Graffiti - term applied to an arrangement of institutionally illicit marks in which there has been an attempt to establish some sort

of coherent composition: such marks are made by an individual or individuals (not generally professional artists) upon a wall or other surface that is usually visually accessible to the public. The term "graffiti" derives from the Greek graphein ("to write"). Graffiti (s. graffito), meaning a drawing or scribbling on a flat surface, originally referred to those marks found on ancient Roman architecture. Although examples of graffiti have been found at such sites as Pompeii, the Domus Aurea of Emperor Nero (AD 54-68) in Rome, Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli and the Maya site of Tikal in Mesoamerica, they are usually associated with 20th-century urban environments. Graffiti range from simple marks to complex and colorful compositions. Motives for the production of such marks may include a desire for recognition that is public in nature, and/or the need to appropriate public space or someone else's private space for group or individual purposes. Illegitimate counterparts to the paid, legal advertisements on billboards or signs, graffiti utilize the wall of garages, public rest rooms, and jail cells for their clandestine messages. This illegal expression constitutes vandalism to the larger society. Because of the illicit nature of graffiti, a can of paint and a brush are impractical while spatial considerations may make a pen or pencil ineffective. To accomodate the need for size, visibility, speed, and convenience, the ideal vehicle is the sray-can, which combines medium and applicator into one relatively small parcel that is easily concealed, transportable, easy to use; spray-paint may be applied to most surfaces. Different sized nozzles are used to achieve various effects, for example, a thin line as opposed to a wide band of paint. Where spray paint is not used or available, almost anything may serve as substitute: the aforementioned pen, pencil, paint and brush, as well as chisels, knives, felt-tip markers, blood, or even a finger on a dirty wall or window. Most media used for etching, sketching, painting, marking or writing can be adapted to such a purpose. Because it is impossible to limit or regulate the resources that are available, graffiti as an art form and expressive medium is expandable, flexible, and difficult to control. The graffiti medium constitutes an open channel for its users to manipulate and mould to suit their needs. It represents a type of discontinuous communicative strategy through which people can engage in a visual dialogue which does not rely on face-to-face interaction or necessary knowledge of the writers' identities. Individualized or popular graffiti include bathroom wall marking (latrinalia), signatures, proclamations of love, witty comments in response to advertisements, and any number of individual, political, or social commentary (folk epigraphy). In general these graffiti have no affiliation beyond the scope of the individual. It is close to impossible to locate their source. Communities that produce graffiti (as opposed to the individual "scribbler") may target cryptic messages toward their own closed community, producing a seemingly confusing and unreadable product. The writers may not sign their real names; they instead employ the use of nicknames, codes, and symbols within stylized aesthetic systems. This type of graffiti is geared toward people who already understand the messages and may act to enhance group solidarity. Such graffiti can easily be elevated to the category of "art form" because the symbolic codes, generalized content, and aesthetic features of communitybased graffiti usually outlast the duration of an individual's membership within the

community. If a community's ideological focus is geared toward the larger society or the politics of the larger state, graffiti messages usually lack cryptic symbolism, make use of the national language, and retain a more straightforward aesthetic style. An example of this cross-culturally prevalent genre of graffiti, political graffiti may combine with other artistic and expressive forms, such as poster and comic book production, mural painting, newspaper and pamphlet production, and political art exhibitions. The marks may represent the work of unrecognized or underground political groups, radical student movements, or simply dissatisfied individuals. Political graffiti may also arise from sudden emergency situations (e.g. riots) or in response to concurrent political legislation and party politics. Although concerned with state politics, the groups that produce this type of graffiti generally comprise some"subcultural" elements and may make wide use of symbols to further internally relevant quests for power and solidarity. A second genre of graffiti, gang graffiti are used as markers by gangs usually active in urban areas. The content and form of their graffiti consist of cryptic codes and initials rigidly styled with specialized calligraphies. Gang members use graffiti to indicate group membership, to distinguish enemies and allies and, most generally, to mark boundaries which are both territorial and ideological. In this case, graffiti may merge with other art forms, like tattoo and clothing styles, to create a bounded system the concerns of which may incorporate illegitimate economic and social practices that branch far beyond the reaches of the actual graffiti. A third genre of graffiti, graffiti art, is commonly called "hip-hop" or "New York style" graffiti and derives from a tradition of subway graffiti that originated in New York during the 1970's. This type of graffiti has spread to large urban centers around the USA and the rest of the world, especially in Europe. Where subway cars like those in New York are unavailable, walls, rocks, road signs, billboards, train carriages, and even motor vehicles are considered suitable canvases. Graffiti artists may or may not belong to "crews," which are groups of artists at differing levels of proficiency. Their work ranges from simple monochrome "tags" (the artist's "name tag," often represented in an exaggerated cursive style) to elaborate, multicoloured works called "pieces" (derived from the word "masterpiece") which are considered in some circles to be of museum quality (see fig.). As graffiti has begun to find its way from its original urban locations to the walls of galleries and museums, the question of vandalism and graffiti as an art form has provoked endless controversy, raising such questions as whether vandalism can be considered art or whether graffiti can be considered graffiti if they are made legally. The simplified imagery of graffiti has also become attractive to certain professional fine artists -- the work of the late Keith Haring in particular became "legitimized" as it moved from New York's subway walls to the walls of galleries and private collectors in the USA. It is in part the rapid movement hip-hop graffiti art and its concomitant controversies which has spurred the development of scholarly interest surrounding people's use of graffiti in all its aspects. Graffiti are cross-cultural phenomena common to every literate society. Within the variable contexts of their production, graffiti personalize de-personalized space, construct landscapes of identity, make public space into private space, and act as promoters of ethnic unity as well as diversity. Graffiti can be understood as concrete manifestations of personal and communal ideologies which are visually striking, insistent, and provokative;

as such, they are worthy of the continued attention of art historians, social scientists, and policy makers alike.

Graffiti (singular: graffito; the plural is used as a mass noun) is writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place.Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.[2] In modern times, paint, particularly spray paint, and marker pens have become the most commonly used graffiti materials. In most countries, marking or painting property without the property owner's consent is considered defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime. Graffiti may also express underlying social and political messages and a whole genre of artistic expression is based upon spray paint graffiti styles. Within hip hop culture, graffiti has evolved alongside hip hop music, b-boying, and other elements.[3] Unrelated to hip-hop graffiti, gangs use their own form of graffiti to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials/law enforcement and writers who wish to display and appreciate work in public locations. There are many different types and styles of graffiti and it is a rapidly developing art form whose value is highly contested, reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction.

