Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Behind The Tag Graffiti Thesis
Behind The Tag Graffiti Thesis
Silvia Pietrosanti
Master Thesis
MSc European Communication Studies
Graduate School of Communication
Supervisor: Linda Duits
Amsterdam, 7 t h of June2010
Table of contents
Acknowledgments.. IV
Preface. V
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Research Topic... 1
1.2 Problem Formulation..1
1.3 An introduction to the graffiti subculture.. 2
1.4 Societal and academic relevance. 5
1.5 Chapter outline 7
3. Methods 22
3.1 Research Design22
3.2 Participant Observation.. 23
3.3 In-depth semi-structured interviews . 24
3.4 The sample .25
3.5 The role of the researcher27
3.6 Ethical considerations..27
3.7. Data anal ysis 28
3.8 Qualit y of this research...28
II
4.Results.31
4.1 Introduction..31
4.2 I tag, therefore I am 32
4.3 Affirming the self37
4.4 Territory... 41
4.4.1 Over the borders... 44
4.5 The crew.. 46
4.5.1Group identit y performance. 47
4.6 Illegalit y.. 51
4.6.1 Dont tell me I can do it!.................................................... 53
4.7 The blank message of graffiti.. 55
4.7.1 Audience 56
4.8 The beginnings 59
4.8.1 Keep it going. 60
4.9 Commitment. 62
4.10 Conclusive thoughts. 65
5. Conclusions................................................................................... 67
5.1 Introduction. 67
5.2 An extensive answer: combining theory and results 68
5.3 Theoretical implications 74
5.4 Methodological reflections 75
5.5 Future research 76
Glossary.78
Bibliography.79
Appendix 1: Topic list for Semi-structured interviews.84
III
Acknowledgments
This thesis has been a long and sometimes painful project. It was hard to
keep the motivation high the all time. Therefore, I would like to thank all the
people that contributed to its realization. First of all, thanks to m y supervisor
Linda Duits for her directions and encouragement. Special thanks go to Barbara
for her countless advises and for cheering me up when things were not working
out as I wished. Thanks to Patrik and Alessandra for being always there and
providing support and self confidence when I was loosing it. Thanks to m y
flatmates Pietro and Vincenzo for waking me up in the morning and tolerating m y
stress. M y sincere thanks go to Philippa for being such a good friend and for
carefull y correcting my English together with Gail. I could not have written this
thesis without m y library buddies Stefan, Sonja, and Francesca. Thanks to Jort for
putting me in contact with several writers at the beginning of this research.
Thanks to m y parents and m y grandmother for their love and their support without
which I could not have been able to finance this master and m y staying in
Amsterdam. Thanks to m y sister Giorgia, Thomas and m y friends in Ital y for the
numerous msn motivational chats.
M y biggest thanks, though, go to all the writers that shared their secret
stories and took me in their world. They are: Renok, Hero, Philo, Raw, Edge,
Luther, Hirock, Mirics, Mars, Twice, Gear, Some, Revs, Aso.
IV
Preface
Ive been always fascinated b y graffiti on the streets. I come from a town
close to Rome, and I have often travelled b y train to follow classes for m y
previous studies. The railings were so intense with writings that I could not stop
wondering what was behind these written names, what they actuall y meant.
Graffiti subculture does not share its stories, but I was sure that what was written
on the walls would reveal something about the lives and relationships of those
who wrote them; however, for long time I had forgotten about that investigation.
The question of graffiti crossed m y mind again last year, during a class named
Subcultures and Lifest yles when I had to pick one subculture to discuss in a
final paper. I chose the graffiti subculture so that I could finally explore what was
going on in the minds of the people standing behind those tags. However, after
reading for that paper, m y interest for that subculture grew extensivel y, and I was
eager to know more and find out about areas that were left undressed b y previous
studies. What I really wanted to do was go into that field and experience these
things that were only theoreticall y described and write m y thesis to give a voice
to the graffiti writers. Since most of the studies were centred in the United States,
I wanted to look at the subculture from a European perspective. Amazed b y the
job done b y Nancy Macdonalds in London and New York (2001), I decided to
explore the graffiti scenes in Rome and Amsterdam.
1. Introduction
1.1 Research Topic
Hero, Raw, Twice, Renok. These and countless other names are written
repeatedl y b y invisible hands on walls, subways, trains, trucks, bike baskets, and
roofs all over every cit y. It is almost impossible to catch a graffiti writer painting
a piece, however new marks of colour appear each morning in incredibl y visible
spots. People may say it is vandalism, art or addiction. Though, do we ever
question who these phantoms of the night are and what these writings stand for?
This thesis is about the graffiti subculture. Graffiti is almost everywhere in the
contemporary urban landscape, but not everybod y notices it. In fact, most people
seem to be indifferent to the phenomenon, considering it to be an integral part of
the cit y without really questioning it. People that are obsessed with graffiti are
the ones who make it or fight it. Graffiti is a background scenery, an urban white
noise which is recognized but rarel y registered [] We are unaware that the cit y
walls are alive with its social drama. We have no clue that the tangled mass of
names crawling across their surfaces speak (Macdonald, 2001: 1-2). Being a form
situated between visual and verbal expression, graffiti combines different
linguistic and artistic forms to express messages of personal and social
communication. Indeed, what is written on the walls often reveals something
about the lives, relationships and identities of those who wrote them.
made tagging a competitive activit y. This article was about an anon ymous
Manhattan teenager nicknamed Taki 183 who was described as the king of a
train line. Man y kids understood that graffiti could help them obtain recognition
and respect among their peers, and therefore the number of graffiti writers that
secretl y enrolled in the king of the street or of a train line contest (invisible to
the majorit y of the population) increased enormously. Afterwards, tags became
larger and more elaborate, developing into real murals. Some refer to it as street
hip hop because it has evolved s ynergisticall y with hip hop dance and music
cultures (Macdonald, 2001). Soon graffiti became the element within the New
York Cit y hip-hop subculture that attracted the most media attention because of
its steady growth in popularit y among youth and the high cost for its removal
(Alonso, 1998). This cultural activit y eventuall y spread westward, as Hip Hop
was exported from New York Cit y to major cities across the United States and the
world during the hip hop popular culture explosion in the earl y 1980s. For
instance, in the early eighties, movies such as Beat Street, Flash Dance and Wild
Style spread the image of urban hip hop culture both in the US and world wide
(Powers, 1996). Soon, in fact, Europeans started to produce graffiti as well. By
the mid-1980s, Chalfant and Prigoff (1987) documented sophisticated and
elaborate graffiti pieces and graffiti subcultures in various European cities, such
as Amsterdam, London, Paris, Copenhagen, and Vienna (Ferrel, 1996).
In the contemporary landscape we can see different t yp es of graffiti.
Several authors have tried to make a distinction between them in order to be able
to stud y the phenomenon from different angles. Following Grant (1996), modern
graffiti generall y falls into one of three categories: junk graffiti, gang graffiti,
and tagging. He names junk the graffiti messages that are not related to a
gang, but the ones that often involve obscene, racist, or threatening themes. In
his pessimistic and anti graffiti view, he sees tagging, once a nonviolent
alternative to more threatening gang activities, as an entry level offence that can
lead to more serious crimes, including burglary and assault. However, in this
regard, man y studies, such as the one conducted b y Feiner and Klein (1982, cited
in Alonso, 1998), proved that heav y drug use is almost nonexistent among serious
graffiti writers, and activities involved with writing graffiti appear to be their
onl y criminal behaviour. One year later, Adams and Winter (1997), in their article
Gang graffiti as a discourse genre make a clear distinction between gang graffiti
and tagging in Phoenix. They conclude that taggers are a heterogeneous group,
coming from all ethnic groups and social classes and are generall y less violent
than gang crews. Conversel y, gang members are mostl y found in lower classes
and predominantl y belong to the same ethnic group and have a more pronounced
neighbourhood orientation. For instance, competitions between tagging crews
usuall y revolve around tagging contests, whereas gang rivalries often erupt into
fights and shootings. Alonso (1998) adds two new categories to the classification
of graffiti: political and existential. Writers of political graffiti use the
general public as an audience to communicate ideas against the establishment;
this is wh y their writings are generall y placed where an extensive viewing is
guaranteed. Political groups use graffiti as a communication tool because it is the
safest, most economical as well as a highl y efficient way of reaching a desired
audience.
Major
themes
for
political
graffiti
are
associated
with
labour
Introduction
This chapter unfolds the theoretical framework of this study, which focuses
2.2 Subcultures
Alternative lifest yles and communities have existed for a long time, from
the religious and utopian communities of the earlier times, to the Bohemian and
contradictions between their group and the dominant one. Every subcultural
instance,
or
occurrence,
represents
solution
to
specific
set
of
10
11
shopping malls, schools, houses), but the weak occup y them and make those
places their own. If the dominant culture aims at efficiency, popular culture is
concerned with meanings, pleasures and identit y rather than efficiency (Fiske,
1989: 1). However, these pleasures only exist in its practices, contexts and
moments of production (Ibid.: 50).
