History of Graffiti
Graffiti has been around for millions of years, since people discovered that they could leave their marks. Ancient Romans were particularly famous for graffiti, they wrote on the walls and buildings they conquered and cave men drew illustration on cave walls.
In our modern time graffiti is everywhere. People from all age groups, races, and socio-economic background have been known to write something on a wall now and then.
Graffiti first became big in New York in late 60s and early 70s. It started as tagging or writing your name on a street sign using spray cans and markers. Then gangs used graffiti as a way to mark territory. The original "tag", a quickly scrawled name, were unattractive and crude. As writer began to evolve their styles and techniques into something calligraphic, using different typefaces and more colors, tags grew larger to "pieces" (masterpieces). Graffiti became a form of art to many.It inspired young artists to use their new art as a form of self-expression.
Graffiti moved from streets to subways, as pieces became more technically advanced it quickly became competitive. Graffiti artists competed for space and it eventually offended property owners. When the New York city declared a "war on graffiti," the entire situation gained international attention. The best of early writers have been idolized like outlaw rock stars, and their styles were spread across the world in newspapers, books, movies and internet. The misunderstanding that all graffiti represented gang activity, led to community pressure on polititions. But graffiti artists still strive to improve their art which is constantly changing.
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Terminology
tag - a stylized signature; the terms tagger and writer refer to a person who "tags"
piece (from "masterpiece") - a large image, often with 3-D effects, arrows giving flow and direction, many colours and colour-transitions and various other effects. A piece needs more time than a throw-up. If placed in a difficult location and well executed it will earn the writer more respect
throw-up - not a piece, but more of a large tag. It often has an outline (like black) and a fill-colour (like silver). Easy-to-paint bubble-shapes often form the letters
bombing (as in the phrases to bomb or to hit) has no connection with terrorism, but describes painting many surfaces. Throw-ups often serve for this, since they don't require much time to execute
crew or cru has become the standard collective noun for a group of writers or graffiti-artists, which can but are not limited to be part of gangs or can be associated with them for funding for materials, and sometimes protection from police and people who might not want graffiti on a certain wall while doing the piece. It is a common misconception that crews are gangs, since they are groups which break the law. However, crews can be founded in order to not be associated with gangs.
to slash somebody's tag (to put a line through, or tag over it) counts as a deep insult.
going over - (go over) if a writer goes over or tags upon another writer's piece, it is the same as declaring war against the opponent writer. Most writers respect others' work, and the basic rules for replacing other creations are in this order: tag - throwup - piece. If someone breaks this order, the person is considered being a toy or generally an annoyance.
toy - an inexperienced or unskilled writer. Graffiti pros use this as a derogatory term for new writers in the scene.
buffing - (to buff) to remove a graffiti-painting with chemicals and other instruments.
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References:
Lexicon. "Graffiti - History of graffiti". Spiritus-Temporis.com. 26 Feb. 2009
<http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/graffiti/history-of-graffiti.html>
Eric. "HISTORY OF GRAFFITI Pt 1".149st. 26 Feb. 2009
<http://www.daveyd.com/historyofgraf.html>
Image: Tag on a wall in Malmö, Sweden, by unknown graffiti artist
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tag_in_Malm%C3%B6.jpg>
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