graffiti is an effective tool of socialemancipation, or for the achievement of a political goal.[72]
In times of conflict graffiti has offered a means of communication and self-expression for members of these socially, ethnically, or racially divided communities, and has been an effective tool for establishing dialog. TheBerlin Wall was extensively covered by graffiti reflecting social pressures related to the oppressiveSoviet rule over theGDR.
Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques. One early example includes theanarcho-punk bandCrass, who conducted a campaign of stencilinganti-war,anarchist,feminist, andanti-consumerist messages throughout theLondon Underground system during the late 1970s and early 1980s.[73] InAmsterdam, graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered in names such as "De Zoot", "Vendex", and "Dr Rat".[74] To document the graffiti, a punk magazine was started that was calledGallery Anus. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s, there was already a vibrant graffiti culture.
The student protests and general strike ofMay 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such asL'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") andLisez moins, vivez plus ("Read less, live more"). While not exhaustive, the graffiti gave a sense of the 'millenarian' and rebellious spirit, tempered with a good deal of verbal wit, of the strikers.
I think graffiti writing is a way of defining what our generation is like. Excuse the French, we're not a bunch of p---- artists. Traditionally artists have been considered soft and mellow people, a little bit kooky. Maybe we're a little bit more like pirates that way. We defend our territory, whatever space we steal to paint on, we defend it fiercely.
The developments of graffiti art which took place in art galleries and colleges as well as "on the street" or "underground", contributed to the resurfacing in the 1990s of a far more overtly politicized art form in thesubvertising,culture jamming, or tactical media movements. These movements or styles tend to classify the artists by their relationship to their social and economic contexts, since, in most countries, graffiti art remains illegal in many forms except when using non-permanent paint. Since the 1990s with the rise ofStreet Art, a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints and non-traditional forms of painting.[76][77]
Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such asAlexander Brener, have used the medium to politicize other art forms, and have used the prison sentences enforced on them as a means of further protest.[78]The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each other's practices. For example, the anti-capitalist art group theSpace Hijackers did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of politicalimagery.[79][80]
Berlin human rights activistIrmela Mensah-Schramm has received global media attention and numerous awards for her 35-year campaign of effacingneo-Nazi and otherright-wing extremist graffiti throughout Germany, often by altering hate speech in humorous ways.[81][82]
Political graffiti around the world
Graffiti with orthodox cross at the Catholic Church inYstad, 2021
Anti Iraqi war graffiti by street artist Sony Montana inCancún, Mexico (2007)
In theSerbian capital,Belgrade, the graffiti depicting a uniformed formergeneral ofSerb army andwar criminal, convicted atICTY for war crimes and crimes against humanity, includinggenocide andethnic cleansing inBosnian War,Ratko Mladić, appeared in a military salute alongside the words "General, thanks to your mother".[83] Aleks Eror, Berlin-based journalist, explains how "veneration of historical and wartime figures" through street art is not a new phenomenon in the region of former Yugoslavia, and that "in most cases is firmly focused on the future, rather than retelling the past".[84] Eror is not only analyst pointing to danger of such an expressions for the region's future. In a long expose on the subject ofBosnian genocide denial, atBalkan Diskurs magazine and multimedia platform website, Kristina Gadže and Taylor Whitsell referred to these experiences as a young generations' "cultural heritage", in which youths are being exposed to the celebration and affirmation of war-criminals as part of their "formal education" and "inheritance".[85]
Mural inBar, Montenegro, depicting the war criminal Ratko Mladić
There are numerous examples of genocide denial through the celebration and affirmation of war criminals throughout the region of Western Balkans, inhabited by Serbs, using this form of artistic expression. Several more of these graffiti are found in the Serbian capital, and many more across Serbia and the Bosnian and Herzegovinian administrative entity, Republika Srpska, which is the ethnic Serbian majority enclave.[84][86] Critics point that Serbia as a state, is willing to defend the mural of convicted war criminal, and have no intention to react on cases of genocide denial, noting thatInterior Minister of Serbia,Aleksandar Vulin decision to ban any gathering with an intent to remove the mural, with the deployment of riot police, sends the message of "tacit endorsement".[83][87] Consequently, on 9 November 2021, Serbian heavy police in riot gear, with the graffiti creators and their supporters,[85] blocked the access to the mural to prevent human rights groups and other activists to paint over it and mark theInternational Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism in that way,[83] and even arrested two civic activist for throwing eggs at the graffiti.[87]
Graffiti may also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti may be difficult to identify, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly).[88] Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight, not easily recognized as "racist". It can then be understood only if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal, and spatial), which is seen asheteroglot and thus a 'unique set of conditions' in a cultural context.[89]
A spatial local code for example, could be that there is a certain youth group in an area that is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti containing only the name or abbreviation of this gang already is a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases, theherald of more serious criminal activity to come.[90] A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by asylum seekers, for example, its racist character is even stronger.