Following
later
researchers
(Macdonald,
2001;
Thorton,
1995;
Hetherington, 1998, Muggleton, 2000), Hebdige and the CCCS were much
criticised for concentrating too much on the structural factor of subcultures, while
other factors can be just as important, such as gender and age.
12
fulfilling than they were led to believe. They become disillusioned and start
getting interested in other more satisfying things. They value expressivit y through
non violent aesthetic pursuits of hedonism, through a cool mode of enjoyment,
rather than a furious pursuit of pleasure (Young, 1971).
Brake (1985) stresses the importance of masculinit y in subcultures.
Subcultures are seen as forms of exploration of masculinit y, while young girls:
escape into romance and marriage, or drift into sexual misbehaviour, such as
prostitution. If subcultures are solutions to collectivel y experienced problems,
then traditionall y these have been the problems experienced b y young men
(Brake,1985:163). However, those are still working class adolescents and the
problems they experience arise from contradictions in the social structure.
Through subcultures adolescents generate a form of collective identit y from
which an individual identit y can be achieved outside that ascribed b y class,
education and occupation. James Merrerschmidt, in Masculinities and Crimes
(1993), claims that crime works as a resource for making gender, as a strategy for
masculinit y. Crime is seen to be a valid and attainable means of accomplishing a
masculine identit y. He relates the high percentage of crime committed b y
adolescents to their lack of power and access to conventional masculine
resources. Crime is the substitute for legal access to gain power. Therefore
youth, masculinity and class occup y central roles in both subcultural and
criminology studies. Stanley Cohen (1979) has in fact coined the term folk
devils to describe delinquent male working class adolescents, as they threaten
the social order and create moral panics. However, class resistance can hardl y be
the onl y reason for man y adolescents to engage in specific and sometimes
dangerous subcultural activities. There must be something more personall y
enriching, such as the quest and affirmation of identity (Maffesoli, 1988;
Macdonald, 2001; Hetherington, 1998).
Adolescence plays a central role for the development of subcultures as it
seems to be the period in which belonging to subcultures becomes appealing as a
mechanism of identity protection (Erikson, 1968). Subcultural ideologies are a
means b y which youth imagine their own and other social groups, assert their
13
distinctive character and affirm that they are not anonym ous members of an
undifferentiated mass (Thornton, 1995). Youth is a complex, shifting, and
contradictory category that has grasped the attention of man y researchers.
Alread y at the end of the previous millennium, the task of defining what it means
to be a young person seemed to become of central importance (Epstain, 1998).
Adolescence is perceived as a developmental, transitional stage of life in which
dependence and independence coexist (Kahane, 1997). Epstein (1998) claims that
adolescence is the period in the life course in which individuals are most likel y to
be alienated. This happens because adolescents live in a limbo between childhood
freedom and adulthood responsibilities, but nevertheless are supposed to make
choices and to form their own identities. Central among adolescent choices, is the
most frightening one: the choice of a future career.
14
15
about a beautiful way of living (Gauntlett, 2008). Its about lifest yle: choice and
st yle.
Coming back to Giddens (1991), lifest yle choices can give peoples personal
narratives an identifiable shape, linking together people that have made similar
choices. A lifest yle can be considered as a container for identit y or, in other
words, the visible expression of a certain narrative of self-identit y. However an
individual might have more than one lifest yle, each one reserved for certain
stories or contexts, that is what Giddens calls lifest yl e sectors (cited in
Gauntlett, 2008). Nevertheless, in order to become accustomed with the lifest yle
of a certain social group, initiall y individuals may require some time to adjust.
However, identit y seems to be more than self-reflection. It also involves
issues of belonging, performance, identification and communication to others.
Accordingl y, this stud y is based on the definition of identit y given b y
Hetherington (1998):
Identit y is about both similarity and difference. It is about how subj ects
see themsel ves in representation, and about how they construct
differences within that representation and between it and the
representation of others. Identity is about both correspondence and
dissimilarit y. Principally, identit y is articulated through the relat ionship
between belongi ng, recognition or identification and difference.
16
17
18
chosen
spaces.
These kinds
of
places
are
called
b y Foucault
(in
Hetherington, 1998) heterotopic, which means that they stand apart from the
rest of the societ y in some way. These kinds of spaces facilitate opportunities to
be different and to constitute new chosen identities. The space becomes a
paradoxical one without fixed centres and margins, so that identit y becomes all
about multiple locations and the performance aspects
19
of Bourdieu (1984), namel y on the concepts of cultural capital and social capital.
One of the man y advantages of Bourdieus schema is that it moves away from
rigidl y vertical models of the social structure (Thornton, 1995). Bourdieu locates
social groups in a highl y complex multi-dimensional space rather than on a linear
scale. While cultural capital confers social status through education and
knowledge, the category of social capital stems not so much from what you know,
rather who you know (and who knows you). Connections in the form of friends,
relations and acquaintances can all bestow status. The notion of social capital is
also useful in explaining the power of fame or of being known b y those one
doesnt know (ibid.) well known people are worth y of being known for example,
saying I know him well confers a higher status to the person in question
(Bourdieu, 1986). In addition to these forms of capital, Thornton invented the
term subcultural capital. Subcultural capital confers power on its owners in the
eyes of the relevant beholder. She claims that just as cultural capital is
personified in good manners and urban conversation, so subcultural capital is
embodied in the form of being in the know, such as using current slang and
looking as if you were born to perform the latest dance st yles (Thornton, 1995:
11-12). People gain respect from what they know, own and perform in relation to
a specific subculture. Class is not irrelevant in subcultural capital, but it does not
correlate in an y one-to-.one way with the levels of youthful subcultural capital. In
fact, class becomes obfuscated b y subcultural distinctions. This happens because
one cannot learn at school subcultural capital, it is something extra-curricular. As
a result, after age, the social difference along which subcultural capital is aligned
most s ystematicall y is gender (Thornton, 1995). While girls invest more of their
time and identit y in doing well at schools, bo ys tend to spend more time with
leisure activities and establish their identit y elsewhere. However, girls are not
completel y excluded in the econom y of subculture capital.
Popular distinctions
become means b y which people strive for social power, for a sense of self-worth.
Subculture can be seen in this sense as a multi-dimensional social space. Cultural
differences are not onl y resistances to the domination of some ruling class, but
there are also microstructures of power involved in the cultural disagreements and
20
debates that go on between more closel y associated groups (Thornton, 1995). For
instance members of the same subculture constantl y catalogue and classify youth
cultures according to the different features that constitute the subcultural capital.
These mental maps, rich in cultural detail and value judgement, offer them a
distinct sense of their place but also a sense of the others place (Bourdieu,
1990, cited in Thornton, 1995: 99). Members of a subculture are generall y happ y
to identify a homogeneous crowd to which they dont belong and they feel
somehow superior to. On the one hand, youth do aspire to a more egalitarian and
democratic world, but on the other hand, they create the same s ystems of power
within their own subculture. Classlessness is a means of obfuscating the dominant
structure in order to set up an alternative and ideological precondition for the
effective operation of subcultural capital. The paradoxical combination of
resignation and refusal, defiance and deference would seem to be characteristic of
youth subcultures (Thornton, 1995).
21
3. Methods
.
informal
conversations
being
the
main
data
gathering
methods
22
subjects and situations; and researches and findings are influenced b y the social
and cultural background of people involved (Gilbert, 2001).
Ethnographers are responsible for bringing the culture into life through the
subjective, partial and variable realities of the participants. However ethnograph y
is not onl y about strengths, but also weaknesses. These include: gaining access
and building trust, emotional costs, and the potential for the researcher to
influence the researched (OLeary, 2004). Ethnographers also need to guard
against homogenization which can lead to the risk of treating a particular group
as one with no divergence.
An ethnographic approach, instead of being based upon a theory as it
happens in quantitative researches, aims to create a grounded theory, which, as
the term suggests, is grounded in the experiences of others. However the theory
can never simpl y emerge from data, because an y observation will always be
guided b y existing images, concepts and theories (Henwood & Pidgeon, 1994). I
started to explore the subculture of graffiti with an open mind, but not an empt y
one. I had questions I wanted to answer, certain dynamics I wanted to discover, a
theory to confirm or contradict, and anal ytic gaps I wanted to fill.
For this stud y, I applied a multi-sited ethnography, since the research took
place in two distinct places: Amsterdam and Rome. My aim was to explore the
scene in the two cities not as a comparison, but as two European cities with a
considerable graffiti scene. Rather than finding differences, I wanted to look at
what is in common. M y purpose was to get a detailed picture of similar processes
that are occurring in the two places. The two methods of data gathering used in
this stud y have been participant observation and in-depth semi-structured
interviewing.
