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Graffiti - Graffiti Tagging Los Angeles
It doesn't matter where you live in the world, chances are
you've seen graffiti somewhere around your local community.
It seems to spring up in every culture, although it tends to
be more prevalent in big cities.
But is it vandalism? Or is it art? That's a difficult
question to answer, mainly because there are so many
different types and styles of graffiti. The most basic form
of graffiti is "tagging" - which is usually a simple
graphic, usually letters, perhaps a play on the creator's
initials or nicknames. Often small and monochrome, it's
probably one of the most annoying and frustrating types of
graffiti, because it is small enough to deface almost any
surface, and is almost universally condemned as having no
artistic merit.
Graffiti, however, isn't restricted to tagging. On larger
surfaces, many graffiti artists employ multiple colors and
intricate designs to create their pictures. This is the type
of graffiti that starts to cross the line into being
artistic. It's this type of graffiti art that is now being
showcased in a number of art galleries, both in the USA and
around the world.
The other problem with graffiti as art is that the issue is
clouded by the location of the art. If some of these
stunning designs were created on a canvas, or a wall
specially set aside for the purpose, then it would be easier
to recognize them as art. Unfortunately most graffiti is
placed on private property, without the owner's consent, and
so is less likely to be viewed as a welcome addition.
Around the world, communities and governments have become
more vigilant in their attempts to reduce the amount of
graffiti. In many places there are community groups or
government funded teams who guarantee to clean up graffiti
in 24 hours after it's reported. Trains in New York were
given new coatings that allowed paint to just be "dissolved"
off their surfaces.
In my own local area, the sale of spray paint to persons
under 18 is illegal, and all spray paints are kept in locked
display cupboards. Another area has a team of painters who
regularly go around and repaint any fences that have been
covered in graffiti. One homeowner I know has had his fence
repainted 7 times so far! Over time, however, the amount of
graffiti reappearing is reducing, which is a victory for the
opponents of graffiti.
Still, simply removing the problem may in fact be a loss to
the artistic community in general. If graffiti is considered
in its most highly refined form, then are we in fact
stopping artistic development in its tracks by making it
impossible for budding graffiti artists to practice their
craft?
When you illegally deface someone else's property, no matter
how beautiful the art you create, you have still committed a
crime. Maybe what we need to do is find ways that graffiti
artists can learn and practice their craft, without needing
to deface hundreds of properties in the process. Some
communities now provide blank spaces and invite local
graffiti artists to paint them. Others have graffiti walls,
where anyone can paint whatever they want.
Maybe there needs to be a shift in the thinking of graffiti
artists, so they can discover the value of painting on
paper, rather than walls. Would the great painters of the
past still be as famous today if they had painted on walls,
rather than on canvas? The problem is complex, so finding a
solution that makes everyone happy is unlikely to be simple.
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Some Other Useful Web Resources
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1. Graffiti - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
... Basquiat, who started out tagging locations with his signature ... to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a ... in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles, that type of public art is ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti |
2. Web Journal of Anna L. Conti, San Francisco Artist
... Elisabeth Cornu, the woman in charge of tagging. Rest of the story HERE - - - Old Pro at ... ... link to this entry March 8,2005 (Tuesday) -Graffiti Steve Winn of the SF Chronicle has written an ...
http://www.bigcrow.com/anna/journal/mar05.html |
3. Gothamist: Kevin Dresser, Rabbit Owner and Designer
... Chicago | Houston | London | Los Angeles | Miami | New York City ... started doing street art as a graffiti artist in the early 90s ... to expand my art beyond just tagging my name around. I always ...
http://www.gothamist.com/ ...7/kevin_dresser_r.php |
4. CoolBusinessIdeas.com: Monthly Archives
... waists from New York City to Los Angeles, and are sold on Web sites ... Tourism| Comments (1) Graffiti Design DailyCandy: All the ... spent scaling buildings, tagging bridges, scribing walls with ...