By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints),[91] these drawings are less likely to be removed, but do not lose their threatening and offensive character.[92]
Elsewhere, activists in Russia have used paintedcaricatures of local officials with their mouths aspotholes, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads.[93] InManchester, England, a graffitists painted obscene images around potholes, which often resulted in them being repaired within 48 hours.[94]
A 2006 exhibition at theBrooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form that began inNew York's outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early 1980s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze,Keith Haring, andJean-Michel Basquiat. It displayed 22 works by New York graffitists, includingCrash, Daze, andLady Pink. In an article about the exhibition in the magazineTime Out, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti.
From the 1970s onwards,Burhan Doğançay photographed urban walls all over the world; these he then archived for use as sources of inspiration for his painterly works. The project today known as "Walls of the World" grew beyond even his own expectations and comprises about 30,000 individual images. It spans a period of 40 years across five continents and 114 countries. In 1982, photographs from this project comprised a one-man exhibition titled "Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent..." (The walls whisper, shout and sing...) at theCentre Georges Pompidou inParis.
In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within the arts.Oxford University Press's art history textAustralian Painting 1788–2000 concludes with a long discussion of graffiti's key place within contemporaryvisual culture, including the work of several Australian practitioners.[99]
Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at theGrand Palais in Paris.[100][101]
Graffiti on the wall of pedestrian tunnel inTikkurila,Vantaa, Finland
Environmental effects
Spray paint has many negative environmental effects. The paint contains toxic chemicals, and the can uses volatile hydrocarbon gases to spray the paint onto a surface.[102]
Volatile organic compound (VOC) leads to ground level ozone formation and most of graffiti related emissions are VOCs.[103] A 2010 paper estimates 4,862 tons of VOCs were released in the United States in activities related to graffiti.[103][104]
Government responses
Poster at a US military base inKuwait decrying graffiti, itself having been graffitied
Asia
In China,Mao Zedong in the 1920s used revolutionary slogans and paintings in public places to galvanize the country's communist movement.[105]
Based on different national conditions, many people believe that China's attitude towards Graffiti is fierce, but in fact, according to Lance Crayon in his filmSpray Paint Beijing: Graffiti in the Capital of China, Graffiti is generally accepted inBeijing, with artists not seeing much police interference. Political and religiously sensitive graffiti, however, is not allowed.[106]
In Hong Kong,Tsang Tsou Choi was known as theKing of Kowloon for hiscalligraphy graffiti over many years, in which he claimed ownership of the area. Now some of his work is preserved officially.