23
together. These included going out for drinks, spending nights at their homes
waiting to go out and paint, attending parties and legal organized events for
writers, and observing the action of illegal painting on streets, trains, and along
the railings. Several times participant observation also included walking around
the cit y or train stations guided b y one or more writers in order to understand
which ones are the predominant writers in that particular scene or to show me the
places where he left his mark. I am conscious that m y role can be perceived b y
some as a partner in crime in this illegal activit y. I was aware I was crossing a
line and walking in places forbidden b y the law; however as a researcher
exploring an illegal world, I considered this necessary in order to experience the
adrenaline and the feelings that come with the practice. All the writers I followed
were extremel y experienced and careful in their approach, that I always felt safe
in their presence. They helped me to overstep fences and to hide and be prepared
to run if needed. Being a participant gave me the opportunit y to comprehend the
relations that occur between the members of the same crew and experience the
special atmosphere created at night in places where you should not be and feeling
the rush and the final satisfaction that comes with it.
I documented m y experiences with pictures and short videos. Moreover,
field notes were taken on a regular basis, both during the events and at the end of
the day. The fact that m y meetings with them were happening at irregular
intervals provided me some breaks to elaborate m y notes and reflect on them
between one meeting and the other one.
24
25
women graffiti writers were excluded from this research. The age of the
participants ranged from 19 to 26 years old. As it will be shown later, age, plays a
major role in this subculture, being a determinant factor for entering the scene
and similarl y the amount of time dedicated to it. For this reason, I preferred the
respondents to be slightl y older than the beginners and thus more experienced, so
that they could describe feelings and experiences of the past from a retrospective
point of view and their current feelings and experiences in a conscious way.
However, as mentioned before, the participant observation and the many informal
conversations I was engaged in, involved a higher number of writers than the
official figure stated in the interviews.
Recruiting participants for this research was not an eas y task. This stud y
sought to access a hard-to-reach population because of the illegal aspect of the
activit y they are involved in. In fact, it was common for the respondents to
express suspicions or concerns about who I was, and what my intentions were and
wh y I was interested in them. They were sometimes afraid I was sent on behalf of
the government or law enforcement. As it had been shown already in previous
researches (Macdonald, 2001), graffiti subculture is all about recommendation.
Many of the participants I found through people I knew and who trusted me, other
respondents were friends of writers I had alread y interviewed. M y recruitment of
participants followed a snowball sample. Next to that, I also went in special bars
were graffiti writers usuall y hang around, and participated in the street art event
called Manifestazione sportiva e non Velletri: stazione fine corsa that took
place in a cit y next to Rome the 24 t h and 25 t h of Jul y 2009. However, the voice of
my existence and m y project started to spread around this small communit y. They
started to trust me and were willing to share their stories and show me places and
actions. Man y participants said that the reason wh y they agreed to be interviewed
was that they wanted to talk about the good parts of the scene and they hoped that
this study would provide a positive and genuine portrayal of the scene.
26
27
28
According to her, the strategies for achieving credibilit y are techniques that can
be used to ensure thoroughness and rigor to the study. These are saturation,
crystallization,
prolonged
engagement,
persistent
observation
and
broad
29
30
4. Results
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter, I will describe what emerged from m y field notes, taken
during participant observation, and the interviews and informal conversations I
had with the graffiti writers. Since identit y performance is the focus of this
stud y, this section will illustrate how the process takes place in the graffiti
communit y. The process of identit y performance is grounded in three main
concepts: personal identit y, group identit y and belonging to the subculture.
During m y research, it emerged that identit y performance is also strongl y linked
to the respondents feelings, the use of spaces, and illegality. Moreover, when
exploring what people do, it seems necessary to consider their subjective
reasons for doing it. Consequentl y, it seems necessary that these topics are of
main consideration to this chapter. The three main concepts encompass the
additional ones mentioned above; however, instead of structuring the chapter
under three major sections, I organized the paragraphs in a more linear manner,
a manner that has been unconsciousl y dictated b y the writers themselves. The
structure of this chapter follows the mental maps of the participants involved in
my research; connections are made from their quotes and from the field. I
decided to stick with these associations of ideas in order not to distort their
perceptions.
Firstl y, it seems necessary to assert the tag as the externalization and the
affirmation of the writers identit y, since visibilit y is an issue of major concern
while affirming the self in this subculture. I will then illustrate the importance
of the territory and the role of the city as a space of identit y performance.
Territory plays a central role in the process of identit y affirmation and status
attainment in the graffiti communit y, with the cit y being the onl y place wherein
the identit y has reason to be performed. In this paragraph, I will also describe
the component of travelling and meeting writers coming from other places.
Meeting other writers is necessary in order to reinforce their sense of belonging,
but also to play safer when going to paint in unknown places. Therefore, the
31
topics of belonging and illegalit y will also be introduced. Since graffiti writers
generall y belong to crews, their personal identit y affirmation often occurs in
accordance with being a member of a group. For that reason in the following
paragraph I will explain the relevance of the crew, both in terms of feelings and
performances. However, these relationships are framed within illegalit y which is
the main characteristic of this subculture, and often the onl y one perceived from
outsiders. I will elucidate the importance of it and how it influences the
performances. Connected to illegalit y, is the adrenaline rush that pushes man y
adolescents to write on the walls as one of the main reasons to do it. Therefore,
the next section will clarify the meaning of graffiti, the role of the audience and
the main reasons for the graffiti writers to get involved and to stay involved.
Last, but not least, identit y performance needs to be in line with subcultural
ideals. In fact, even though it is fundamental to show a certain degree of
personal innovation, this also has to reflect the range of tastes and common
norms that make the subculture what it is and why it is distinctive from outside
societ y. The commitment of sustaining the subculture will be illustrated in the
last paragraph.
Well the thing is li ke that. Graffiti is the name. Advertising the name. A
kind of advertising that is done without spending money, but only with
guts. The more you risk, the more you have visibility and the stronger you
are. You are in the game. The tag is the fi rst step. The tag is the name,
without the name you are nothing, nobody. [ Mirics 22, Rome]
The tag does not always have to be necessaril y a name; it can also be a
s ymbol such as a smiley face. After having developed their interest in graffiti,
writers must decide a tag or nickname to use in order to be visible and
recognized within his communit y. For instance, in the course of this research I
32
have heard stories about a graffiti writer that just writes a cat print, or
similarl y whilst walking along the streets of Amsterdam East every now and
then there is a coloured fist drawn on the walls. Behind these apparentl y
meaningless marks are people that choose this specific signature to present
themselves to others.
After having made it clear that the tag is the performed identit y of the
graffiti writer, in this paragraph I will clarify more extensively why that is, b y
delineating the characteristics related to it. The tag is characterized b y three
main aspects: it needs to be original, it reflects the feelings of the writer and it
is continuousl y reaffirmed and defended as the externalization of the self. The
tag has to be something that belongs only to you and searching for it stops onl y
when you start to feel that way:
Before I had other tags that I wont tell you But I found mine in the
summer99. It was out of coincidence, while talking with some friends,
looking for a si gnatureit had beautiful letters. There isnt a special
reason. I liked how it sounded I looked for something original,
something that nobody had. And slowl y I felt it was mine. At the
beginning it looked as a not existing word, meaningless Then slowl y, by
writing it all the ti me, it becomes something. [Renok 26, Rome]
We grew up in the west side and across the street we had a bridge and
then we came down and we saw a wall full colour of wall, from MATT
33
that is our king. Matt put a piece there together with 3 New Yor k writers
and then we were thinking where are the drips? How can you spr ay these
fucking tags? The wall was so amazing, we j ust sit there three times a
week and study, study, study. Why this shit, why this background, why
these figures. Why, why, why, why. [Twice 26, Amsterdam]
In the beginning I was a lot more st ylish, I always wanted to try a new
sketch or a new st yle ever y ti me. I sketched a lot at the beginning. I could
see myself for hours in the night j ust sketching. When I was satisfied with
something I wanted t o go out to do it. And someti mes I said no to
friends cause I had no sketch. I dont want to go out and paint [Aso 26,
Stockhol m]
Once the tag is felt right, graffiti writers start to perceive it as the
externalization of their selves. For instance tagging a wall is a way of being
there even if not ph ysicall y, and when tagging trains there is the idea of
movement added to it. The feeling of identification with the tag also grows
according to the perception of other people, the audience. In fact, it often
happens that some people start to recognize the tag as not onl y a stain on the
wall, but as people that speak, fight and travel. For instance, I understood that I
was finall y entering into the culture, when this form of recognition started to
happen to me. Even nowadays, I often find m yself smiling at the wall when I see
a tag that I recognize:
34
When I get drunk I tr ansfor m from my ori ginal name to Twice. I become
Twice. In the scene I become Twice. [Twice 25, Amsterdam]
There are many peopl e that dont even know my real name. People get to
know me also if not physicall y. This is weir d, but gi ves me satisfaction. I
meet my friends on the streets. I wal k on the streets and I think Oh nice,
there is Philo, Mirics, Deps. [ Renok 26, Rome]
When I paint a wall it is different, its always good feelings, but l ess then
a train. I reall y li ke to paint trains, because its me travelling, its me
moving, its beautiful. [Philo 23, Rome]
Some respondents claimed that sometimes they use different tags, for
safet y reasons or just out for boredom: Nowadays, I also write NOCASH,
because I have no cash. And its also a reall y nice name to write. I have a bunch
of names (Twice 25, Amsterdam).
writer may have, on this occasion it is probabl y better to use the verb write,
for the tag cannot be considered an issue of multiple identities, as there is
always one that he will identify with the most and others in the know will still
perceive the different names as belonging to the same person. Therefore it is
one identit y with multiple performances:
Silvia: Did you always have the same tag?
