Figure 1.

Graffiti in neighbourhood (Image by Wonderful Engineering)

Since the first appearance in the late 1970s, Hip Hop as a subculture has
rapidly developed into a global phenomenon in only a few decades. The culture is
defined as a way for people to freely express their opinions and show off their
creative capability, especially the youth. As Hip Hop grows larger, so do its elements.
While emcees and rappers become more and more well-recognized; DJing and Hip
Hop dance are also making a scene in ‘the underground’ all over the world. Although
being a part of the phenomenal subculture, graffiti gets less attention, is less
recognized and less known worldwidely. One of the most essential factors which
leads to this outcome is the misleading concept that graffiti is merely an action of
vandalizing, but of course, this concept is not very welcomed among the
‘underground community’ since it is originated from people outside of the culture.
Additionally, street artists fight back by claiming graffiti is as much artistic as any
other art form. The argument is yet to reach a conclusion even after decades of hip
hop culture merging into the modern society. To end all debates, which is the real
form of graffiti? Art or vandalism?

‘Graffiti’ is an Italian term for scratching on walls or surfaces. In other words,

this form of art has existed since the era of the Roman Empire, ancient Egypt and
ancient Greece. In order to differentiate between the ancient drawing with the
modern drawing people are familiar with nowaday, the latter is commonly known as
‘urban graffiti’, which is usually associated with spray cans and mark pens. Graffiti
artists, graffers, tend to be youngsters from various ethnicity though there are also
many hardcore artists, still spraying strong since the establishment. Angie Kordic of
Widewalls (n.d) thinks that graffiti is the art performed by outlaws, since their canvas
are people’s properties with them taking big risks to produce such work in a limited
amount of time. The pioneer of the art form was Darryl McCray, a high school student
from Philadelphia, better known as Cornbread. His initial intention was to draw the
attention of the girl he liked by tagging his name on every city walls. McCray later on
tagged ‘Cornbread Lives’ around the city with spray cans (Cane, D 2010), to prove
his existence when rumours were talking about Cornbread being shot dead.

Figure 2. Darryl McCray a.k.a Cornbread (Image by The Originators)

The movement soon reached New York, the birthplace of hip hop, in the late
1960s. At the beginning, a messenger goes by the name Taki 183 used mark pens to
write his name at the subway stations, also the insides and outsides of the subway
cars during his travel around the inner city, the name promptly became anonymously
well known. The trend was quickly picked up by kids around New York, trying to
emulate Taki 183, beginning by tagging as many places as possible in order to be
famous, thus the number of drawings drastically imploded. In 1970s, New York urban
graffiti took off with the development in both styles and the artists. With graffiti
evolved from personal styles, artists began gathering to find common style to
compete against other crews. This was called the Style Wars (Cite, n.d). The activity
later on picked up by street gangs to mark their territories, and drawings expanded
from subway trains to city walls. The movement later on faced with a wall of objection
against its community, as the citizens started to looked down on the art and
considered those as vandalism.
 Figure 3. Subway car in New York (Image by Widewalls)

According to the Oxford Dictionary, vandalism is an ’action involving

deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property’ Any quote should be
cited. Since graffiti appeared on the neighbourhood walls, the outcry became louder
and wider which required the government to step in. The criminals are mostly gangs
who used graffiti to distinct their turfs. According to Jonathan Rocha (2012), as long
as the drawings are done without permission, they are labeled as vandalizing
people’s property despite its artistry or not. This synonymously means that subway
trains, city’s properties, are all vandalized. In 1984, New York City Transit Authority
(NYCTA) established a program to wipe out graffitis in urban places, including
underground trains. The president of NYCTA at the time, David Gunn, expressed that
travellers feel the insecurity while sitting in a subway car full of graffiti images (n.a
2014), it illustrates the incapacity of the government towards the issue, Mr. Gunn
added. Police departments established programs to limit the ability to cause
damages and the amount of crimes, initially made it harder for graffers to paint on
subway trains, forcing them to move to a more obvious location, the street.
Restriction in selling and displaying paints also makes it difficult for graffers to create
art work, especially at the time, the law on this matter was enhanced even more to
deal with this shift in graffiti. However, the installed curriculum created an opposite
effects. Instead of following the rules, street artists chose to rebel against the
bureaucracy. Artists embraced one another or worse, joining gangs, to fulfill their
capability which would lead to more crimes and even damaging the image of graffiti
as an art form. Until now, New York Police Department still look out to protect the
city’s properties from being vandalized by the Graffers (MTA 2014).
 Figure 4. Police force erases drawings on a wall (Image by Evansville Courier & Press)