InTaiwan, the government has made some concessions to graffitists. Since 2005 they have been allowed to freely display their work along some sections of riverside retaining walls in designated "Graffiti Zones".[107] From 2007, Taipei's department of cultural affairs also began permitting graffiti on fences around major public construction sites. Department head Yong-ping Lee (李永萍) stated, "We will promote graffiti starting with the public sector, and then later in the private sector too. It's our goal to beautify the city with graffiti". The government later helped organize a graffiti contest inXimending, a popular shopping district. Graffitists caught working outside of these designated areas still face fines up toNT$6,000 under a department of environmental protection regulation.[108] However, Taiwanese authorities can be relatively lenient, one veteran police officer stating anonymously, "Unless someone complains about vandalism, we won't get involved. We don't go after it proactively."[109]
In 1993, after several expensive cars inSingapore were spray-painted, the police arrested a student from theSingapore American School,Michael P. Fay, questioned him, and subsequently charged him with vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing a car in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966Vandalism Act of Singapore, originally passed to curb the spread of communist graffiti in Singapore, the court sentenced him to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (US$2,233), and acaning.The New York Times ran several editorials and op-eds that condemned the punishment and called on the American public to flood the Singaporean embassy with protests. Although the Singapore government received many calls forclemency, Fay's caning took place in Singapore on 5 May 1994. Fay had originally received a sentence of six strokes of the cane, but the presidingpresident of Singapore,Ong Teng Cheong, agreed to reduce his caning sentence to four lashes.[110]
InSouth Korea, Park Jung-soo was fined two millionSouth Korean won by theSeoul Central District Court for spray-painting a rat on posters of theG-20 Summit a few days before the event in November 2011. Park alleged that the initial in "G-20" sounds like the Korean word for "rat", but Korean government prosecutors alleged that Park was making a derogatory statement about the president of South Korea,Lee Myung-bak, the host of the summit. This case led to public outcry and debate on the lack of government tolerance and in support of freedom of expression. The court ruled that the painting, "an ominous creature like a rat" amounts to "an organized criminal activity" and upheld the fine while denying the prosecution's request for imprisonment for Park.[111]
In September 2006, the European Parliament directed the European Commission to create urban environment policies to prevent and eliminate dirt, litter, graffiti, animal excrement, and excessive noise from domestic and vehicular music systems in European cities, along with other concerns over urban life.[113]
InBudapest, Hungary, both a city-backed movement calledI Love Budapest and a special police division tackle the problem, including the provision of approved areas.[114]
It is permitted to create graffiti in theLeake st tunnel. The tunnel runs underneath Waterloo station in London. 2019
TheAnti-social Behaviour Act 2003 became Britain's latest anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, theKeep Britain Tidy campaign issued a press release calling forzero tolerance of graffiti and supporting proposals such as issuing "on the spot"fines to graffiti offenders and banning the sale of aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16.[115] The press release also condemned the use of graffiti images in advertising and inmusic videos, arguing that real-world experience of graffiti stood far removed from its often-portrayed "cool" or "edgy'" image.
To back the campaign, 123Members of Parliament (MPs) (including then Prime MinisterTony Blair), signed a charter which stated: "Graffiti is not art, it's crime. On behalf of my constituents, I will do all I can to rid our community of this problem."[116]
In the UK, city councils have the power to take action against the owner of any property that has been defaced under theAnti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (as amended by theClean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005) or, in certain cases, the Highways Act. This is often used against owners of property that are complacent in allowing protective boards to be defaced so long as the property is not damaged.[citation needed]
In July 2008, aconspiracy charge was used to convict graffitists for the first time. After a three-month police surveillance operation,[117] nine members of the DPM crew were convicted of conspiracy to commitcriminal damage costing at least £1 million. Five of them received prison sentences, ranging from eighteen months to two years. The unprecedented scale of the investigation and the severity of the sentences rekindled public debate over whether graffiti should be considered art or crime.[118]
Some councils, like those of Stroud and Loerrach, provide approved areas in the town where graffitists can showcase their talents, including underpasses, car parks, and walls that might otherwise prove a target for the "spray and run".[119]
Graffiti Tunnel, University of Sydney atCamperdown (2009)
Ancient rock art in Australia is seen as a sacred part of First Nations histories, and many of it is legally protected, and some are given National Heritage status.[120]
In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities in Australia have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by writers. One early example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located at theCamperdown Campus of theUniversity of Sydney, which is available for use by any student at the university to tag, advertise, poster, and paint. Advocates of this idea suggest that this discourages petty vandalism yet encourages artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being caught or arrested for vandalism ortrespassing.[121][122] Others disagree with this approach, arguing that the presence of legal graffiti walls does not demonstrably reduce illegal graffiti elsewhere.[123] Some local government areas throughout Australia have introduced "anti-graffiti squads", who clean graffiti in the area, and such crews as BCW (Buffers Can't Win) have taken steps to keep one step ahead of local graffiti cleaners.