Raw: No, I kept changing a lot. Up until today I think I have 4-5 names. I
kind of like to change in different period. But thats what most guys are
doingThey j ust get t ired of their names, they ve done enough, you kind
of like to switch, because you li ke letters. Obviousl y it is more exciting if
you have been doing a certain name for a certain amount of ti me and then
you tr y to do different letters and then it is like you have a fresh book,
so.. I mean if you are known enough and you kind of start writing other
names, people will catch up really quickl y, t hey will recogni ze your style.
Graffiti culture is like a lot of gossiping. You know If there is
somebody running on the city with a new name and he is doing qui te a lot.
Then all graffiti culture of that city will think who a fuck is that? and
somebody knows and tell somebody else li ke that, you know? And people
will recogni ze you And you know there is another part when.. if you ve
done so many damage on the same train or subway.. Its all gone into the
book or whatever the authority is wor king against you and if I get caught
when I am doing that name, theyll put this book in front of me with all
these pictures and instead of paying for one car, you are paying for like
35
20 cars. And changing name ever y now and then keeps you away fr om that
also. Someti mes peopl e are j ust smashing things and j ust keep wri ting the
same name. And I am like oh, man, you are going to get busted one day.
In a way thats stupid.
Silvia: So, would you say that you dont really identif y with a name, but
mostl y with your st yle?
Raw: Yes, but its both. Because I still have one main name, thats me.
And then I also write it more often. Also when you meet somebody who is
a writer, you present yourself or you get introduced through your friends
to another writer it is always the same name. [Raw 26, Amsterdam]
Moreover, the way a tag is performed, in terms of its st yle and the places
chosen for tagging, represents the personalit y or the feelings of the writer in
that given moment:
By the style I can see how my piece looks like. If I make a piece when I
am broken, the piece looks different than when I have a very good
situation, feeling good. [Twice 25, Amsterdam]
When you do it illegally you have a certain feeling, one ni ght you are
angr y and the piece will come out angr y. A common person wont
understand it, but the letters, the lines that you do, they are from an angr y
person. If you are easy and quiet, you also can see it. You make softer
lines. Graffiti represents you, it represents your feelings. If you are
angr y, you cant start fighting with people, you cant hurt your gi rlfriend
or your parents, you cant go robbing a bank. And so you go painting
because you have t his discomfort to t ake off your bodyGraffiti
represents the life style of that particular moment for sure. How you think
reflects the way you do it, the actions you do, the spaces you take. [Renok
26, Rome]
To sum it up, the tag is not onl y the externalization of the writers
identit y, but in addition the onl y expression of their identit y that is presentable
in the graffiti world. Being someone in graffiti language is making a name.
Without the tag, the writer does not exist. Since it is strongl y believed that
identit y is something people create rather than what people are, the tag is the
identit y that writers create to introduce who they are to the world. This process
of performance will be outlined in the next paragraph.
36
Writing on the walls comes from a need to externalize oneself and to make
clear to the world ones presence. Therefore, painting in visible spots is of
primary importance, since ones identity is strengthened when other people
recognise it. Self affirmation is obtained b y the combination of visibilit y, fame,
and appropriation.
I am part of this worl d. This is the message I want to say. And, as I said
before, it is also about competition: I did two pieces more t han you
means that I am in the street, at the station. [] I li ke to paint a train,
because the train is always moving, it gi ves me an idea of travelling.
People who travel, for eigners, they see my graffiti. Its a way for me to be
there. [Philo 23, Rome]
station of Rome looking for the painted car and took pictures when it finall y
passed b y. In order to be able to recognize the train quicker, it is common to tag
the head of the train. This action reinforces further the feeling of appropriation,
as if the whole train belongs to that crew (see Image 3). While we were waiting
for the train, Renok was indeed calling it our train. He explained to me that
for him, every time he sees it, there is an incredible emotion, because it is your
work in motion.
37
Seeing it again, b y some means, can be the reason for a writer to become
more a train or a street painter:
I did a lot of trains before, but now I slowed down, but I am doi ng a lot
on the streets. There is one big reason j ust that I am mostl y in the city. I
have friends that li ve on the other side of the city and they have t o travel
to Amsterdam [] and they write on trains a lot, j ust to see their stuff up
on the trains; whereas I am j ust biking around the cit y all day and I want
to see my shit up on the city, you know? [Raw 26, Amsterdam]
Visibilit y is also the first source of fame for a graffiti writer. It brings
more respect than the qualit y of the piece or the st yle of the lines. In fact, as
Mirics says:
38
Beaut y is something very subj ective. There are some ver y well respected
people in Rome that draw things that if you see this, you woul d say I
cant believe this. But they are people that will never be crossed out. So,
an ugl y piece is not a piece that you rej ect. An ugl y piece made on the
hardest spot on earth i s the worthiest piece. So, beaut y is something that a
passer by can j udge, not us. [Mirics 22, Rome]
39
Lastl y, besides visibilit y and fame, the process of affirmation of the self on
a surface generates a sense of appropriation. Once a piece is done, the writer
becomes connected with the surface and with the wall. On the one hand, he
affirms the self b y spreading his identity around, and on the other hand his
sense of identit y is reinforced b y the feeling of owning that piece of wall he just
wrote upon.
This piece that we ar e looking ri ght now is mine. The propert y is not
mi ne, but it is mine. There is my name wr itten there. It belongs to me.
Once I paint on it, it becomes a part of myself. If I have 100 pieces
around, its cool. [ Renok 26, Rome]
Some trains are kind of worth more. When writers meet they talk about
different trains and different train yards where they ve been. When you
meet a new writer, you always have some places or trains to identify with
and talk around. Local trains are generall y more worth painti ng. For
example the old Dutch banana train (the yellow one floor train called
doggie), the Spanish mirror trains, Berlins yellow subway, Southern
Swedens purple trains or Danishs old red S-train. People used t o go to
Copenhagen j ust to paint that one. [Aso 26, Stockhol m]
Thus, conscious of the fact that trains and subways have to be considered as
something a part from each other, where does this self affirmation take place?
Which walls are the favourite ones? In the next paragraph the role of the cit y
will be discussed.
40
4.4 Territory
I think that certain things go together. If you look at the buildings for
example, there are some paintings. Its a bit messy, some stickers. I kind
of like this dirty. There is a soul. It shows t hat people live there. [Edge
26, Amsterdam]
Writers do not go out and leave their marks everywhere they can. They
choose where to paint. It is not random. First of all, graffiti is an urban culture,
it develops within the cit y. It is in the city that many often invisible identities
are performed everyday. And, in the city itself there are some places where
graffiti seems more suitable than others, for instance the dirty and gray places
are often used more than clean ones.
In some places graffi ti look fucking stupid [] as soon as I am in the
country side or somewhere in the South of France I am not even thinking
about spray cans you know? Its j ust totally ridiculous. And even when
you are going to do it, you take a picture, you can publish in on a
magazine so the kids in the city will see the magazine and they will see
the piece. So it is bringing back to the city again. So, its all about the
city. And if you are not doing graffiti or you feel offended by it and you
are living in the cit y...I am li ke c mon, you want all the stuf f that is
going on in the city, you want the heart beats, you want this, you want
that...[] Its a cit y culture, so I feel li ke when you are living in the city
you have to take into account that your kids they are going to get bored
with the surrounding, so they want to kick against somethi ng and
eventuall y they are going to take a spray can and go out, understand that
that culture exists and they are going to write on the walls. Some people
have al ways been writing on walls. Why wouldnt I do it now? [Raw 26,
Amsterdam].
41
you from? What are you doing? But these guys are standing there...and
this is a window and it supposed to be the representation of the city and at
the same ti me I am pretty sure that these people will disagree with you if
you make a piece next to them: What the fuck are you doing? They will
call the cops. [Raw 26, Amsterdam]
As Raw affirmed in one of the interviews, you can make the comparison
to a dog that pisses everywhere, but then you want to be a big dog that pisses
around the whole city(Raw 26, Amsterdam). In fact, the wider the range of
territory where the name appears, the more respected the writer and his activit y
will be. With the city you sort of claim something. You claim your space, and
the bond with the city becomes stronger (Edge 26, Amsterdam). Even though
they recognize it as an illegal activit y, writers feel that they have the right to
paint on the walls of the cit y because they see it as a public space that belongs
to everyone. Nevertheless, all the writers Ive met agreed on the fact that there
are some sort of unwritten rules or just common sense from which they avoid
writing on monuments or old buildings in the historical centre. This brings back
what has been alread y mentioned in the first paragraph of this section. What a
graffiti writer decides to stain suggests his personalit y. The space one takes
shows the lifest yle of the writer. For instance, some writers push the boundaries
of common sense, they paint wherever they want (which is basicall y the
significance of graffiti); this can be a wall that has been recentl y painted, or a
shop window. In this way the writer knows he is causing a serious discomfort
and b y doing it an yway, suggests a more arrogant personalit y.