Etymology
Graffiti and graffito are from the Italian word graffiato ("scratched"). "Graffiti" is applied in art history to works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface. A related term is "graffito", or "sgrafitto,"[4] which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was primarily used by potters who would glaze their wares and then scratch a design into it. In ancient times graffiti was carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used. The word originates from Greek graphein meaning "to write."

History
The term graffiti referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., found on the walls of ancient sepulchers or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. Usage of the word has evolved to include any graphics applied to surfaces in a manner that constitutes vandalism. The earliest forms of graffiti date back to 30,000 BCE in the form of prehistoric cave paintings and pictographs using tools such as Animal bones and pigments.[5] These illustrations were often placed in ceremonial and sacred locations inside of the caves. The images drawn on the walls showed scenes of animal wildlife and hunting expeditions in most circumstances. This form of graffiti is subject to disagreement[clarification needed Disagreement between whom and concerning what?] considering it is likely that members of prehistoric society endorsed the creation of these illustrations. The only known source of the Safaitic language, a form of proto-Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt

desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the 1st century BCE to the 4th century CE.

Modern-style graffiti
The first known example of "modern style" graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (in modern-day Turkey). Local guides say it is an advertisement for prostitution. Located near a mosaic and stone walkway, the graffiti shows a handprint that vaguely resembles a heart, along with a footprint and a number. This is believed to indicate that a brothel was nearby, with the handprint symbolizing payment.[6]

Ancient Pompeii graffito caricature of a politician. The ancient Romans carved graffiti on walls and monuments, examples of which also survive in Egypt. Graffiti in the classical world had different connotations than it carries in today's society concerning content. Ancient graffiti displayed phrases of love declarations, political rhetoric, and simple words of thought compared to today's popular messages of social and political ideals[7] The eruption of Vesuvius preserved graffiti in Pompeii, including Latin curses, magic spells, declarations of love, alphabets, political slogans and famous literary quotes, providing insight into ancient Roman street life. One inscription gives the address of a woman named Novellia Primigenia of Nuceria, a prostitute, apparently of great beauty, whose services were much in demand. Another shows a phallus accompanied by the text, 'mansueta tene': "Handle with care". Disappointed love also found its way onto walls in antiquity: Quisquis amat. veniat. Veneri volo frangere costas fustibus et lumbos debilitare deae. Si potest illa mihi tenerum pertundere pectus quit ego non possim caput illae frangere fuste? Whoever loves, go to hell. I want to break Venus's ribs with a club and deform her hips. If she can break my tender heart why can't I hit her over the head? -CIL IV, 1284.

Historic forms of graffiti have helped gain understanding into the lifestyles and languages of past cultures. Errors in spelling and grammar in this graffiti offer insight into the degree of literacy in Roman times and provide clues on the pronunciation of spoken Latin. Examples are CIL IV, 7838: Vettium Firmum / aed[ilem] quactiliar[ii] [sic] rog[ant]. Here, "qu" is pronounced "co." The 83 pieces of graffiti found at CIL IV, 470685 are evidence of the ability to read and write at levels of society where literacy might not be expected. The graffiti appear on a peristyle which was being remodeled at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius by the architect Crescens. The graffiti was left by both the foreman and his workers. The brothel at CIL VII, 12, 1820 contains over 120 pieces of graffiti, some of which were the work of the prostitutes and their clients. The gladiatorial academy at CIL IV, 4397 was scrawled with graffiti left by the gladiator Celadus Crescens (Suspirium puellarum Celadus thraex: "Celadus the Thracian makes the girls sigh.") Another piece from Pompeii, written on a tavern wall about the owner of the establishment and his questionable wine: Landlord, may your lies malign Bring destruction on your head! You yourself drink unmixed wine, Water sell your guests instead.[8] It was not only the Greeks and Romans that produced graffiti: the Mayan site of Tikal in Guatemala also contains ancient examples. Viking graffiti survive in Rome and at Newgrange Mound in Ireland, and a Varangian scratched his name (Halvdan) in runes on a banister in the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople. These early forms of graffiti have contributed to the understanding of lifestyles and languages of past cultures. Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls.[9] When Renaissance artists such as Pinturicchio, Raphael, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio or Filippino Lippi descended into the ruins of Nero's Domus Aurea, they carved or painted their names[10][11] and returned with the grottesche style of decoration. There are also examples of graffiti occurring in American history, such as Signature Rock, a national landmark along the Oregon Trail. Later, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic campaign of Egypt in the 1790s.[12] Lord Byron's survives on one of the columns of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Attica, Greece.

Modern graffiti
Graffiti is often seen as having become intertwined with hip hop culture and the myriad international styles derived from New York City Subway graffiti. However, there are many other instances of notable graffiti this century. Graffiti has long appeared on railroad boxcars and subways. The one with the longest history, dating back to the 1920s and continuing into the present day, is Texino.[14] During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "Kilroy was here" with accompanying illustration was widespread

throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and its filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".[15] The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchist, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-rvolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") expressed in painted graffiti, poster art, and stencil art. In the U.S. at the time other political phrases (such as "Free Huey" about Black Panther Huey Newton) became briefly popular as graffiti in limited areas, only to be forgotten. A popular graffito of the 1970s was the legend "Dick Nixon Before He Dicks You", reflecting the hostility of the youth culture to that U.S. president.

Engraving of Kilroy on the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.. Rock and roll graffiti is a significant sub genre. A famous graffito of the 20th century was the inscription in the London subway reading "Clapton is God". The phrase was spraypainted by an admirer on a wall in an Islington Underground station in the autumn of 1967. The graffiti was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is urinating on the wall. Graffiti also became associated with the anti-establishment punk rock movement beginning in the 1970s. Bands such as Black Flag and Crass (and their followers) widely stenciled their names and logos, while many punk night clubs, squats and hangouts are famous for their graffiti. In the late 1980s the upside down Martini glass that was the tag for punk band Missing Foundation was the most ubiquitous graffito in lower Manhattan, and copied by hard core punk fans throughout the U.S. and West Germany.[16] Along similar lines was the legend "Frodo Lives", referring to the protagonist of The Lord of the Rings.

