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As street art started simply with graffiti, the story starts with this type of art...

History:

Graffiti has a really long history. The word graffiti itself was even used to refer inscriptions, figure drawings, and such things found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins (like in the roman Catacombs or in Pompeii).  As it was explained previously the use of the word has evolved and changed, and now includes any graphics applied to surfaces in a way that creates vandalism. Although the writings on walls that go back to ancient cultures are considered graffiti, the urban style of graffiti that uses spray cans was originated in the subway trains of New York City. This type of art started in the late 1960s, for instance “Taki 183” was one of the most influential graffiti writers.

 

Taki was a messenger who travelled all through the city and while he did so he used a marker to write his tag “Taki 183”. This tag was short for Demetraki (a Greek alternative for his name Demetrius), and the number 183 came from his address on 183rd Street in Washington Heights. He became known as a mysterious character throughout the city after filling subway stations as well as insides and outsides of subway cars with his tag. By 1971, he was interviewed by the New York Times for an article and became even more popular. This caused kids from New York to realize how famous and recognized they could be just by “tagging” their names around the city and subway cars, so they started imitating Taki. The amount of graffiti on trains rose colossally as minors started competing against each other to get famous and tag their names on as many places as possible.

 

It wasn't long until not just permanent markers were used for tagging but spray cans of paint became popular as well. Paint cans were used especially for tagging on the outside of trains but Graffiti became a lot more than just tagging. Graffiti writers, didn't just tried to get their names in as many places as possible, but also worked on beating each other in terms of style. At the beginning they would try to make their tags better than everyone else's, but as time passed they would add more colours, effects, and also make their signatures larger. By using spray cans really big graffiti could be created in a relatively small amount of time, something that was important because people didn't want to get caught by the police or any authority. At the end, urban graffiti really evolved into a complex art form with its own techniques and methods. It went from simple tags on trains to masterpieces in street walls.

This video talks about graffiti's history as well. Here it is mentioned how graffiti actually started in Philadelphia but it was overshadowed by New York City. The video also talks about the relationship between graffiti and gangs, it said that graffiti writers usually worked alone and the initial graffiti gangs were formed from gangs that previously existed and wanted to mark their territory. However this changed some time later and gangs created specifically for graffiti production were formed. In addition, it also talks a little bit about graffiti in other cities like L.A and Chicago, apart of the different styles that were popular in the different places. Finally the video mentions how the anti-graffiti movements started too, like the anti-graffiti network in Philadelphia established in 1984 but graffiti still continued. 

ATL skills:

  • Consider ideas from other perspectives and points of view.

  • Consider consequences of events.

  • Inquire in different contexts to gain a diverse perspective.

  • Keep an organized and logical system of information files/notebooks.

  • Read critically and for comprehension.

  • Collect and verify data.

Bibliography:

Style wars

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The golden age

The "style wars" in the 70s between graffiti artists trying to become famous lead them to start creating bigger and better art pieces, which consequently resulted in the rise of an entire culture around graffiti. These writers would get together at what they called "writer's benches" at subway stations for looking at each other's sketchbooks, to plan when and where to do their next graffiti, and to watch as trains passed in order for them to discuss the latest pieces produced. Some sort of community was developed and even older artists would take younger ones on as students and assistants. Whole crews would also be formed to collaborate and help each other to paint and watch out for authorities. A common misunderstanding is that graffiti is exclusively related to gangs, but actually most graffiti isn’t. Gang-related graffiti is mostly used simply to mark territory, and there is not near the same amount of time or effort spent on its creation.

The New York subway graffiti became famous world widely, and its style and feelings were transferred to other places of the country and the world (which then mixed with local influences). During the 1970s subway graffiti was at its golden age, but for the metropolitan transit authority it was a problem that had long ago become out of their control. This caused Graffiti writers not to just compete against each other while they tried to be the greatest and earn the tittles they gave themselves. They had to deal with polices around the trains and where they worked, their pieces of art being washed, and all concerned parents (since these artists were mostly kids). However, even with all this obstacles graffiti found its way and didn't vanish, while later over the years it gradually gained recognition as a way of art. 

ATL skills:

  • Inquire in different contexts to gain a diverse perspective.

  • Break down large concepts and projects into component parts and combine parts logically as appropriate.

  • Summarize and transform information.

  • Organize information logically

  • Consider consequences of events.

  • Find and select information via different media.

  • Access information to be informed and inform others.

Bibliography:

Cave paintings and petroglyphs

Artistic expression has always been a human impulse. There is evidence of art through all human history. Some of the earliest art, which was before even called graffiti, dates back to the Palaeolithic era. This was the earliest era of human presence, where early humans expressed themselves artistically. These people painted animals and shapes onto the walls of their caves. Although the meanings from the paintings remain uncertain it shows us that some of the first art in humanity was graffiti. Some other examples are Petroglyphs, which were images scratched right into the stone, and it is a human artistic expression as old as cave painting. These inscriptions have been revealed throughout the world, evidencing too that not only a small group of human beings was interested in this but actually everyone around the world was.

The ancient world

People of the Mediterranean about two thousand years ago also did scribbling on walls and rocks. For example, ancient Greeks also gave us the first documented piece of modern graffiti, since here the art and the graffiti were clearly different. This Ancient Greek graffiti was found in Ephesus (now lying in the west coast of Turkey), apparently worked as an advertisement. This was certainly not a carefully carved statue of a god, it was a simple writing etched into stone just for ordinary communication. Graffiti for sure has also spoken about human impulses throughout its history. The graffiti of Ancient Rome went from protest against politicians to a simple sign of “I was here.” Graffiti involved words and drawings to express the artist’s opinion, claim territory, or declare love for someone. in the city of Pompeii graffiti remains on the walls of the buildings and once again range from important manifestations to simple declarations of friends who visited a place. A clear example of this is near the Vesuvius gate, where you can read, “Marcus loves Spendusa.”

ATL skills:

  • Consider ideas from other perspectives and points of view.

  • Break down large concepts and projects into component parts and combine parts logically as appropriate.

  • Summarize and transform information.

  • Practice metaphorical thinking-generating questions and challenging conventions.

  • Change the context of your project to gain different perspectives.

  • Keep an organized and logical system of information files/notebooks.

  • Utilize different media to obtain perspectives.

 

Bibliography:

By: Alberto José Otero - Personal Project 2015

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