I have some things that I dont tag. Li ke private houses and monuments. I
also dont think it fits ver y well some how. Especially in the cent re with
these old houses. It doesnt look good in these 16 t h centur y houses. I think
there is a quite clear graffiti aesthetic almost. It sorts of fits in certain
places and not in other s. [Edge 26, Amsterdam]
42
I consider the city as a thing which is all for us. Nobody owns it, so I can
destroy anything. You can buy a house, but the front of the house is
always on the street. And the street is of nobody and I want to put my tag
on the street. I dont have any feelings for the owners of the house. Yet.
Maybe it will come, when I am 40 and I am thinking oh, what have I
done? But I dont thi nk its going to happen. [Twice 25, Amsterdam]
The strong connection between the writers and the cit y is strengthened b y
the fact of often being alone in the middle of the night. It is then, whilst
walking around a city, that it shows a completel y different viewpoint. The cit y
completel y changes when it is looked from a graffiti perspective, street names
and monuments disappear. Writers know this map b y heart, an urban map that
changes continuously and cannot be found on Google maps now and never: I
orient m yself in the cit y through graffiti (Hero - 26, Rome).
Just being in the centre of the city at 4-5 oclock in the night in the
mi ddle of the week and there is nobody on the street. Its kind of li ke
your kingdom. And thi s is all ver y childish, but still there is a consistence
in doing it and consistent in a way when you are outside out in the night
all alone and the cit y is yours and you ki nd of put it in your hands []
Its a romantic feeling. But it doesnt mean that it is less real you know?
Its good and thats mostly what gets me out. [Raw 26, Amsterdam]
43
44
cit y and seeing his own pieces on the walls, makes him feel more alive, makes
him feel like he exists. He doesnt feel the same when he goes bombing in other
cities or in other countries, it does not give him the same kind of pleasure
(Field notes).
Meeting local writers when painting abroad is one of the best and safest
ways to do it. Nowadays, this is facilitated b y the existence of the Internet and
the many blogs and forums surrounding graffiti. In this way local writers are
often known even before travelling to a certain place.
We have many kinds of holidays. There is the holiday with the girl friend,
the holiday with friends and the graffiti holidays. It means that you travel
j ust to paint. [] And you are hosted by them. There is a lot of
brotherhood. Even if you never met the person, you have the gr affiti in
common and thats enough. [Mirics 22, Rome]
In this paragraph it has been shown how graffiti connects people. There is
a strong feeling of belonging to the same subculture, transcending the localit y.
However, within this big international scenario, there are man y little groups to
45
which almost every writer belongs. It is a culture where the affirmation of the
self is directl y related to the affirmation of the group, which in the graffiti
language is called crew.
a new
crew
is
created,
generall y it
represents
a neighbourhood
orientation, and later it enlarges and gets new members from everywhere. Some
crews have members in another country (LD crew of Amsterdam has a member
from the US). And, in some cases, since graffiti is a street activit y, some of the
members may not be writers, but rappers or breakers, as it is in the IPERS crew
of Rome). Generall y members from the same crew are recognized for having the
same approach, a certain crew st yle that can vary from rough mass bombing to
more elaborate pieces. However, for a graffiti writer the crew is first of all a
gathering of friends that enjo y each others company: a bunch of good people
to go out with (Aso 26, Stockholm). Friendship occurs in various ways. A
group of friends may decide to get together and create a crew, or the
relationships between crew members can be strengthened and afterwards
eventuall y turn into friendship later.
Its a bonding cultur e; you go through intensive experiences t ogether.
Most of my closest friends are graffiti wr iters, j ust because I ve been
hiding in the bushes with them, in the winter like for so many ni ghts. Just
coming together because its so cold and stuff. Running away or being in
j ail together you know? Those are all things you go through. Ever ybody
goes through things and experiences together, bonding things. [Raw 26,
Amsterdam]
46
part ying, just hung out, its niceit is reall y important to have good people in
the crewthat have nothing to do with the activit y. Its just to have a good
relationship (Aso 26, Stockholm). During m y field work, Ive spent several
evenings with various crews to grasp the atmosphere between the members and
Ive been told man y times that if I were not there, they would have hardl y talked
about graffiti:
They are people I know since I was 12. So.. its j ust nor mal friendship
and it happened to be that graffiti is also there. Thats something that we
j ust do, its not something we speak about the all time. [Edge 26,
Amsterdam]
When a crew is created, a common name is invented and the writers that
belong to it will start pushing that name as well. Crew names are generall y
represented with acron yms or abbreviations of the full names. Onl y a few know
what the initials stand for, and sometimes they can stand for more things,
according to internal jokes with the crew members. For instance the Amsterdam
crew LD stands for Lekker Drunken, but also Lets Dance. However, it is the
abbreviation that is considered and recognized b y everybod y as the crew name.
Often, but not always, the crew name is written inside or next to the personal
piece. When more writers from the same crew go painting together, it is
generall y the crew name that is painted, while the personal tags are written
inside. On a few occasions the rest of the crew, even if they are not present, are
written down as a sort of dedication. However, disclosing publicl y the names of
the crew members happens more in Rome than in Amsterdam. According to what
I experienced and observed and furthermore some of the conversations I had
suggest the reason for this is probabl y related to greater police controls in the
Netherlands than in Ital y. In the Netherlands the police keeps records of graffiti
47
(mostl y the train ones) and a graffiti writer never wants to have the Who is the
rest of your crew? question asked. Therefore, they try to avoid it, even if it
means writing different names sometimes. This will be explained further in the
Illegalit y section below.
Dedications are very common when making a piece. More often a piece is
dedicated to the rest of the crew (see Image 6), but also to their girlfriends or to
other crews.
Sometimes it happens that a graffiti writer belongs to more than one crew:
I am with IPERS since 2005. I also have t wo more crews, one i s called
SKM with whom I am painting since 2002 and the other one is GF Global
Force that is the most recent one. Ever ybody knows me as belonging to
SKM, because I am painting with them si nce many years. [] When I
paint alone I can write the crew that I want . But I always write SKM for
instance. Its the long-lasting one for me. I write IPERS when I f eel like.
[Renok 26, Rome]
Different crews can have different kinds of relationships that are reflected
in the st yles of the graffiti such as writing a crew name next to another one or
dedications to another crew or the opposite crossing out. Graffiti can reflect
both rivalries and alliances for instance some walls are called solidarit y walls.
48
The way the pieces are made and distributed, illustrates bonds among different
crews and these can be considered as an example of the function of graffiti as
marking social networks. The expression of alliance between different crews is
shown on more walls and on more occasions, as if to make clear the connection
to the whole of
also come together and form a kind of famil y like crew 47of Rome (see
Image 8).
On the contrary, man y crews are rivals. Often the names of the crews
instigate violence, dominance and victory. For instance the Milan crew FIA
stands for Fuck It All or the RC crew from Rome means Roman Core, but also
Riot Clan. However, there are occasions in which rivalries between two or more
crews have always existed, so their members start crossing each others out as a
priorit y. This can be a triggering event that touches off a war between them.
In fact, some actions are seen as extremel y offensive and disrespectful so that
they are immediately interpreted and understood from both parties as a
49
declaration of war. For instance, there are some train yards that are known for
belonging to a particular crew, thus other crews should not go painting there
without asking or it will be seen as an arrogant act towards them. This sort of
war usuall y remains on the walls (this phenomenon is in fact referred to as
war of walls in
depends on the attitude of the crews, in this way it tends to resemble gangs
instead of groups of friends enjo ying painting together.
CBS is the crew that started this shit. They cross us, but we know they
build their shit to do their shit. [] We met them a couple of ti mes, but
most of the time it is not good. You can sense when they are there. They
are not about the graffiti, they are about f ighting. If you are a graffiti
writer you have a crew. They are older, they have a crew, more history,
you can feel that shit if you enter their perimeter. You can feel their
kar ma. Their presence. When they were younger they were taught. We
respect that. If you ar e going to fuck with them, they are going to fuck
you up. So, if they are there, we sense it and we leave. [Gear 24,
Amsterdam]
Even if I am 200% about graffiti, it is not t hat hard that I would shut or
kill a person. Never.[ Twice 25, Amsterdam]
50
Why should I shut a guy for some paint ? And this is the difference
between us and them. We j ust do graffiti, we love the letters, we do the
graffiti for the end of the graffiti itself. They do it for the end of
fighting. But li ke he saidbetter not to compete with them, because they
fuck you up. [Gear 24, Amsterdam]
4.6 Illegality
Doing something that is not allowed makes you feel more alive [Raw 26,
Amsterdam]
51
actually feel the adrenaline rushing into your body and youre nervous
and your heart beats are like kicking. And t his is nice. It is the same li ke
with bunging-j umping. This is j ust socially not accepted, this is why it is
in a different book. But there are the same things playing there. [Raw
26, Amsterdam]
Illegalit y also stands for respect, the bigger the chances to be caught and
the higher the respect that the writer will get from the rest of the communit y.