Spread of graffiti culture

A soldier in Italy (19431944) In 1979, graffiti artist Lee Quinones and Fab 5 Freddy were given a gallery opening in Rome by art dealer Claudio Bruni. For many outside of New York, it was their first

encounter with the art form. Fab 5 Freddy's friendship with Debbie Harry influenced Blondie's single "Rapture" (Chrysalis, 1981), the video of which featured Jean-Michel Basquiat of the SAMO Graffiti, and offered many their first glimpse of a depiction of elements of graffiti in hip hop culture. With the release of ""Graffiti Artists International" on JaJaJa's self-titled LP album (1982, Ata Tak WR16), Julie Jigsaw became the first rapper to record a song about graffiti in Europe. JaJaJa toured Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland with her a large graffiti canvas as a backdrop.[17] Charlie Ahearn's independently released fiction film Wild Style (Wild Style, 1983), the early PBS documentary Style Wars (1983), hit songs such as "The Message" and "Planet Rock" and their accompanying music videos (both 1982) contributed to a growing interest outside New York in all aspects of hip hop. Style Wars depicted not only famous graffiti artists such as Skeme, Dondi, MinOne and Zephyr, but also reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip hop culture by incorporating famous early break dancing groups such as Rock Steady Crew into the film and featuring rap in the soundtrack. 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.[18] Fab 5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983.[19] Hollywood also paid attention, consulting writers like PHASE 2 as it depicted the culture and gave it international exposure in movies like Beat Street (Orion, 1984). This period also saw the emergence of the new stencil graffiti genre. Some of the first examples were created ca 1981 by graffiti artist Blek le Rat in Paris; by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney and Melbourne, where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.[20]

Graffiti as a memorial
People often leave their traces in wet cement or concrete. This type of graffiti often commemorates the mutual commitment of a couple, or simply records a person's presence at a particular moment. Often this type of graffiti is dated and is left untouched for decades, offering a look into local historical minutiae.

Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop culture

Main article: Commercial graffiti

An example of crossover between video game culture and graffiti culture found on the Berlin Wall With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant IBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a peace symbol, a heart, and a penguin (Linux mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." However due to illegalities some of the "street artists" were arrested and charged with vandalism, and IBM was fined more than US$120,000 for punitive and clean-up costs.[21][22] In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by Sony and executed by TATS CRU in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Miami to market its handheld PSP gaming system. In this 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."[22] Along with the commercial growth has come the rise of video games also depicting graffiti, usually in a positive aspect for example, the Jet Set Radio series (20002003) tells the story of a group of teens fighting the oppression of a totalitarian police force that attempts to limit the graffiti artists' freedom of speech. In plotlines mirroring the negative reaction of non-commercial artists to the commercialization of the art form by companies like IBM (and, later, Sony itself) the Rakugaki koku series (20032005) for Sony's PlayStation 2 revolves around an anonymous hero and his magically imbued-with-life graffiti creations as they struggle against an evil king who only allows art to be produced which can benefit him. Following the original roots of modern graffiti as a political force came another game title, Marc Eck's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (2006), featuring a story line involving fighting against a corrupt city and its oppression of free speech, as in the Jet Set Radio series. Other games which feature graffiti include Bomb the World (2004), an online graffiti simulation created by graffiti artist Klark Kent where users can virtually paint trains at 20 locations worldwide, and Super Mario Sunshine (2002), in which the hero, Mario must

clean the city of graffiti left by the villain, Bowser Jr. in a plotline which evokes the successes of the Anti-Graffiti Task Force of New York's Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (a manifestation of "broken window theory") or those of the "Graffiti Blasters" of Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley.

A graffiti depiction of the 1978 game Space Invaders Numerous other non-graffiti-centric video games allow the player to produce graffiti (such as the Half-Life series, the Tony Hawk's series, The Urbz: Sims in the City, Rolling and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas). Counter-Strike which is a Half-Life mod allows user to create their own and tag in game. Many other titles contain in-game depictions of graffiti (such as The Darkness, Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone, NetHack, Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked, The World Ends With You, The Warriors, Just Cause, Portal, various examples of Virtual Graffiti, etc.). There also exist a host of games where the term "graffiti" is used as a synonym for "drawing" (such as Yahoo! Graffiti, Graffiti, etc.). Marc Ecko, an urban clothing designer, has been an advocate of graffiti as an art form during this period, stating that "Graffiti is without question the most powerful art movement in recent history and has been a driving inspiration throughout my career."[23]

A graffiti depiction of pop star Michael Jackson Keith Haring was another well-known graffiti artist who brought Pop Art and graffiti to the commercial mainstream. In the 1980s, Haring opened his first Pop Shop: a store that offered everyone access to his workswhich until then could only be found spraypainted on city walls. Pop Shop offered commodities like bags and t-shirts. Haring explained that "The Pop Shop makes my work accessible. It's about participation on a big level, the point was that we didn't want to produce things that would cheapen the art. In other words, this was still art as statement". Graffiti has become a common stepping stone for many members of both the art and design community in North America and abroad. Within the United States Graffiti Artists such as Mike Giant, Pursue, Rime, Noah and countless others have made careers in skateboard, apparel and shoe design for companies such as DC Shoes, Adidas, Rebel8 Osiris or Circa[24] Meanwhile there are many others such as DZINE, Daze, Blade, The Mac that have made the switch to gallery artists often times not even using their initial medium, spray paint.[24] But perhaps the greatest example of graffiti artists infiltrating mainstream pop culture is by the French crew, 123Klan. 123Klan founded as a graffiti crew in 1989 by Scien and Klor, have gradually turned their hands to illustration and design while still maintaining their graffiti practice and style. In doing so they have designed and produced, logos and illustrations, shoes, and fashion for the likes of Nike, Adidas, Lamborghini, Coca Cola, Stussy, Sony, Nasdaq and more.[25]

Global developments

South America
There is a significant graffiti tradition in South America, especially in Brazil. Within Brazil, So Paulo is generally considered to be the current centre of inspiration for many graffiti artists worldwide.[26]

Artful graffiti in Olinda, Brazil Brazil "boasts a unique and particularly rich graffiti scene ... [earning] it an international reputation as the place to go for artistic inspiration."[27] Graffiti "flourishes in every conceivable space in Brazil's cities."[27] Artistic parallels "are often drawn between the energy of So Paulo today and 1970s New York."[28] The "sprawling metropolis,"[28] of

