First, let's begin to address the word graffiti. As much as it is in the forefront of our vocabulary; the way we utilize the word is false. Graffiti is a word given by society to dismiss or delegitimize the movement of writing. I don't think this was on purpose. This term was possibly the most accessible word to describe what was going on infused with the publics despise of the movement. Some of you may know (especially writers) that graffiti comes from the Italian word graffito. The definition is to scratch or mark a surface. Even though writers utilize the word graffiti, originally this cultural action that began in the late 60's was called writing or style writing. Style writing is a legitimate movement that goes beyond the scope of most people's perceptions around this movement. This is why I find myself called to share my personal knowledge, explorations and experiences. The contents of this page will show you what I believe to be solid descriptors of Style Writing. I do not claim to know everything. Everything I share is from my direct experiences as a Style Writer and my in-depth research.
Lets begin!
This form of expression is potentially the first art form to be truly be all inclusive. A writer can be of any age, gender, creed, class, religion, or ethnicity!
The form itself or act of writing as a whole is non discriminating, however I can't speak for crews, communities, and people who write. Even the most racist or sexist human can be a writer unfortunately. There can be discrimination within the culture itself just like any city or community seems to naturally produce these elements. The good thing is no matter who you are you can still throw down. That is if you can pass the threshold of procrastination into acting upon your vision, instinct, rebellion, and drive.
So in the true nature of Style writing it is illegal. Style writing is vandalism. Anyone can paint on a legal wall in the form of letters, however it defeats the rebellious nature of the movement. Part of writing is to have full freedom without asking permission. To act upon an instinct to paint wherever, whatever, whenever, and on whatever you want! As part of the 99% I believe there is a need for balance in equality and this form is one way balance may naturally attempt to occur. As much as writing gives way to freedom the other possible side of the illegality is lack of freedom. This can vary from simple fines, lawyer fees, confiscation of property, or incarceration. It all depends on the quantitative qualities of a writers expression. For instance, how much damage or works have you produced in the eyes of the law. I will touch on this more in the Conflict and Alliance issue.
The act of writing itself is non violent to humans and animals. Unless you write on them without consent. This is not to say that writing does not have a large carbon foot print because it does. In the context of the law writing is non violent. If you are like me you may see that writing does have an element of violence to our Mother Earth. There is also possible negative health side effects for most participants. Most aerosol paint is petrol based so it is derived from the extraction industry destroying our planet . Most writers do not paint on natural elements rather mostly man made objects. Unfortunately there is no way to justify the particulates we spray into the atmosphere, as well as the extraction industries we support. The non violence element can be argued when we really see that we are one part of the larger global atmospheric problem. In these tumultuous times I will say what some of us find ourselves up against right now is pretty bad so keep painting!
No other art form networked globally before style writing, the writing movement was the first. There were art forms and movements in painting happening around the globe. They were never globally networked pre graffiti in a solid commonality of content. Writing began to network globally through systems of pin pals where writers intrigued to find further forms and styles would research, travel, and connect to other writers. In these exchanges hard copy photos were sent across the globe and connections were made. This all happened before the internet. Style writing is a form of visual expression so potent that it spread across the globe to be produced in every country on Earth. The spread was widely fueled by books such as "Subway Art" and the movement of subway writers in the international hub of NYC. This is where the productions on the trains worked as a network linking New York's burrows to one another. Writing also would appear in the backdrop of historical events and scenes in movies where people like me would take notice and catch the fever.
Like it or not writing is now permanently in our fabric of history. From events like the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, Standing Rock, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Writing is visually expressed upon surfaces expressing the flame of freedom and justice. When humans get cornered in the box of injustice there will always be writing on the wall. Writing will always express the layers of a cities or neighborhoods social symptoms. I believe the way writing shows up in style, execution and placement in place, one can read the environment by it's calligraphy. Visual phonetics if you will. If you move back through images over the decades the styles mirror the psyche of the people of the times as well as the tools. Writing tells a story of survival, expression, cultural evolution, history, and living through chemistry.
The symptom of Invisibility is one reason this global form of visual expression is so prevalent. With the bombardment of media, content, and constant devastating news we can tend to feel invisible. Either we may feel like a cog in the machine or feel doomed to perish on a planet that may not sustain human life. Feelings like these lead to hundreds of thousands of human beings making their own names and using their bodies to go out and express. These participants take a huge risk to loose numerous freedoms to just be visually loud. Invisibility isn't the only symptom but in my opinion and experience it is one of the most prevalent driving forces of writing. Even in the culture itself there is drive to rise out of the sea foam of letters and stand out. This has developed into further forms, quantity, inventions and styles that can set one apart to become legendary.