However, even if illegalit y is the main drive for the subculture to exist, it also
restricts and influences the way the graffiti is performed.
If you do it in a hard spot and you dont want to be recognised and the
chances are ver y bi g to get caught, you write another name so I would not
write Twice. But if I put Gear next to my f ake name, they would know I
am Twice. So I put up a nickname for hi m. I would always dedicate, for
life. [] If I am getti ng caught, for the trai ns they are more prof essional
in keeping archi ves of who is writing with who and stuff like that. I dont
want to sit for 30 days in the prison. So, I write another name, so if they
catch me I say this is my name, do whatever you want with it and they
can never say who is the rest of the crew? I dont want to have this
question. So, I avoid it. [Twice 25, Amsterdam]
Paying attention to places, times and names does not always prevent a
writer from being caught. However, being caught is not seen as something to be
ashamed of, rather it improves the fame of the busted writer and it reinforces his
feeling of passion for graffiti. In fact, being arrested instead of slowing down
the activit y of the writer, often provokes the opposite reaction. The more they
bust you, and the more you want to paint. (Mars 22, Rome).
It influences you li ke for one week or t wo and again you are itchi ng and
you want to write and then fuck it. And someti mes you go back twice
harder. Just there and destroy. Whatever you want. [Twice 25,
Amsterdam]
Generall y, graffiti is the onl y criminal behaviour in which the writers are
engaged. Stealing spray cans is also considered as a part of the game, it is a
kind of rule to steal them when starting the activit y, however it seems to go
away once the writers grow older. Another thing that improves while growing up
52
is the feelings towards the police. Writers seem to understand better what the
role of everybod y is in societ y and there is no such a thing as I hate the police.
My feelings about the police officers and the all situation have changed
too. Li ke a 15 years old you wake up and you are all the ti me fucking
around with them. But now its like no, they are j ust people doing their
j ob, they need that stuff. Its j ust reality and if they catch you they are
doing a good j ob. It s different. You understand more what everybody is
doing. You get a complete picture when you are older. [Raw 26,
Amsterdam]
walls of their walls. Moreover, it seems that graffiti encourages other criminal
behaviour in the affected areas. Therefore, as mentioned before, different towns
adopt different approaches, restrictions and securit y policies against the issue of
graffiti. Nonetheless, restrictions are not the only solution, in fact allowing
graffiti in certain areas was perceived at the beginning as a great way to control
the situation. Beside the fact of giving a vent for the needs of writers to paint, it
could also improve the outlook of certain gray urban areas. However this does
not seem to greatl y prevent or diminish the amount of illegal graffiti going on.
If they are allowed, it doesnt feel like graffiti anymore, the adrenaline is gone,
so is the respect.
Legal graffiti is not graffiti, everybody can do that. Its about adventure,
is not about how good I can draw. Its about tagging ever ything whenever
you want. I get more ener gy from a drinks with my guys and then oh
guys, lets do a wall. Ever y paint used in a legal wall is WASTE OF
PAINT. [] You can be that good, that fucking creati ve, but if you
cannot do this in an illegal environment you are not a graffiti writer to
me. You are j ust one of the rest. You can be a creative desi gner of a web
site. It is the same for me. Its legal. But if you do it a ni ght and you do it
good you get a lot of respect. [Gear 24, Amsterdam]
53
You should not write graffiti legal to get famous. NEVER. [] There are
a lot of guys doing that and I hate them. [Twice 25, Amsterdam]
No, I would never leave the illegal scene. Its about freedom. If I am not
limiting your freedom, why are you li miting mine? I dont underst and how
can they li mit colours? [Hero 26, Rome]
I did it, but I dont like it. When you do it as a j ob, you will always have
some constraints, somebody that will tell you No, I dont like it, do it like
that! So you are not free to do it like you want. I am a bit against. [Philo
23, Rome]
I ve been doing that f or a year. I dont like that. I put so much effort into
the all culture, I put so much effort into myself for being part of the
54
culture, why would I now sell it out and throw it all away. It doesnt really
make sense to me, you know? It j ust throw your belief out the door. [Raw
26, Amsterdam]
This dichotom y legal vs. illegal is parallel to the one graffiti vs. art. Man y
writers reject terms such as artist or street art. Legal graffiti is perceived b y
writers as something like art, and art has nothing to do with the rush and
impulse of graffiti: Legal is different, you do something that looks more like
art of graphics. You loose your instinct (Renok).
A few of the writers Ive met work in fields related to art, for instance they
graduated from the art academ y or they are graphic designers. However all of
them firml y point out that the two things are very distinct. Graffiti is not made
to be in the galleries, graffiti has to be on the street, it has to be done under
pressure and fear of being caught.
55
We have this guy Laser who is doing messages around the city and people
really like it because they think there is content added to it, and j ust makes
me sick, because this is not what graffiti i s about. Graffiti is about plain
messages. It is not even messages, it is plain actions. This is what the
culture is. This is writing your name, using your name in a way that no one
else is doing it. And he is doing texts and staff and trying to be
philosophical, but really it doesnt go anywhere. And now he has this book.
I am reall y disgusted f rom the graffiti point of view. If you have a message
you do something else. You either make art, you should write a book, but
dont do graffiti. [] Graffiti is that empt y, but still is an underground
subculture. And this is what it should be, you know? [Raw 26,
Amsterdam]
Graffiti has nothing to say and does not pretend the contrary, it is an empt y
practice based on colours and letterforms: I just find it more useful to decorate
a wall than seeing a gray wall (Revs 20, Rome). Therefore any other form of
inscription used for political purposes, or to transmit philosophical messages go
far beyond the original graffiti. Moreover, doing graffiti is not a statement
against someone: you are not hitting someone or something. It is not the owner
of the building []. It is not that if the train was late the day before I am going
to paint it (Renok 26, Rome).
However, if not in the writing, there is a subtle meaning in the gesture of
doing it, even if it is completel y out of personal reasons:
Its a bit against the common idea of how to behave along the nor ms of
the society. [] I mean the message is like that I want maybe people
thinking more what is possible. Maybe whatever you want to do, if you
dont hurt anybody else. [Aso 26, Stockhol m]
4.7.1 Audience
Who is looking at graffiti? Millions of people walk b y walls full of tags
every day, or enter on a train that has just been just painted the night before, but
are they reall y looking at them? To some, probabl y graffiti is an invisible part
of the urban landscape; however this study did not concentrate on this aspect.
The point of this research is focusing on the question who do the writers think is
56
their audience? To whom are they performing for? Who are the people receiving
their (blank or not so blank) messages? Once again, it seems that the writer
himself is the one receiving most of the benefits.. The biggest pleasure is given
b y seeing his own name up on the walls/trains, since the writer himself is in fact
his biggest fan.. Subsequentl y there are his friends and the rest of the crew to
which the piece is often dedicated.
First I always thought other writers. But now I dont really care about
other writers anymore. I guess it is maybe more for myself and my friends,
but of course is also nice when I go to a different city and I always look
who is sort of UP. It is always connected to other people. But if I think of
it only one way, then I think that it is more for myself and for my friends.
[Edge 26, Amsterdam]
57
However, although the public can see it, often the writing is unreadable.
Letters are drawn in a way that people outside the culture are not used to seeing
and identifying. It is much easer for writers to understand each other because
they are more used to playing with shapes and colours. There are also
conducting in closed coding, closed s ystems of communication (cross outs,
dedications) that are not identifiable to the general public.
58
Generall y, writers start to get interested in graffiti around the age of 1214. Youth plays a very important part in the process of becoming a writer. It is a
transitional period in life in which the identit y starts to be shaped and wants to
be expressed. Some of the writers I researched were alread y involved in some
other street activities, such as skateboarding.
I was into skateboarding and I guess it is also really close to something
like graffiti. And it j ust has to do with posit ion yourself somewhere. What
I like about graffiti, what I li ke about skateboarding. What I like about
punk, hip-hop.. all these youth culturesis that they are existing on itself.
They are not ruled by certain grown up groups, or massi ve corporations.
Now they are obviously, but when they started out, when they developed,
its like a youth culture and as soon as grown up people get involved they
usually fuck ever ything up. But I li ke t hat, its something like reall y
creative can get into such a level of quality and the development goes to
youth, goes to children you know? And I think its kind of unique. And I
guess I wanted to take part in that. I was i nto skate boardingand at one
59
point I stopped doing skateboarding as I star ted doing graffiti. I j ust didnt
have the ti me anymore. I j ust thought I woul d be skateboarding for the rest
of my life. I j ust dont get that skateboard off ever anymore. [Raw 26,
Amsterdam]
Amsterdam). It is rebellion about the societ y, about your parents, about man y
things. Everybod y finds his own way (Mirics 22, Rome).