http://www.coolbusinessideas.com/2005/07/ |
5. Graffiti
... Mac Graffiti Download Graffiti Graffiti Tagging Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti Graffito ... ... Gang Graffiti Graffiti Schrift Graffiti Style Los Angeles Graffiti Graffito Maker Graffiti ...
http://www.gouzou.com/en/d/34791-Graffiti.html |
6. modern day dad: October 2005
... Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) Tagging, but not nearly as cool as graffiti. I guess I'm not paying ... ... Yesterday morning I saw this on the AP wire: LOS ANGELES - Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage is a dad ...
http://www.moderndaydad.com/mdd/2005/10/index.html |
7. GRAFFITI
... SITE GRAFFITO WORLD GRAFFITO TAGGING GRAFFITO LETTER GRAFFITO ... GALLERY GRAFITTI STYLE GRAFFITI GRAFITTI BRIDGE GRAFFITO ... JOHNNY SAUTER AOL GRAFFITO LOS ANGELES GRAFFITO LEARN GRAFFITO ...
http://www.abcgraffiti.com/ |
8. Sign of the times: dissent on America’s highways - [Sunday Herald]
... he can get skateboard and graffiti kids pissed off enough to ... have a potent history of tagging or marking gang territory and ... spaces throughout downtown Los Angeles ahead of the 2004 ...
http://www.sundayherald.com/51580 |
9. tattoo removal message boards
... Removal Tattoo Removal Los Angeles Tattoo Removal Louisville ... Man who flooded city with his graffiti is sentenced to clean it up ... made his mark on Baltimore, tagging "Oricl" on hundreds of light ...
http://www.removaltattoo. ...valmessageboards.html |
10. Press
... commercials that play off a graffiti theme sere to advertise tagging, as well as their products ... ... California when Fox TVís KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles broadcast a five-part special on tagging. It ...
http://www.liftoffinc.com/press.asp |
11. Ume
... 07/19 Casa del Pueblo Los Angeles, CA Avey Tare and Panda ... Chameleon Club Lancaster, PA Tagging Satellites 11/5 The Brewery ... Houston, TX Handdriver 9 1/2, Graffiti Jones 08/13 Mary Janes ...
http://www.umemusic.com/urgentsea/shows.php |
12. Native Threads: DJ Abel
... himself through break-dancing and graffiti tagging, before finally ending up on the ... ... Global Abel has been on tour doing shows from Los Angeles, to New York City and has also performed ...
http://www.nativethreads. ...e/profiles_djabel.php |
13. Usability In The News: 12/2005Usability In The News
... Via Off the Top) Learning Graffiti. Full Article 12:29 PM ... implementation of distributed tagging (i.e. TÄôrati doesnÄôt own ... when two computers -- one in Los Angeles, the other in Palo Alto ...
http://www.usernomics.com ...05_12_01_archive.html |
14. Barflies.net News & Tidbits
... the System A group of up and coming graffiti artists wage a tagging war on the New York City ... ... Wray Henry Fonda Theatre 6126 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 323-464-0808 Doors at 3pm DJ's ...
http://www.barflies.net/blog/archives/2005_05.html |
15. XTech 2006: Liberating Geopolitical Borders
... Portland lists street art, graffiti and DIY in top 20 tags ... Santiago 4 162 Hangzhou 1 4 Los Angeles 996 57 Singapore 21 110 ... implicitly by queries or tagging. Other varieties of ...
http://xtech06.usefulinc.com/schedule/paper/158 |
16. Secondary Screening: Miscellany Archives
... or its ad agency has paid graffiti artists to spray paint ... New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Francisco ... movie Pecker . More on the tagging can be found at the Gothamist ...
http://www.secondaryscree .../archives/miscellany/ |
17. Wilshire Center
... for additional services on tagging removal. There is graffiti on ... officers at 213-386-7085. For graffiti removal and other general ... Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1032, Los Angeles, CA 90010 This web site is ...
http://www.wilshirecenter.com/news.htm |
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