So Paulo has "become the new shrine to graffiti;"[28] Manco alludes to "poverty and unemployment ... [and] the epic struggles and conditions of the country's marginalised peoples,"[29] and to "Brazil's chronic poverty,"[30] as the main engines that "have fuelled a vibrant graffiti culture."[30] In world terms, Brazil has "one of the most uneven distributions of income. Laws and taxes change frequently."[29] Such factors, Manco argues, contribute to a very fluid society, riven with those economic divisions and social tensions that underpin and feed the "folkloric vandalism and an urban sport for the disenfranchised,"[30] that is South American graffiti art. Prominent Brazilian graffiti artists include Os Gmeos, Boleta, Nunca, Nina, Speto, Tikka and T.Freak.[31] Their artistic success and involvement in commercial design ventures[32] has highlighted divisions within the Brazilian graffiti community between adherents of the cruder transgressive form of pichao and the more conventionally artistic values of the practitioners of grafite.[33]

Middle East

Graffiti in Tehran, Iran Graffiti in the Middle East is slowly emerging, with pockets of taggers operating in the various 'Emirates' of the United Arab Emirates, in Israel, and in Iran. The major Iranian newspaper Hamshahri has published two articles on illegal writers in the city with photo coverage of Iranian artist A1one's works on Tehran walls. Tokyo-based design magazine PingMag has interviewed A1one and featured photos of his work.[34] The Israeli West Bank barrier has become a site for graffiti, reminiscent in this sense of the Berlin Wall. Many graffiti artists in Israel come from other places around the globe, such as JUIF, from Los Angeles, and DEVIONE from London. The religious reference " "( "Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman") is commonly seen graffitied around Israel.

Methods and production

The first graffiti shop in Russia was opened in 1992 in Tver City.

The modern day graffiti artist can be found with an arsenal of various materials that allow for a successful production of a piece.[35] This includes such techniques as scribing. However, spray paint in aerosol cans is the number one necessity for graffiti. From this commodity come different styles, technique, and abilities to form master works of visual graffiti. Spray paint can be found at hardware and art stores and come in virtually every color. Stencil graffiti, originating in the early 1980s, is created by cutting out shapes and designs in a stiff material (such as cardboard or subject folders) to form an overall design or image.[36] 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. This method of graffiti is popular amongst artists because of its swift technique that requires very little time. Time is always a factor with graffiti due to the constant threat of getting caught by law enforcement.

Modern experimentation
Modern graffiti art often incorporates additional arts and technologies. For example, Graffiti Research Lab has encouraged the use of projected images and magnetic lightemitting diodes as new media for graffiti writers. The Italian artist Kaso is pursuing regenerative graffiti through experimentation with abstract shapes and deliberate modification of previous graffiti artworks. Yarnbombing is another recent form of graffiti. Yarnbombers occasionally target previous graffiti for modification.

Characteristics of common graffiti

A variety of different graffiti styles can be found in this Toronto alleyway.

An example of a tag from Germany This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011) Some of the most common styles of graffiti have their own names. A "tag" is the most basic writing of an artist's name, it is simply a handstyle. A graffiti writer's tag is his or her personalized signature. Tagging is often the example given when opponents of graffiti refer to any acts of handstyle graffiti writing (it is by far the most common form of graffiti). Tags can contain subtle and sometimes cryptic messages, and might incorporate the artist's crew initials or other letters. One form of tagging known as "pissing" is the act of taking a refillable fire extinguisher and replacing the contents inside with paint, allowing for tags as high as around 20 feet. Aiming and keeping a handstyle steady in this form of tagging is very difficult, usually coming out wavy and sloppy. Another form is the "throw-up", also known as a "bombing" which is normally painted very quickly with two or three colors, sacrificing aesthetics for speed. Throw-ups can also be outlined on a surface with one color. A "piece" is a more elaborate representation of the artist's name, incorporating more stylized letters, usually incorporating a much larger range of colors. This of course is more time consuming and increases the likelihood of the artist getting caught. A "blockbuster" or "roller" is a large piece, almost always done in a block shaped style, done simply to cover a large area solidly with two contrasting colours, sometimes with the whole purpose of blocking other writers from painting on the same wall. These are usually accomplished with extended paint rollers and gallons of cheap exterior paint.

An example of the modern stencil graffiti, a very common style, in Toronto A more complex style is "wildstyle", a form of graffiti usually involving interlocking letters and connecting points. These pieces are often harder to read by non-graffiti artists as the letters merge into one another in an often undecipherable manner. Some artists also use stickers as a quick way to catch ups. While certain critics from within graffiti culture consider this lazy, stickers can be quite detailed in their own right, and are often used in conjunction with other materials. Sticker tags are commonly done on blank postage stickers, as these can be easily acquired with no cost on the writers part. Many graffiti artists believe that doing complex pieces involves too great an investment of time to justify the practice. Doing a piece can take (depending on experience and size) 30 minutes to months on end, as was the case for Saber MSK while working on the

worlds largest graffiti piece on the LA river. Another graffiti artist can go over a piece in a matter of minutes with a simple throw up. This was exemplified by the writer "CAP" in the documentary Style Wars, who, other writers complain, ruins pieces with his quick throw ups. This became known as "capping" and is often done when there is "beef", conflict between writers.

Stencils by John Fekner: Charlotte Street Stencils, South Bronx, New York, 1980.

Uses
Theories on the use of graffiti by avant-garde artists have a history dating back at least to the Scandinavian Institute of Comparative Vandalism in 1961. Many contemporary analysts and even art critics have begun to see artistic value in some graffiti and to recognize it as a form of public art. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles, that type of public art is, in fact an effective tool of social emancipation or in the achievement of a political goal.[37] The murals of Belfast and of Los Angeles offer another example of official recognition. [38] In times of conflict, such murals have offered a means of communication and selfexpression for members of these socially, ethnically and/or racially divided communities, and have proven themselves as effective tools in establishing dialog and thus of addressing cleavages in the long run. The Berlin Wall was also extensively covered by Graffiti reflecting social pressures relating to the oppressive Soviet rule over the GDR.

Unique utilization of graffiti used here as a method of expressing sexual orientation. Montclair, California. Many artists involved with Graffiti also are concerned with the similar activity of Stencilling. Essentially, this entails stenciling a print of one or more colors using spraypaint. Recognised while exhibiting and publishing several of her coloured stencils and paintings portraying the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and urban Britain in the early 2000s, graffiti artist Mathangi Arulpragasam a.k.a. M.I.A. has also become known for

integrating her imagery of political violence into her music videos for singles "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gun", and her cover art. Stickers of her artwork also often appear around places such as London in Brick Lane, stuck to lamp posts and street signs, having herself become a muse for other graffiti artists/painters worldwide in cities including Seville.[39] Graffiti artist John Fekner, called "caption writer to the urban environment, adman for the opposition" by writer Lucy Lippard,[40] was involved in direct art interventions within New York City's decaying urban environment in the mid-seventies through the eighties. Fekner is known for his word installations targeting social and political issues, stenciled on buildings throughout New York.