Many state governments have banned the sale or possession of spray paint to those under the age of 18 (age of majority). However, a number of local governments in Victoria have taken steps to recognize the cultural heritage value of some examples of graffiti, such as prominent political graffiti. Tough new graffiti laws have been introduced in Australia with fines of up to A$26,000 and two years in prison.
Melbourne is a prominent graffiti city of Australia with many of its lanes being tourist attractions, such asHosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography, and backdrops for corporate print advertising. TheLonely Planet travel guide cites Melbourne's street as a major attraction. All forms of graffiti, includingsticker art,poster,stencil art, andwheatpasting, can be found in many places throughout the city. Prominent street art precincts include;Fitzroy,Collingwood,Northcote,Brunswick,St. Kilda, and the CBD, where stencil and sticker art is prominent. As one moves farther away from the city, mostly along suburban train lines, graffiti tags become more prominent. Many international artists such as Banksy have left their work in Melbourne and in early 2008 aperspex screen was installed to prevent a Banksy stencil art piece from being destroyed, it has survived since 2003 through the respect of local street artists avoiding posting over it, although it has recently had paint tipped over it.[124]
New Zealand
Former Christchurch stock yards
In February 2008Helen Clark, the New Zealand prime minister at that time, announced a government crackdown on tagging and other forms of graffiti vandalism, describing it as a destructive crime representing an invasion of public and private property. New legislation subsequently adopted included a ban on the sale of paint spray cans to persons under 18 and increases in maximum fines for the offence from NZ$200 to NZ$2,000 or extended community service. The issue of tagging become a widely debated one following an incident inAuckland during January 2008 in which a middle-aged property owner stabbed one of two teenage taggers to death and was subsequently convicted ofmanslaughter.
An elevator position indicator with scratch graffiti
Tracker databases
Graffiti databases have increased in the past decade because they allow vandalism incidents to be fully documented against an offender and help the police and prosecution charge and prosecute offenders for multiple counts of vandalism. They also provide law enforcement the ability to rapidly search for an offender's moniker or tag in a simple, effective, and comprehensive way. These systems can also help track costs of damage to a city to help allocate an anti-graffiti budget. The theory is that when an offender is caught putting up graffiti, they are not just charged with one count of vandalism; they can be held accountable for all the other damage for which they are responsible. This has two main benefits for law enforcement. One, it sends a signal to the offenders that their vandalism is being tracked. Two, a city can seek restitution from offenders for all the damage that they have committed, not merely a single incident. These systems give law enforcement personnel real-time, street-level intelligence that allows them not only to focus on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.[125]
Gang injunctions
Many restrictions of civil gang injunctions are designed to help address and protect the physical environment and limit graffiti. Provisions of gang injunctions include things such as restricting the possession of marker pens, spray paint cans, or other sharp objects capable of defacing private or public property; spray painting, or marking with marker pens, scratching, applying stickers, or otherwise applying graffiti on any public or private property, including, but not limited to the street, alley, residences, block walls, and fences, vehicles or any other real or personal property. Some injunctions contain wording that restricts damaging or vandalizing both public and private property, including but not limited to any vehicle, light fixture, door, fence, wall, gate, window, building, street sign, utility box, telephone box, tree, or power pole.[126]
Hotlines and reward programs
To help address many of these issues, many local jurisdictions have set up graffiti abatement hotlines, where citizens can call in and report vandalism and have it removed. San Diego's hotline receives more than 5,000 calls per year, in addition to reporting the graffiti, callers can learn more about prevention. One of the complaints about these hotlines is the response time; there is often a lag time between a property owner calling about the graffiti and its removal. The length of delay should be a consideration for any jurisdiction planning on operating a hotline. Local jurisdictions must convince the callers that their complaint of vandalism will be a priority and cleaned off right away. If the jurisdiction does not have the resources to respond to complaints in a timely manner, the value of the hotline diminishes. Crews must be able to respond to individual service calls made to the graffiti hotline as well as focus on cleanup near schools, parks, and major intersections and transit routes to have the biggest impact. Some cities offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects for tagging or graffiti related vandalism. The amount of the reward is based on the information provided, and the action taken.[127]
Search warrants
When police obtain search warrants in connection with a vandalism investigation, they are often seeking judicial approval to look for items such as cans of spray paint and nozzles from other kinds of aerosol sprays; etching tools, or other sharp or pointed objects, which could be used to etch or scratch glass and other hard surfaces; permanent marking pens, markers, or paint sticks; evidence of membership or affiliation with any gang or tagging crew; paraphernalia including any reference to "(tagger's name)"; any drawings, writing, objects, or graffiti depicting taggers' names, initials, logos, monikers, slogans, or any mention of tagging crew membership; and any newspaper clippings relating to graffiti crime.[128]
Graffiti in the United States
Rampant graffiti hampers visibility into and out ofNew York City Subway cars (1973).