On the other hand, there are still people believe in the true beauty of graffiti,
including the police officers since they are the one who track down the drawings and
its culprits. Officer Brandon Barron gives some insights about the difference between
true graffiti and gang signs. In cases drawings are readable, they are usually territory
marks while graffers tend to make it harder for audience to read (2012). The LAPD
Gang Enforcement Detail officer believes true artists only spray to be seen by other
people. In addition, while Newton’s Gang Unit policeman Rocha explains the
importance of getting permission before drawing pieces on walls, it also becomes
popular where landlord asks graffiti crew to cover their store with unique sketches to
prevent ‘less-inspired vandalism’. This is another vital point since not only artists
have to fend off the gang signs in their nature, they also need to help the people
differentiate between their drawings with low quality vandalizing. Vandalizing without
artistry would heavily damage the reputation of the graffiti community.
Figure 5,6,7. Graffiti vs Vandalism vs Gang Signs (left to right)

Even though the nature of graffiti is not dangerous nor violent, the influence
from external factors has damaged the art both visually and ideally. Organizers
began to develop exhibition halls, art galleries and events to adopt graffers and allow
them to display their creativity namely Red Bull, Adidas or 55DSL actively involving
young kids with love for the art in their campaign (Kordic, A n.d). Furthermore, there
are now public areas where are needed to be bombarded by graffers with their
pieces, or a combining products, Angie from Widewalls said. Soon later, this art form
was adopted into public exhibitions and art galleries to emphasize its worth to
mainstream popularity. Leading example would be Jean-Michel Basquiat, a graffiti
artist, who first did a one-man showcase back in 1980s. The once part of SAMO
famous graffiti duo, produced some of major works which later on was exhibited not
only in the United States but also in Europe including Jean-Michel Basquiat: Painting
1981-1984, Skull (1981) and Beat Bop (1983). And as soon as arriving in galleries,
graffiti were sold for just as much as any other art pieces, maybe even at higher price
proves that though people are still doubtful, they are slowly acknowledging it bit by
bit.
Figure 8. Jean-Michel Basquiat (Image by Basquiat) Figure 9. (Untitled)Headed - 1981 (Image by
The Squirrel View)
 Figure 10. Art In The Street Festival (Image by Arrested Motion)

Overall, since emerging from a high school kid in Philadelphia, graffiti has
travelled a long way to determine its worth. Hip hop adopted graffiti as the critical
elements of the subculture coming from the street in the early days but gang wars
and conflicts with government has destroyed the nature of the art form. The
movement to art galleries somehow regains the credibility despite controversy still
causing concern both inside and outside the community of graffers. But one thing is
certain, graffiti is artistry whether it is famous or notorious, the same as rap used to
be labeled. With the shift in recent years, graffiti is hoping to be recognized for its
contribution equally as other factors of hip hop culture such emcees, djing and hip
hop dance. Secondly, by entering showrooms, graffiti emphasizes its quality not only
belongs to the street but also belongs to the world history of art.

Figures

Figure 1. N.a 2014, ‘Download Free Graffiti Wallpaper Images For Laptops and
Desktops’, image, Wonderful Engineering, 30 September, viewed 20 November
2016, <http://wonderfulengineering.com/download-free-graffiti-wallpaper-images-for-
laptop-desktops/>.