"Return of the three funny types" By Dutch graffiti artist Ces53.

Anonymous artists
Graffiti artists constantly have the looming threat of facing consequences for displaying their graffiti. Many choose to protect their identities and reputation by remaining anonymous. With the commercialization of graffiti (and hip hop in general), in most cases, even with legally painted "graffiti" art, graffiti artists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the 1 of 4 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 form of visual art, it might also be said that many graffiti artists still fall in the category of the introverted archetypal artist. Banksy is one of the world's most notorious and popular street artist who continues to remain faceless in today's society.[41] He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly in Bristol, England but his work can be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to Palestine. 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 can be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, though he has painted pictures around the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel's controversial West 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 of exhibitions have also 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 other officials have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it.

Pixnit is another artist who chooses to keep her identity from the general public.[42] Her work focuses on beauty and design aspects of graffiti as opposed to Banksy's antigovernment shock value. Her paintings are often of flower designs above shops and stores in her local urban area of Cambridge, Massachusetts . Some store owners endorse her work and encourage others to do so as well. "One of the pieces was left up above Steve's Kitchen, because it looks pretty awesome"- Erin Scott, the manager of New England Comics in Allston.

Radical and political

'Resistance' a graffito found on a wall in Nablus, West Bank, Israel in 2011

A preserved 1920 graffiti written on a wall in the Sremska Street in Belgrade, Serbia, with the slogan (Vote for Filip Filipovi). Filipovi was the communist candidate for the mayor of Belgrade. 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 the anarcho-punk band Crass, who conducted a campaign of stenciling anti-war, anarchist, feminist and anti-consumerist messages around the London Underground system during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
[43]

In Amsterdam graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered with names as 'De Zoot', 'Vendex' and 'Dr Rat'.[44][45] To document the graffiti a punk magazine was started called Gallery Anus. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s there already was a vibrant graffiti culture.

Graffiti on the train line leading to Central Station in Amsterdam. The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchist, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-rvolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") and Lisez 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." Sandra "Lady Pink" Fabara[46]

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 the subvertising, 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 a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints for a variety of reasonsbut primarily because is it difficult for the police to apprehend and for the courts to sentence or even convict a person for a protest that is as fleeting and less intrusive than marching in the streets. In some communities, such impermanent works survive longer than works created with permanent paints because the community views the work in the same vein as that of the civil protester who marches in the streetsuch protest are impermanent but effective nevertheless. In some areas where a number of artist share the impermanence ideal, there grows an informal competition. That is, the length of time that a work escapes destruction is related to the amount of respect the work garners in the community. A crude work that deserves little respect would invariably be removed immediately. The most talented artist might have works last for days. Artists whose primary object is to assert control over propertyand not primarily to create of an expressive work of art, political or otherwiseresist switching to impermanent paints. Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such as Alexander Brener, have used the medium to politicize other art

forms, and have used the prison sentences forced onto them as a means of further protest.
[47]

The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each others' practices. Anti-capitalist art group the Space Hijackers, for example, did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of political imagery. On top of the political aspect of graffiti as a movement, political groups and individuals may also use graffiti as a tool to spread their point of view. This practice, due to its illegality, has generally become favored by groups excluded from the political mainstream (e.g. far-left or far-right groups) who justify their activity by pointing out that they do not have the money or sometimes the desire to buy advertising to get their message across, and that a "ruling class" or "establishment" control the mainstream press, systematically excluding the radical/alternative point of view. This type of graffiti can seem crude; for example fascist supporters often scrawl swastikas and other Nazi images. One innovative form of graffiti that emerged in the UK in the 1970s was devised by the Money Liberation Front (MLF), essentially a loose affiliation of underground press writers such as the poet and playwright Heathcote Williams and magazine editor and playwright Jay Jeff Jones. They initiated the use of paper currency as a medium for counterculture propaganda, overprinting banknotes, usually with a John Bull printing set. Although short lived the MLF was representative of London's Ladbroke Grove centered alternative and literary community of the period. The area was also a scene of considerable anti-establishment and humorous street graffiti much of it also produced by Williams.[48] In 2009, following the elections in Iran, protesters (who regarded the electoral result as rigged) began to deface banknotes with slogans such as "Death to the dictator". In Colombia writing and drawing on banknotes has become increasingly popular, either to make political comments, for fun or as an artistic medium. The national government has run advertising campaigns in an attempt to discourage the practice. In the UK there have been signs of an MLF resurgence with a number of banknotes in circulation being overmarked with protest slogans such as "Banks=Robbers", relating to the perceived culpability of banks in the financial crisis.

Gates in a peace line in West Belfast, marking the boundary between segregated communities in Northern Ireland.

Both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland produce political graffiti. As well as slogans, Northern Irish political graffiti include large wall paintings, referred to as murals. Along with the flying of flags and the painting of kerb stones, the murals serve a territorial purpose, often associated with gang use. Artists paint them mostly on house gables or on the Peace Lines, high walls that separate different communities. The murals often develop over an extended period and tend to stylization, with a strong symbolic or iconographic content. Loyalist murals often refer to historical events dating from the war between James II and William III in the late 17th century, whereas Republican murals usually refer to the more recent troubles. Territorial graffiti serves as marking ground to display tags and logos that 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 cryptic symbols and initials strictly fashioned with unique calligraphies. 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.[49] Graffiti has been used as a means of advertising both legally and illegally. In NYC, Bronx-based TATS CRU has made a name for themselves doing legal advertising campaigns for companies like Coca Cola, McDonald's, Toyota, and MTV. In the U.K. Covent Garden's Boxfresh used stencil images of a Zapatista revolutionary in the hopes of cross referencing would promote their store. Smirnoff hired artists to use reverse graffiti (the use of high pressure hoses to clean dirty surfaces to leave a clean image in the surrounding dirt) to increase awareness of their product. Shepard Fairey rose to fame after his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which his art was plastered in cities across America. Many graffiti artists see legal advertising as no more than 'paid for and legalised graffiti' and have risen against mainstream adverts. The graffiti research lab crew have gone on to target several prominent adverts in New York as a means of making a statement against this criteria.