60
There are countless young people that start writing during the first years
of high school, the majorit y of them do it as a game, just to try it and then quit
after a few months. Nevertheless, some of them keep on doing it and this is
when the identit y of the writer starts to mlange with the graffiti subculture
with no way of return.
We were young boys; we saw those things t hat caught our attentions li ke
that, by chance. When you are 16 you ki nd of absorb ever yt hing. If
something sti mulates you, youll do it. And you also have the
unconsciousness of doing it as it comes out. Then later you keep doing it,
because it belongs to you. [Renok 26, Rome]
It is very difficult for a writer that has been painting for over 10 years to
stop thinking about it. It is a dependency that is brought about b y all the intense
feelings that the action gives you: Nowadays I am more like for the action and
the atmosphere. Its more about the action feeling right now (Aso 26,
Stockholm). Feelings can also vary a lot however, the first of all is the
adrenaline rush and the release that one feels once the piece is done: Its pure
pleasure. Almost an orgasm (Philo 23, Rome).
I can say excited on one hand, but on the other hand relieved. Doing
finally the thing I wanted to do and it feels like ah, finall y. [Twi ce 25,
Amsterdam]
61
I kind of feel free, you know? It is one moment of your day where you kind
of like dont have to answer any questions you know? Its still something
you are doing when you are believing you know? You spit it out there and
you are not expecting anything back from it you know? Other than getting
a reaction from within the subculture. [ Raw 26, Amsterdam]
To sum it up, it is mostl y personal reasons that keep the graffiti activit y
going, while all t ypes of youth rebellion disappear. It is about dealing with
ones own anger and discomfort. And then it becomes normal to solve it b y
doing graffiti. However, after man y years of devoting ones life to graffiti, the
love for the culture also takes over: I think I am so dedicated to this and
after some years it feels like you are a part of this. You have to carry on in some
way (Aso 26, Stockholm).
4.9 Commitment
Having the love for a culture, you know? Living it and not trying t o
define it further Just loving something and wanted to do it. Someti mes
you dont have that answer [Raw 26, Amst erdam]
Writers feel committed to the graffiti subculture, they love it and they let
it completel y dominate their lives so that it is hard to decide whether it is more
a passion or an addiction. More often than not, it influences other life choices
and many other aspects of the life (See Image 10). For many of the respondents
it is a passion that will never die: I was thinking about quitting when I was 20.
I said I would quit when I was 24. Now I am 27 and I am writing even more than
before. So, I dont think quitting is an option. Its there for life (Twice 25,
Amsterdam).
You can stop writing graffiti and 30 years later you are still looking at
tags. And this is nice because the culture keeps on growing, it doesnt go
away, it doesnt slip away. And its growing, its crazy. People keep
coming up, people keep starting writing and you would expect something
to die out and it is not. [] I dont think it can go away. Wri ting on
walls, how can it go away? [Raw 26, Amsterdam]
62
I ve been thinking of that many ti mes. But I never did it. If you think
back on how many hours you put into some kind of activit y...then I cant
imagi ne j ust quitting t otally. Its j ust terrible. [Aso 26, Stockhol m]
It is the time that they spend on the activit y that makes it so important for
them. For man y of them, in effect, graffiti can completel y dominate the writers
lives. In fact, even if the actual painting takes place once or twice a week,
graffiti is always there and the writers are: constantl y thinking about it,
sketching on papers, examining at their work
Since they started at a very young age, and the activit y requires so much
time, on the one hand graffiti may have had influenced their school results
63
negativel y, but on the other hand it stimulates writers creativit y and interest
towards art disciplines. In fact, being involved in graffiti influences important
life choices without a doubt: choosing a particular kind of high school or
universit y for instance. Man y of m y respondents did art at high school or went
to an academ y or addressed themselves towards urban related subjects at
universit y.
I wonder if I would go to the art school.. Even though what I do there is
really different, anything that is related to graffiti, but still definitely []
if I didnt started with graffiti, maybe I would have studied something
else. (Edge 26, Amsterdam]
Its a passion because you are always doing it and you feel so much about
it and an addiction because when you dont do it for two weeks your
hands are getting itchy, they really want to do something. [Twice 25,
Amsterdam]
64
However, most of the writers try to keep the graffiti life hidden from the
people they know. This is generall y because of obvious reasons of securit y, but
also because it is an underground world that needs to be kept that way to qualify
for that definition. There is a romantic feeling connected to the fact of doing
something that outsiders do not see and often do not approve.
Some people j ust from wor k go to home and they think this is mi ne and
you never can enter my fucking world. And graffiti is mine, this is me and
Twice and Raw doing shit I li ke and you can never enter my fucking world.
NEVER [Twice 25, Amsterdam]
65
the cit y. This causes a feeling of alienation, mostl y within the youth as they still
have to position themselves somewhere in the society. The need to emerge and
to affirm ones identit y is so strong that it pushes thousands of adolescents to
take spray cans and claim their identities all over their environment. Moreover,
these identities are portrayed with a beautiful use of letters and colours that,
this in combination with the relativel y eas y fame that comes with the constant
engagement, and the given small number of subcultural members, are the main
sources of fascination for it. Furthermore, the illegalit y of the activit y adds a
special appeal to it. Even though writers claim to be against nobody and to carry
an empt y message, the gesture of making graffiti goes against the rules imposed
b y societ y; it is about claiming a right over the cit y. Therefore, it is not the
right to be heard that is claimed here, but the sole right to be there. Illegalit y
involves risk and bravery, thus if on the one hand it brings hostilit y from many,
it also brings respect from peers. No writer would ever give up illegal graffiti
for an ything else. Writing on legal walls or for a commission is seen as
something more art related, and the impulse and adrenaline that comes with
graffiti disappears. If they are told what and where to do it, the value of graffiti
is gone. However, being good requires time, energy, courage and dedication so
that the majorit y of the lives of the graffiti writers are to a higher or lower
degree affected b y it. Their lives are committed to the subculture, which is felt
b y every writer as something to carefully safeguard. t is a passion that never
goes.
66
5. Conclusions
5.1 Introduction
The research outlined in this thesis aimed at discovering the internal
d ynamics of an illegal youth culture of which I was a complete outsider. I did not
know anyone from the graffiti world, and I have sometimes been sceptical of what
I could have reall y seen and discovered. In order to do so, I needed to get to know
these inhabitants of the night that move like ghosts around the cities, leaving
their visible marks on the walls with their invisible hands. Man y things could
have gone wrong; I could have ended up spending one night in jail or being in the
middle of some crew fight; however, surprisingl y everything worked out
smoothl y: I took m y field notes, took pictures, conducted interviews and got man y
insights from this world that remained unknown to me until one year ago. In this
conclusive chapter I will first give an elaborate answer to my research question,
and secondl y, I will illustrate the implications of the theory that gave the basis
for this stud y before the actual immersion of it. Thirdl y, I will draw a
methodological reflection on m y work, and lastl y I will give m y suggestions for
further studies in this field.
The central research question for this stud y was: How do graffiti writers
perform their identity in European cities? Graffiti writers in Europe perform
their identit y b y illegall y spraying walls, trains and subways of the cit y. Writing
on the wall means I exist, an affirmation that is generated by a desire to emerge
and to belong to a communit y. The illegalit y of the actions reinforces the feeling
of freedom, of breaking the rules, but mostl y it gives them power and respect.
Making a name involves risks and dangers: the greater the danger, the greater the
respect. Recognition from peers gives them personal rewards and augments their
personal enrichment. Graffiti is a self advertisement done within the cit y with no
use of money, but with adrenaline instead. However, insistentl y affirming ones
identit y within the cit y does not involve resistance against a dominant culture, as
67
there are not external political goals that want to be achieved; rather it is just
about the narcissistic will of freedom and domination of the writer.
68
they want to present to others and, even if rarel y they adopt different names, they
work insistentl y for one coherent identit y that is recognizable through their st yle.
Instead, the new established identit y reflects Giddens theory of the
narrative of the self in man y ways (Giddens, 1991). Writers continuousl y work on
their self-identities to make sense of themselves. Indeed, they rehearse for long
time on papers before leaving their marks on the walls. The writers sketch book
often looks like a diary, insofar as it is the story of the writer growing up as a
writer: insecure at the beginning, trying out names, slowl y getting a firmer hand,
trying out different st yles, getting a name, belonging to crews, and forming
relationships. However, while the sketch book is for the writer, the street is for
everybod y, an open diary. Seeing his pieces around helps the writer to construct
the narrative of what he is, with the cit y being the canvas where the story line is
written, but also read, reworked, and modified. Walls tell stories of identities, of
friendships and animosities. However, what is performed there is not only
personal identit y, but also group identit y and commitment to the subculture,
confirming Hetheringtons view of identit y as something more than selfreflection,
but
as
relation
between
performance,
identification,
and
formation.