Figure 2. Cane, D 2010, ‘Cornbread - The 1st Graffiti Writer’, image, The Originators,
20 June, 20, viewed November 2016, <http://www.theoriginators.com/cornbread-the-
1st-graffiti-writer-words-by-david-cane/>.

Figure 3. Gray, S n.d, ‘Graffiti History - 10 Important Moments’, image, Wide Walls,
n.d, viewed

20 November 2016, <http://www.widewalls.ch/graffiti-history-10-important-

moments/>.

Figure 4. Gootee, R 2012, ‘Police, KEB, neighborhood associations join forces to

combat graffiti’, image, Evansville Courier & Press, 9 October, viewed 20 November
2016, <http://archive.courierpress.com/news/crime/police-keb-neighborhood-
associations-join-forces-to-combat-graffiti-ep-443915649-327171851.html>.

Figure 5. Willoughby, S 2016, ‘Valparaíso, Chile ((AND a Chance For YOU To

WIN!!!))’, image, Two Girls Trippin, 9 March, viewed 20 November 2016,
<http://twogirlstrippin.com/?p=2429>.
Figure 6. N.a, n.d, ‘Vandalism - Vandalized Bathroom - Abandoned Hospital
(Presidio, San Francisco)’, image, Iopioute, viewed 20 November 2016,
<http://www.loupiote.com/photos/32820297.shtml>.

Figure 7. Robinson, K 2014, ‘Escambia Gangs Haven’t Gone Away’, image,

Pensacola News Journal,17 November, viewed 20 November 2016,
<http://www.pnj.com/story/news/crime/2014/11/15/escambia-gangs-gone-
away/19115853/>.

Figure 8. N.a, 2016, ‘The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat’, image, Basquiat, viewed
20 November 2016, <http://www.basquiat.com/>.

Figure 9. Jaliker14, 2015, ‘Untitled (Headed) by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1981)’,

image, The Squirrel Review, 30 April, viewed 20 November 2016,
<https://thesquirrelreview.com/2015/04/30/untitled-head-by-jean-michel-basquiat-
1981/>.

Figure 10. Sleepyboy, 2011, “Opening: ‘Arts in the Streets’ @ MOCA (First Look)”,
image, Arrested Motion, 14 April, viewed 20 November 2016,
<http://arrestedmotion.com/2011/04/openings-art-in-the-streets-moca-first-look/>.

Reference Lists:

Cane, D 2010, ‘Cornbread - The 1st Graffiti Writer’, The Originators, 20 June, viewed
7 November 2016. http://www.theoriginators.com/cornbread-the-1st-graffiti-writer-
words-by-david-cane/

De Melker, S 2011, ‘’The History of American Graffiti:’ From Subway Car to Gallery’,
PBS Newshour, 31 March, viewed 10 November 2016.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/the-history-of-american-graffiti-from-subway-car-to-
gallery/

Gray, S n.d, ‘Graffiti History - 10 Important Moments’, Widewalls, 11 November 2016.

http://www.widewalls.ch/graffiti-history-10-important-moments/
Kordic, A n.d, ‘Is Graffiti Art or Vandalism? Questions of Art, Advertising and Public
Space’, Widewalls, viewed 8 November 2016. http://www.widewalls.ch/is-graffiti-art-
or-vandalism/

Martinez, J 2012, ‘Know Your Graffiti: Art, vandalism or gang device?’, On Central, 6
March, 8 November 2016. http://www.oncentral.org/news/2012/03/06/know-your-
graffiti-art-vandalism-or-gang-device/

N.a, n.d, ‘Graffiti Home’, Culturally Situated Design Tools, viewed 11 November
2016. http://csdt.rpi.edu/subcult/grafitti/index.html

N.a, 2014, ‘Twenty-Five Years Ago Today NYCT Subways Became Graffiti-Free’,
MTA, 12 May, viewed 10 November 2016. http://www.mta.info/news-subway-graffiti-
free-graffiti-new-york-city-transit/2014/05/12/twenty-five-years-ago-today-nyct

http://www.basquiat.com/index-new.htm