Offensive graffiti

Gang symbol markings on public property, Millwood, Washington

Peace Sign Graffiti can also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti can be difficult to locate, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly).[50] Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight not easily recognized as "racist". It can then only be understood if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal and spatial), which is seen as heteroglot and thus an 'unique set of conditions'.[51] A spatial code could for example be, that there is a certain youth group in an area which is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti only containing the name or abbreviation of this gang is already a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases the herald of more serious criminal activity.[52] 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. Hence, the lack of obvious racist graffiti does not necessarily mean that there actually is none. By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints),[53] these drawings are less likely to be removed but do not lose their threatening and offensive character.[54]

Decorative and high art

In the early 1980s, the first Art Galleries who started to show graffiti artists to the public were Fashion Moda in Bronx and Now Gallery in East Village, Manhattan. A 2006 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form that began in New York's outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early '80s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It displayed 22 works by New York graffiti artists, including Crash, Daze and Lady Pink. In an article about the exhibition in Time Out Magazine, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti. Terrance Lindall, an artist and executive director of the Williamsburg Art and Historic Center, said regarding graffiti and the exhibition:[55]

"Graffiti is revolutionary, in my opinion", he says, "and any revolution might be considered a crime. People who are oppressed or suppressed need an outlet, so they write on wallsit's free." In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within visual art. Oxford University Press's art history text Australian Painting 17882000 concludes with a long discussion of graffiti's key place within contemporary visual culture, including the work of several Australian practitioners.[56] Artistic graffiti is a modern day offspring of traditional graffiti that has elevated itself from just scrawling words or phrases on a wall, to a complex artistic form of personal expression.[57] Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris a clear acceptance of the art form into the French art world.[58][59] Many graffiti artists have used their design talents in other artistic endeavors. In 2009 graffiti artist "Scape" published "GRAFF; the Art & Technique of Graffiti", the world's first book dedicated to displaying the full techniques of creating graffiti art. Other books that focus on graffiti include Faith of Graffiti by Norman Mailer, Trespass by Taschen press,[60] and the comic book Concrete Immortalz by Elite Gudz, which has a graffiti artist as its main character. Figurines by KAWS, featuring icons of pop culture often with x'ed out eyes, run in limited editions and sell for thousands of dollars.[61] World-renowned street artist Banksy directed the film Exit Through the Gift Shop, which explored street art and commercialism, in 2010.

Government responses
Asia

Street art in poetic form in Hualien City, Taiwan In China, graffiti began with Mao Zedong in the 1920s who used revolutionary slogans and paintings in public places to galvanise the country's communist revolution. Mao holds the record for the longest piece of graffiti, which contains 4000 characters criticising his teachers and the state of Chinese society.[62]

In Hong Kong, Tsang Tsou Choi was known as the King of Kowloon for his calligraphy graffiti over many years, in which he claimed ownership of the area. Some of his work is now officially preserved.

Sign designating a sanctioned graffiti zone in Taipei. In Taiwan, the government has made some concessions to graffiti artists. Since 2005 they've been allowed to freely display their work along some sections of riverside retaining walls in designated "Graffiti Zones".[63] From 2007, Taipei's Department of Cultural Affairs also began permitting graffiti on fences around major public construction sites. Department head Yong-ping Lee () 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 in Ximending, a popular shopping district. Graffiti artists caught working outside of these designated areas still face fines up to $6000 TWD under a Department of Environmental Protection regulation.[64] 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."[65] In 1993 in Singapore, after several expensive cars were spray-painted, the police arrested a student from the Singapore American School, Michael P. Fay, questioned him and subsequently charged him with vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing the car in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966 Vandalism 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 a caning. 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 for clemency, Fay's caning took place in Singapore on 5 May 1994. Fay had originally received a sentence of six lashes of the cane, but the then President of Singapore Ong Teng Cheong agreed to reduce his caning sentence to four lashes.[66]

Graffiti in Buenos Aires, showing the Obelisk

Graffiti by Miss Van and Ciou in Barcelona

In South Korea, Park Jung-soo was fined 2 million South Korean won by the Seoul Central District Court for spray-painting a rat on posters of the G-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 however Korean government prosecutors alleged that Mr. Park was making a derogatory statement about President of ROK 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.[67]

Europe

Graffiti removal in Berlin In Europe, community cleaning squads have responded to graffiti, in some cases with reckless abandon, as when in 1992 in France a local Scout group, attempting to remove modern graffiti, damaged two prehistoric paintings of bison in the Cave of Mayrire suprieure near the French village of Bruniquel in Tarn-et-Garonne, earning them the 1992 Ig Nobel Prize in archeology.[68]

Ash Astronaut Cosmonaut, Berlin 2007

1944 logo of Lithuania File:Banksy graffiti removal.jpg

Graffiti depicting graffiti removal by Banksy. Created in May 2008 at Leake Street in London, painted over by August 2008. In September 2006, the European Parliament issued the European Commission to create urban environment policies to prevent and eliminate dirt, litter, graffiti, animals' excrement and excessive noise from domestic and vehicular music systems in European cities, along with other concerns over urban life.[69] The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 became Britain's latest anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign issued a press release calling for zero 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.[70] The press release also condemned the use of graffiti images in advertising and in music videos, arguing that real-world experience of graffiti stood far removed from its oftenportrayed 'cool' or 'edgy' image. To back the campaign, 123 MPs (including Prime Minister Tony 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.[71] However, in the last couple of years the British graffiti scene has been struck by self-titled 'art terrorist' Banksy, who has revolutionized the style of UK graffiti (bringing to the forefront stencils to aid the speed of painting) as well as the content; making his work largely satirical of the sociological state of cities, or the political climate of war, often using monkeys and rats as motifs. In the UK, city councils have the power to take action against the owner of any property that has been defaced under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (as amended by the Clean 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.

'Approved' graffiti at Stroud, Gloucestershire, England.

'Approved' graffiti at Bridge-Gallery Loerrach Germany In July 2008, a conspiracy charge was used to convict graffiti artists for the first time. After a three-month police surveillance operation,[72] nine members of the DPM crew were convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal damage costing at least 1 million. Five of them received prison sentences, ranging from 18 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.[73]

Stencil by Banksy on the waterline of The Thekla, an entertainment boat in central Bristol Some councils, like that at Stroud, Gloucestershire and Loerrach provide approved areas round the town where graffiti artists can showcase their talents, including underpasses, car parks and walls that might otherwise prove a target for the 'spray and run.'[74] In Budapest, Hungary both a city-backed movement called I Love Budapest and a special police division tackle the problem, including the provision of approved areas.[75][76]

Australia

CityRail, Sydney's train network is notorious for vandalism. This is a toilet of a brand new OSCAR train, damaged in just within a period of 5 years In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities in Australia have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by graffiti artists. One early example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located at the Camperdown Campus of the University of Sydney, which is available for use by any student at the University to tag, advertise, poster and create "art". 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 or trespassing.[77][78] Others disagree with this approach, arguing that the presence of legal graffiti walls does not demonstrably reduce illegal graffiti elsewhere.[79] Some Local Government Areas around 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 as Hosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography and backdrops for corporate print advertising. The Lonely Planet travel guide cites Melbourne's street are as a major attraction. Everything including; sticker art, poster, stencil art and wheatpasting 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 you move further 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 a perspex 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.[80]

New Zealand
In February 2008 Helen 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 in Auckland during January 2008 where a middle aged property owner stabbed one of two teenage taggers to death and was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.