As
it
was
explained
by
Maffesoli
(1988),
collective
identification with a crew and belonging to the subculture are seen as means of
developing individual identit y. Individual innovation is always framed in the
context of a general display of commitment to the range of tastes which
s ymbolize the graffiti scene. Following the patterns of the subculture enhances
69
personal identit y as the value of the writer is recognized within a certain set of
shared values. By behaving in a certain way dictated b y the subculture, graffiti
writers conduct a specific lifest yle t yp ical to a minor or major degree to all
members of the subculture: going out in the middle of the night, sketching on
papers for big parts of the day, hanging out at stations and train yards to take
pictures and look at graffiti. These life choices give writers personal narratives
an identifiable shape and link together people that have made similar choices
(Giddens, 1991). In fact, members of the same crew form strong and intense
relationships among themselves b y sharing the same experiences, and b y giving
importance to the same things. Their current sense of affiliation is based
primaril y on sharing subcultural capital: more than where they are from, it
matters what the graffiti writers are into.
Subcultural capital, as it was described b y Thornton (1995), is the key
player of an alternative hierarchy in which the axes of age, gender, sexualit y and
race are all emplo yed in order to keep the determinations of class, income and
occupation at bay. Nevertheless, for the graffiti subculture gender and age play an
important role when joining the subculture in the first place; however, they loose
importance once the writer is on the wall. Graffiti writers tend to classify and
judge others b y means of a conscious and mutuall y agreed upon set of standards:
the quantit y of tags around the cit y; the crew of belonging and the respect
attributed to the other members; the choice of an original, catch y and control
expressing name; the abilit y to use letters and colours with st yle; the kind of
trains or subways he painted; the danger associated with the spots he painted on;
the cities in which he has been seen; his enemies; and even whether or not he has
been busted. The degree of status-inducing that one holds is therefore related to
the particular tastes or values of a given subcultural grouping. The level of
commitment to the subculture confers status to its owner in the eyes of the
relevant beholder (ibid.). However, in the graffiti subculture it is the writer
himself that claims to be at the head of this alternative hierarch y b y drawing a
crown on top of his name, while newcomers are called toys as they dont carry
enough subcultural capital. This s ystem of classification induces considerable
70
71
72
for exhibiting existence, friendships, love and hate. In this sense, it is appropriate
to say that graffiti is, in Hebdiges terms, a spectacular subculture, that through
st yle offends the majorit y firstl y b y writing on their walls, or on train windows,
and secondl y b y keeping them completely extraneous to it.
Nevertheless, the most important function of illegalit y is to be found at the
personal level. Illegalit y brings above all personal rewards; it enhances the
feeling of self worth and self affirmation. It gives adventure, excitement, release,
and respect. It follows the impulse of disruption and affirmation of the self that
man y adolescents, mostl y male, feel while growing up (Brake, 1980). If graffiti
was onl y about doing something artistic and creative, they would take a more
legal approach, but b y doing so the adrenaline thrills and risks would be lost. In
opposition to what has been said about graffiti subculture in earlier works
(Macdonalds, 2001), illegal graffiti is not a preparation for a future legal graffiti,
as man y would expect. Legal works are seen as ways to reinforce group spirit,
train the st yle, but above all they are used for illegal purposes. The fact that they
use spray cans in a way so that there is still some for real illegal actions has been
explained b y Fiske (1989) as tricking the system. And this is what happens during
works on commission or other attempts from the art world to absorb graffiti for
their own financial purposes. As it was explained by one of the writers, the great
thing about subcultures is that they belong to youth, and it is onl y thanks to them
if those subcultures reached such a level of quality so that the adult world got
interested in them. However, this interest is not seen positively b y the writers, but
is instead perceived as something that ruins the core value of the graffiti
subculture, which is doing what they want, how they want, where they want.
Graffiti writers like to stay detached through it, and rewards given b y the
mainstream culture will never count as much as the subcultural ones framed and
obtained within illegalit y. The graffiti subculture encourages people to do their
own thing, free from the kinds of social pressures which characterize mainstream
societ y. The silent conversations on the walls are not meant to be understood b y
outsiders, as the walls speak a foreign language spoken in every country in the
same way.
73
74
capital
as
the
onl y
contributor
to
fraternity
and
fellowship.
75
76
Lastl y, more and more aspects of the culture are becoming inseparable from
communications technologies. The possibilit y of spreading pictures on the web is
certainl y having a great impact on some aspects of graffiti such as fame and
recognition. Does it reall y matter anymore to see the train running with the piece
on it as long as the picture is on the web? I would therefore encourage further
research on the importance of the Internet for a culture that is so firml y situated
in the open air.
Previous research on graffiti in New York for instance (Macdonalds, 2001) claim that graffiti is still very much
connected to the hip hop culture, something that did not appear in my study.
77
Glossary
Active: A writer who currentl y paints.
Bomb: To tag.
Bomber: Someone that onl y tags.
Crew: A group of affiliated writers.
Cross out: To put a line over another tag or crews name.
Family: Affiliation of several crews.
Fill-in: The painted interior of a piece, through up, flop.
Flop: A quick outline of a name with black, white or no painted interior. Often it
is just the first two letters of a tag (in Italy, for the Netherlands see Throwup).
Go over: To write over another tag.
Hall of fame: A legal or semi-legal wall.
King: A respected and prolific writer.
Line: A line on the subway.
Mission: An illegal painting action.
Old school: Older generation of writers.
Piece: A more elaborate painting.
Retire: To abandon painting graffiti on a regular basis.
Safe: Something without risk.
Sell out: A writer that works for money.
Solidarity wall: A wall that reflects alliances between crews.
Tag: Writers name.
Tagging: Writing ones name.
Throwup: A quick outline of a name with black, white or no painted interior.
Toy: An inexperienced or incompetent writer.
Up: A productive writer.
Whole car: A piece covering the entire surface of a train carriage.
Whole train: A piece covering the entire length of a train.
Writer: Someone who writes graffiti.
Yard: A place where trains are berthed. A train depot.
78
Bibliography
Adams K, Winter, A. (1997), Gang graffiti as a discourse genre, in Journal of
Sociolinguistics 1/3: 337-360.
V.
(2006),
Ghetto
art:
Thousands
voices
in
the
city
Brake, M. (1980), The sociology of youth culture and youth subcultures: Sex and
drugs and rocknroll? London: Routeledge & Kegan.
Chalfant, H. and Prigoff, J. (1987). Spraycan Art. London: Thames and Hudson.
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Cohen S. (1972), Moral panic and folk devils, London: MacGibbon & Kee.
Downes, D. (1966), The delinquent solution, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Duits,
L.
(2008),
Multi-girl-culture:
An
ethnography
of
doing
identity.
Ferrel, J. (1996), Crimes of Style: Urban graffiti and the politics of criminality.
Boston. Northeastern Universit y Press.
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Grant, C.M. (1996), Graffiti: Taking a closer look. The FBI Law enforcement
Bulletin, 65: 11-15.
Hodkinson, P. (2002), Goth: Identity, Style and Subculture. Cornwall: Ed. Berg.
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Locher, D. (1998), The industrial identity crisis: the failure of a newl y forming
subculture to identity itself display in J. Epstein (ed.) Identity: Youth and
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Macdonald, N. (2001), The Graffiti Subculture: Youth, Masculinity and Identity in
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82
83
Appendix 1
Topic List for Semi-structured interviews
General Information:
-
Feelings:
-
What do you think was the reason for you to start? (friends doing it
alread y, boredom, feeling of wanting to become someone, fascination for
other existing graffiti or artists).
What is the thing that makes you feel good the most about it?
Would you say that your practice is for yourself, for the others, to beautify
the cit y, for whom mainl y do you do it?
Bombing
-
Did you always have the same one? How man y tags do you use?
How much time did you or you still dedicate to it? (Does it occup y all your
time?)
84
Do you have your own signature or piece that you always reproduce or
sometimes you write messages? If yes, what kind of?
What is your public? (Other writers, members of other crew, general public,
elites?)
Is it comprehensible?
Do you let the graffiti identit y to interfere with your normal identit y?
Illegality
-
Man y things have been written about graffiti being against the s ystem, or
the people that own the power of the cit y? Do you think that your practice
is against something or someone?
What is the feeling you have for the cit y? (is it yours, are you against
urban control?)
What role does the fact of that is an illegal activit y plays in it?
What do you feel about all the restrictions and legal measures that man y
cities appl y to prevent graffiti writing?
85
Would you (or you already do) legal graffiti and would you leave for ever
the illegal scene?
How do you relate to your crew? What do you do for the other members?
(Dedications?)
What do you generally do when you are together? (also music or drugs)
Are you in contact with them? Have you ever bombed together?
Does something change when you write in other cities than yours?
86