80 Blocks from Tiffany's (1979), a rare glimpse of the late 1970s in New York City toward the end of the notorious South Bronx gangs, the documentary shows many aspects of the South Bronx's predominantly Puerto Rican community, including reformed gang members, current gang members, the police, and the community leaders who try to reach out to them.
Stations of the Elevated (1980), the earliest documentary about subway graffiti in New York City, with music by Charles Mingus
Style Wars (1983), an early documentary on hip hop culture, made in New York City
Piece by Piece (2005), a feature-length documentary on the history of San Francisco graffiti from the early 1980s
Infamy (2005), a feature-length documentary about graffiti culture as told through the experiences of six well-known graffiti writers and a graffiti buffer
RASH (2005), a feature documentary about Melbourne, Australia, and the artists who make it a living host for street art
Jisoe (2007), a glimpse into the life of aMelbourne, Australia, graffiti writer shows the audience an example of graffiti in struggling Melbourne Areas.
Roadsworth: Crossing the Line (2009), about Montréal artist Peter Gibson and his controversial stencil art on public roads
Exit Through The Gift Shop (2010) was produced by the notorious artistBanksy. It tells the story ofThierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art;Shepard Fairey andInvader, whom Guetta discovers is his cousin, are also in the film.
Still on and non the wiser (2011) is a ninety-minute-long documentation that accompanies the exhibition with the same name in the Kunsthalle Barmen of theVon der Heydt-Museum inWuppertal (Germany). It draws vivid portrayals of the artists by means of very personal interviews and also catches the creation process of the works before the exhibition was opened.[129]
Graffiti Wars (2011), a documentary detailingKing Robbo's feud with Banksy as well as the authorities' differing attitude towards graffiti andstreet art[130]
Dramas
Wild Style (1983), about hip hop and graffiti culture in New York City
Turk 182 (1985), about graffiti as political activism
Bomb the System (2002), about a crew of graffitists in modern-day New York City
Quality of Life (2004) was shot in the Mission District of San Francisco, co-written by and starring a retired graffiti writer.
Graffiti and street art in Bristol, United Kingdom. 2018
Wall graffiti in the Bristol city centre. United Kingdom. 2015
The ghosts from the computer gamePac-Man. A mosaic byInvader in Bilbao, Spain. Since 1998, Invader has placed over 4000 tile mosacis in 83 territories across the world.[131] 2008
^Caves, R. W. (2004).Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 315.
^The Italian singular form "graffito" is so rare in English (except in specialist texts on archeology) that it is not even recorded or mentioned in some dictionaries, for example the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
^"Chapter 8".Introduction to Criminal Investigation. Editor(s) Michael Birzer and Cliff Roberson.
^O'Deane, Matthew."gang abatement".Gang Injunctions and Abatement: Using Civil Remedies to Curb Gang Related Crimes. Archived fromthe original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved21 May 2011.
^O'Deane, Matthew."gang".Gangs: Theory, Practice and Research. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
.2.jpg)
_CIMG9868.JPG)
_CIMG9873.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
![The ghosts from the computer game Pac-Man. A mosaic by Invader in Bilbao, Spain. Since 1998, Invader has placed over 4000 tile mosacis in 83 territories across the world.[131] 2008](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPacman_Guggenheim_(cropped).jpg)