United States
Main article: Graffiti in the United States

Aggregation of Damage Police and Prosecution use of 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 offenders moniker or tag in a simple, effective and comprehensive way. These systems can also help track costs of damage to 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 of 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 of 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 to not only focuses on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.[81]

Police Response 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 and/or any other real or personal property. Some injunctions contain wording that restricts damaging or vandalizing the property of another, both public and private property, including but limited to any vehicle, light fixture, door, fence, wall, gate, window, building, street sign, utility box, telephone box, trees, or power pole.[82]

Graffiti 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 Diegos hotline receives over 5000 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 the actual removal of it. 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.[83]

Police Response Graffiti Search Warrants

When the police use 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 used to etch or scratch glass and other hard surfaces, and permanent marking pens, such as markers or paint sticks; evidence of membership or affiliation with any gang or tagging crew, paraphernalia to include any reference to (taggers name), and any drawings, writings, objects or graffiti depicting taggers names, initials, logos, monikers, slogans, or mention of tagging crew membership; any newspaper clippings relating details of or referring to any graffiti crime.[84]

Cultural Introduction
Graffiti is considered one of the four elements of hip hop, along with emceeing (rapping), DJing, and b-boying (breakdancing). Graffiti, like the other three elements, is an artform, a means of cultural expression. Like the other forms of hip hip, it also expresses resistance. Graffiti challenges, for example, mainstream notions of what counts as art, what counts as public space, and what counts as property, just as emceeing/DJing challenges what counts as music, and bboying challenges what counts as dance. Graffiti, unlike the other forms of hip hop, is more easily misunderstood because it is often done illegally and the artists are often secretive about their real identities. As such, it has not received the kind of positive mainstream recognition afforded to rappers, DJ's, and dancers. Some professionals in the art world have embraced graffiti, but that doesn't mean that the public at large understands and appreciates what graffiti is all about.

Graffiti has a long and proud history. The subculture surrounding graffiti has existed for several decades, and it's still going strong. The graffiti artists (or "writers" as they prefer to call themselves) are passionate, skilled, community-oriented, and socially conscious in ways that profoundly contradict the way they've been portrayed as common criminals and vandals. In the following pages, we will look at the history of this thriving subculture.

Birth and Evolution

Graffiti, if we define it as any type of writing on the wall goes back to ancient Rome, and if drawn images count, then we could point to the first graf artists. But the style of urban graffiti that most people have seen and know about, the kind that uses spraycans, came from New York City in the late 1960s, and was born on the subway trains. Taki 183, who lived on 183rd street in Washington Heights, worked as a messenger who traveled all throughout the city. While he did so, he would use a marker and write his name wherever he went, at subway stations and also the insides and outsides of subway cars. Eventually, he became known all throughout the city as this mysterious figure. In 1971, he was interviewed for an article by the New York Times. Kids all over New York, realizing the fame and notoriety that could be gained from "tagging" their names on subway cars (that traveled all over the city, naturally) began to emulate Taki 183. The goal was to "get up" (using the slang of the day), to have one's name in as many places as possible, and as kids competed against each other to get famous, the amount of graffiti on trains exploded.

Tagging and More

For tagging on the insides of trains, permanent markers worked, but using spraycans of paint quickly became popular as well, especially for tagging on the outside of trains. Graffiti became so much more than simple tagging, however. Graffiti writers, in addition to getting their name around as much as possible, would try to outdo each other in terms of style. At first, writers would try to make their tags (or signatures) more stylish than anyone else's. Later on, they would add more colors, special effects, and they'd make their name bigger. Spraycans allowed large pieces of graffiti to be created fairly quickly which was important because writers didn't want to get caught by the police or people working for the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority). As you will see in the Graffiti Styles section of this wesite, graffiti really evolved into a complex artform with its own techniques and vocabulary. From simple tags on the insides of trains to throwups to

masterpieces that spanned multiple subway cars, the art and science of graffiti grew in leaps and bounds.

Style Wars
The "style wars" in the 1970s between graffiti artists trying to get famous and creating bigger and better pieces resulted in the emergence of an entire subculture surrounding graffiti. Graf writers would gather at what they called "writer's benches" at subway stations to look at each other's sketchbooks, to plan "bombing" runs, and to watch as trains passed by so they could discuss the latest pieces they or other writers had recently produced. Older writers would take younger writers on as apprentices and assistants to help on larger pieces. Whole writing "crews" would form to collaborate on pieces, to help each other "rack up" paint (by any means necessary), and to watch out for authorities. Some crews would travel together to avoid gang troubles, but they were rarely violent. A common misconception is that graffiti is all gang-related. Most graffiti is not gangrelated. Gang-related graffiti is most often used to mark territory, and not as much time or effort is spent in its creation.

The Golden Age

NYC subway graffiti became world famous, and its style and sensibilities were transplanted to other parts of the country and the world, mixing with local traditions and styles in new ways. The 70s were the golden age of subway graffiti, but for the MTA, it was a problem that had long gone out of control. Graf writers did not just battle each other in their quest to be the "King of all Lines" and all the other titles they bestowed upon themselves. They had to deal with police patrolling the trains and the yards where they worked, their masterpieces being washed off of cars, barbed wire fences, and guard dogs, not to mention concerned parents who sometimes did not understand.

Creativity
What these kids did, however, was to find a way to express themselves creatively in a society that told them that they didn't have the talent or drive. They came from ghettos that many said were devoid of culture. Graffiti and hip hop in general proved the world wrong. The graf writers (and emcees, and DJs, and bboys) proved that they could create something beautiful that required skill and dedication, something that contributed to the city even if people didn't always understand what it was all about. They expressed their identity in a society that tried to keep them anonymous, that tried to ignore social problems as if they didn't exist. Mayor Ed Koch (in the 1980s) once inquired why the NYC youth couldn't be given brooms and sponges to help the city instead of using their energies to write all over it. Clearly, he didn't understand the difference between being a janitor and being an artist. In our culture, where self-expression is becoming more and more highly regulated, graffiti plays an important role in brashly symbolizing unfettered individuality and resistance.