One of the things that can make us feel invisible is when the leaders of the world or the people in power abuse their positions . How can a few hold so much clout and possibly tweet us out of existence into nuclear armageddon? How can these people create policies that can effect our metabolic experience and health? How can they pass laws that can unjustly incarcerated us and take away our freedoms, when they get to play the billionaires monopoly over the land as they please?
Writing being a contemporary American invention has it's roots in American History. The United States as well as all countries in the Americas aka Turtle Island are existing systems on stolen indigenous land. There is a long modern history of violence, racism, classism and genocide that contributes to the obsession of property, resources and territory in the Americas. When people build empires off thievery, lies, and murder cultural innovations will naturally emerge. These emergent innovations such as writing may force to raise questions. What is it that you own? Where do you live and what is the history of the ground you walk upon? There is a vast history of Turtle Island not to be dismissed before colonizers arrived. The Indigenous peoples from north and south all across the land marked symbols and meaning onto countless surfaces or even painted their stories in glyphs such as the Mayans.
I would like to ask, do you know the land you walk upon? Is the original name of your place forgotten? Who were the people who were there before you? I am writing this from Santa Fe, NM on Tewa land. The Tewa name of this place is O'Gah Po'Geh.
The works produced by writers are free! Meaning any authentic burner or piece is not for sale. A writer can produce representational pieces for sale or get commissioned to do something legal. However in the true nature of the culture an unsolicited piece is not a commodity. The commodification of art is an interesting and new development in the recent history of humans. In the past and in some cultures there wasn't even a word for art. Creating in the artist's visual language was just in the fabric of their culture. Writing is the same way in our modern time, it is part of the fabric of our current culture and free to the public in every city across the land. There are instances where someone may cut a piece out of a wall or take a door with an infamous name crafted upon the surface. That is an issue in itself, the writers original intent was most likely not to become a commodity.
So Writing by nature is ephemeral. The removal of the public works may be erased by way of a pressure washer, the graffiti removal services, a bucket of paint, a property owner, pedestrian, another writer going over a piece, war, gentrification, or the elements. That is part of the nature of writing. Writing mimics life and life is by nature fleeting. When you see a piece you love, savor it. If you produce a piece you love, savor it. The work will some day be gone either sooner or later. In some ways if you have the awareness writing can be a contemplative and mindful practice. It can challenge us to stay present as well as work with the past and loss. In the culture there are a lot of terms for works or actions, a relative one is the burner. Here is a break down. When you create a burner it can typically mean a piece is so good or lucky, it has with stood conflicts and has stayed up. A piece of work moving through a period of time untouched will be burning in the sun until it fades. It will transform into something of a shadow of its former self, yet almost more potent. A burner could also resemble some magical effort and show of a writers uncanny aptitude light up a wall. If you paint over someone else work the ethic can be you must burn it. Meaning you have to produce a better burner than the previous attempt gracing the surface. The hope is alway that a burner will remain for a long period of time. Due to the nature of this work pieces will expire eventually.
When a writer goes out and paints, the release of endorphins and the possibility of danger can activate multiple sensations. This can lead to opening up ones peripheral and kinesthetic awareness. A natural high per-say, an adrenaline or pleasure induced experience. To me this experience is psychedelic in not knowing what the outcome will be within the paint mission. This is a wild and fulfilling experience for many. Letters and styles can visually mirror the experience. The mirroring can show up in the steadiness of the hand, a writers concentration, knowledge of letters, tools, or even window of time experienced to execute. In general letters are psychedelic and can reflect a writers creative mind in the rhythm, flow or structure produced by the individual. Some of the wildest styles have developed regionally, in confluence with writers from other places, music, poster art, mind altering substances, comic books, and the list goes on.
There is said to be no rules in writing. This is true to some degree. I believe the rules are stated to the question above, "What is writing?". From it being illegal and in the form of letters etc.. There are parameters that define the movement.
One last thing to be clear on is besides rules, is that there are ethics. The ethics can vary from city to city, crew to crew or writer to writer. Some ethics I have, that if I bypassed them would hinder my morals. I personally never write on someones home, a place of worship, trees, animals, or a personal automobile. Survival is real and I am a relational person that loves my community.
If a writer can expand your mind with a clean throw over a public wall, make your eyes bleed with a burner under a bridge, or make you feel that freight trains are traveling art exhibits I feel they are doing their job. I would like average citizens like myself not feel violated by writing. I would most certainly want them to at least start to question what it means to own property or who gets to have a powerful voice in this world. So that the common person can begin to bring more balance to this world.
Thank you,
Joerael Numina