                       ____
          _  __ _____ /   /  _  __ ________                     _  __ _____
_______ _ ________   /  _/_   _____     __/ _  __ ____    ________ ___    /__
\    _/__ _   .__/__/  /     \   ___/   __     /_  _\_  _ _/_  /__ /  /
_\_     /  \  |    / \___/ _/   |   \_ __\ /  \   __/_ \   __   / /  /___/
\______/    \_ ___/___\    \_________/     _/    \_____/  \__/   /____/   -M-
_  __ _______/ ____________________________\______/________ /___/_________  _

        [    w E ' r E   j U S T   s i C K   o F   i T   a L L  ]
_  __ ____________________________________________________________________  _


                    [ Aerosol Art aka Graffiti Art  ]
  -  -- --- ---------------------------------------------------- --- --  -
essay excerpted from the book Street Gallery:Guide to 1,000 L.A. Murals


Graffiti art developed out of the scrawled nicknames, called "tags," that
rebellious youth have been scribbling illegally with felt-tip pens and spray
cans on walls, poles, road signs, even tree trunks, at least since the late
1960s. These teens and pre-teens come from all economic strata and ethnic
groups. Many, but not all, have limited resources for self-expression, being
trapped in neglected neigh- borhoods mired in poverty and violence. Those
from more affluent communities are often attracted by the excitement and the
dangers. Dismissed as vandals, graffiti practitioners as a whole are
increasingly contemptuous of the rules of a society that in many ways has
abandoned them. 

"Writing on the walls of the nation's land- and over-lords gives voice to the
pain and to the small victories in class warfare," writes Lucy Lippard in
Mixed Blessings: New Art in Multicultural America. Appropriately enough, she
continues, "Hitting a wall with a spray can is called 'bombing'."

Whereas tags often are simple and stark, graffiti art is a complex web of
electrifying color, innovative calligraphy, and a kind of rhythmic chaos. 

Initially, taggers sought recognition and respect by competing over the
quantity and the visibility of their tags. But as the number of taggers grew,
those looking for a better way to stand out began to place more value on
artistic quality, or style. 

In the early 1970s highly visible New York subway cars became the creative
battleground for a series of "style wars." Tags became larger, and bold new
lettering styles emerged. Among these were the rounded popcorn-like bubble
letters, the interlocking, difficult-to-read letters of wildstyle, and computer
and gothic lettering. Before long, color, cartoon characters, and impertinent
social commentary further added to the impact of these "pieces" (from the word
masterpieces). 

Later works showcased 3-D lettering, overlapping bubble letters, and fading.
Fading is a more recent refinement in- volving color blending, a complicated
process in which colors appear to fade into one another from lighter to darker.
Pieces bear little resemblance to the scrawl of tags, and their creators are
called "writers" instead of taggers. Twenty years ago most writers worked
alone, but as pieces increased in size and complexity, many youth began to work
in loose groups called "crews." 

Technological innovations have been instrumental in transforming graffiti into
a more sophisticated art form. By tinkering with aerosol cans, writers
discovered they could replace the original narrow dispersion cap with other,
more effective ones. First they substituted wide-spraying tops ("fat caps")
from spray foam or spray starch cans in order to cover a large surface area
quickly in broad strokes. This is useful when working hurriedly on walls
without permission. More recently "skinny tops" have enabled the production of
finely detailed work that at its best resembles air brush. 

Although mainstream gallery exhibitions in New York and Europe in the mid and
late 1970s brought some public awareness and attention, it was the explosion
of the Hip Hop youth movement in the early 1980s that propelled aerosol art,
along with breakdancing and rap music, into a popular cultural phenomenon. 

From its beginnings among African-American street kids in New York City, Hip
Hop has developed into an international, multi-racial youth sub-culture. Rap
music's success in particular has helped spread the work of some of the
hottest graffiti artists ("style masters"). Rappers frequently feature
"burners" (especially superb, colorful aerosol pieces) on their music videos
or television appearances. 

In Los Angeles aerosol works of art have moved beyond the vacant lots and
freight yards to the conference halls and the walls of retail stores and
businesses in such com- munities as Hollywood, Silver Lake, Highland Park,
Santa Monica, and especially along Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. In
September 1991 the prestigious Getty Center for the History of Art and the
Humanities joined with the city of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department in
sponsoring an all-day conference titled "Street Art/Graffiti Vandalism."
Approximately 60 people from a wide variety of perspectives and organizations
participated in discussions aimed at getting beyond labels and academic machinations. 

Not everyone is glad to see this move toward legitimizing graffiti's offspring.
Some politicians and property owners are busy lobbying for a total ban on
spray cans, believing that such a measure plus tougher law enforcement against
taggers are the only ways to curb rampant graffiti vandalism. 

Meanwhile the Department of Cultural Affairs performs a delicate balancing
act, careful to condemn illegal graffiti yet ready to admit the artistic merit
of spraycan art and anxious to channel the talents of its young practitioners
in legal, constructive directions. 

Although many of the graffiti writers are willing to work with Cultural
Affairs, they are anxious to protect their freedom of expression. In a 1992
interview in Artweek, an aerosol artist who also is publisher and editor of
Can Control -- a magazine of graffiti art-- expressed his support for L.A.'s
guidelines for training young writers to work on legal surfaces. Timothy
Treacy said of the policy: "I support it a hundred percent, as long as they
don't censor what's being done. If the City is going to give wall space,
they're going to have to let us decide what we're going to do." 


                  ____                                 ____
      _ _____________/   _______ ___________      ________/
       \\           /______     |  ________/__ ___\      /____ ____ 
     ___\\_________/       \    |  \          \         /     \\ 
                  /_________\___|___\__________\_______/       \\    
                      _______/________              __/_________\\____
           ___  _________   /        /   _____  ____\_______ ____ 
              ||         | /________/   |     |      \     //
              ||         |      _|      |     |       \___//_____bY!
         _____||_________|\______\      |_____|\_______\                      
                     \_____________ ____    _______
            __ _______\           /____/_____ ____/______ ____
             //        \_________/\          \\          \\
        ____//________________\ ___\__________\\__________\\______ 
                                    \           \

                     - --[  siCK oF iT aLL  ]-- -