Contemporary Graffiti
With heightened security in the 80's, subway graffiti slowly died out. In 1989, the last train with significant amounts of graffiti on it was taken off the lines, ending an era. Traveling on the subways in 2003, there is virtually no graffiti to be seen on the outside of trains, and only dim scratchings here and there on the insides. But graffiti lives on, on city walls and other more unlikely places. Recently, there has been a trend towards writing graffiti on freight trains. Nowadays, artists are "getting up" not just in their own city, but across the country, furthering the transmission and mixing of different graffiti styles from all over. Graffiti has also become a way to make money. Graffiti art has been

featured in exclusive galleries and has exerted its influence on the world of graphic design. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see graffiti-style or graffiti-inspired art on tshirts, posters, and CD covers. Please note, however: subway graffiti is not completely dead. Through the windows, if you are at the walls near the tracks (that aren't underground), there's still plenty of graffiti to be seen. When the subway trains are underground, if you look through the windows in between stations, you can still see a lot of graffiti, some of it older probably, but some of it newer as well. Self expression can be stifled but never completely stopped.

Graffiti and Hip Hop

As we mentioned earlier, graffiti is considered one of the four elements of hip hop (along with emceeing, DJing, and B-Boying). These were the four major forms of creative expression that came from the Bronx, NY and spread to the rest of the world. Graffiti represented the visual, emceeing and DJ produced the music, and B-Boying was the dance. In the early days of hip-hop, all of these elements were deeply intertwined. Graf artists were very often B-boys and emcees and DJs as well. At the hottest parties, you might see a writer doing his thing on a wall while the DJ spins and scratches, the emcee revs up the crowd, and the B-boy battling each other on the dance floor.

The Two Today

Hip hop in 2003 is mostly centered around the emcee (or rapper), since the it's the emcee that sells product (in the form of CDs) that the music industry can sell. Graf writers, Bboys, and DJs have faded somewhat into the background, but there's a movement trying

to bring them back, which you can see in music videos featuring more dancers, graf writers, and a greater spotlight on DJs who are the ones actually making the beats. Graffiti was done by writers of all ethnicities. They tended to be young (teenagers, mostly) but some of the hardcore writers from the 70s are still going strong today. Writing was inclusive...if you had the talent. It was based on skill, not the color of your skin, your religion, or anything else that didn't translate to the pieces you made. Graffiti is multicultural, representing the ethnic diversity of New York, the city that spawned it. Hip hop has changed, and has moved far beyond the Bronx, but many of hip hop's founding fathers hope that it can remain a powerful multicultural force in spite of all the commercialism and marketing that surrounds it now.

The Environment
Graffiti existed (and still exists) as a major part of the urban environment. Young rappers growing up and wandering the city streets still see graffiti all around them. For some, graffiti represents decay, but for hip hop culture, graffiti provided the visual inspiration that encouraged other forms of creativity and expression, such as emceeing. Maybe you don't have to know about every element of hip hop in order to be part of the culture, but you do have to know about it if you want to know what inspired some of the best the hip hop artists of today--who grew up surrounded by graffiti, learning the moves of the best b-boys, and rocking to the beats of the freshest DJs.

Even though you might not think of Graffiti art as "math," many Graffiti artists do make use of it. For example, when you see a shadow effect used, the artist is dealing with different angles to give it that look. Also, keeping objects (such as a building) in correct proportion ensures that when you look at the art, you will be able to indentify what exactly you are looking at. Perspective can also be used as in the image below.

Cartesian Coordinates
Graffiti artists often work on a piece in sketchbooks before they actually begin painting it. The sketchbooks sometimes use a grid to help plan out the design. Sometimes they go beyond planning, and create visual effects that look as if they were stretching or folding the grid. In the picture on the right, you can see someone who actually shows the folded grid, although this is rare. More commonly, you might see graffiti writers use the actual brickwork as a grid itself, as we can see in this picture below.

Whether it's a grid in a sketchbook, or a grid of bricks on a wall, these grids are much like the Cartesian coordinate system in mathematics. Let's see how we can map the Graffiti artist's grid onto the Cartesian coordinate system.

Cartesian Coordinates and Lines

In the Graffiti Grapher software we will use Cartesian coordinates to locate the start and finish of each line. Each coordinate is a pair of numbers. The X coordinate tells you how far left or right. The Y coordinate tells you how far up or down. Cartesian coordinates use both negative and positive numbers, so don't forget to use the "-" sign.

The most important lines in Graffiti Grapher are the borders. Every two borders gives you a "shape." A collection of shapes is called a "group." Here is a group of two shapes. Shape 1 has green borders, shape 2 has red borders.

Polar Coordinates
Now that you've seen how to indicate location based on a pair of values (Cartesian Coordinates), it's time to look at a different way to express location on a grid - Polar Coordinates. Polar Coordinates use an angle and a distance from a center point (known as the origin) to determine location. With an origin consisting of x and y coordinates, a distance r, and an angle a, you describe a polar coordinate.

Arcs and Polar Coordinates

Using polar coordinates, we can draw the curved shape of an arc. The arc below, which is drawn in blue, is described by two polar coordinate points. For the first point, the origin is at x=0, y=0, the distance from the origin is 70 and the angle is 15.

For the second point, the origin is at x=0, y=0, the distance from the origin is 70 and the angle is 45.

Some of the curves in graffiti are arcs of spirals. The radius for the arc of a circle never changes, but the radius of a spiral arc changes as the arc moves from one endpoint to another. The rate of change is "delta" (d) The short blue arc below is the arc of a circle. Its radius never changes, so d = 0. The longer blue arc is the arc of a spiral, with d = 0.5. Both have the same starting point, but because the second arc's radius keeps getting bigger, it ends up farther out. How much farther out? We went through 125 degrees, and the radius increases by 0.5 units every degree, so the radius gained 125 * 0.5 = 62.5 units. What part of this graffiti artist's body is the origin point? What part is the end of the radius? How far is the end of the radius from the orgin at the end of the arc? How can you calculate that using d?

Case Study: Sibiu.

In sectorul dintre Gusterita si drumul spre Agnita sunt cateva poduri destul de mari , la unul din ele s-au apucat baietii de graffiti

Conclusion
Graffiti is an important and powerful artform