Graffiti (singular: graffito; the plural is used as a mass noun) is writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, on a wall or other surface. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times.
In modern times, paint, particularly spray paint, and marker pens have become the most commonly used graffiti materials.
In ancient times graffiti was carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes chalk or coal were used.
History
The earliest forms of graffiti date back to 30,000 BC in the form of prehistoric cave paintings and pictographs using tools such as Animal bones and pigments. The images drawn on the walls showed scenes of animal wildlife and hunting expeditions.
The ancient Romans carved graffiti on walls and monuments, examples of which also survive in Egypt. Graffiti in the classical world had different connotations than it carries in today's society concerning content. Ancient graffiti displayed phrases of love declarations, political rhetoric, and simple words of thought compared to today's popular messages of social and political ideals.
In the Middle ages graffiti was widely spread in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. In one of the largest Maya's cities called Tikal many well-preserved drawings were found. Some graffiti were found in Rome, Constantinople, Ireland and Scandinavia. Some artists of the epoch of Renaissance engraved their names on their works or on the ruins that they had visited. All those graffiti help us to learn some facts of the past cultures' daily life.
Appearing of modern graffiti
Graffiti has long appeared on railroad boxcars and subways. The one with the longest history, dating back to the 1920s and continuing into the present day.The time between 1969 and 1974 can be called the revolution of graffiti. During this time it has considerably grown in popularity, a lot of styles appeared, and the center of the graffiti became New York. Writers tried to leave their tags where possible. The first writer, who was shown in the newspaper article, was TAKI 183.His tag TAKI 183 consisted of his name Demetrius (or Demetraki, Taki) and the number of the street where he lived. When he was a courier, he had to ride the subway. In places where he was, he left his tag. In 1971, the New York Times published an article dedicated to him. Barbara 62 and Eva 62 were famous for their graffiti.
The art of graffiti is connected with the movement of punk-rock. Some punk fans patterned the names of the groups everywhere, so there was a lot of graffiti in streets, clubs and places of punk's meetings.
Today graffiti - is the type of street art, one of the most actual form of self expression all over the world. There are many different styles and kinds of graffiti. Graffiti works are an independent gentre of modern art, inalienable part of culture and the urban way of life. In many countries and cities there are famous writers which create real masterpieces in the streets.
Since that time when graffiti became the part of pop culture, it has been associating with hip-hop, hardcore and break-dance music. For many people graffiti is an incomprehensible and hiddent from the wide public way of life.
In the most countries drawing graffiti on someone's property without his permit is considered as vandalism and is punishable by the law. Sometimes graffiti are used to spread politics or social ideas. Graffiti is the real art for some people, but others think it's hooliganism.
Graffiti in Russia
In Russia graffiti appeared in the 80-th years of the last century. But only in the 90-th it got the mass character because of the popularization of the Internet and using graffiti in advertising. At the beginning of the 21 century graffiti became very popular, people got the access to professional paints, books and videos. The first graffiti festivals appeared, for example the yearly festival «SNICKERS®URБANиЯ»started in some big cities of Russia and Ukraine.
Styles
Some of the most common styles of graffiti have their own names. A "tag" is the most basic writing of an artist's name, it is simply a handstyle. A graffiti writer's tag is his or her personalized signature. Tagging is often the example given when opponents of graffiti refer to any acts of handstyle graffiti writing (it is by far the most common form of graffiti). Tags can contain subtle and sometimes cryptic messages, and might incorporate the artist's crew initials or other letters. One form of tagging known as "pissing" is the act of taking a refillable fire extinguisher and replacing the contents inside with paint, allowing for tags as high as around 20 feet. Aiming and keeping a handstyle steady in this form of tagging is very difficult, usually coming out wavy and sloppy.
Another form is the "throw-up", also known as a "bombing" which is normally painted very quickly with two or three colors, sacrificing aesthetics for speed. Throw-ups can also be outlined on a surface with one color. A "piece" is a more elaborate representation of the artist's name, incorporating more stylized letters, usually incorporating a much larger range of colors. This of course is more time consuming and increases the likelihood of the artist getting caught. A "blockbuster" or "roller" is a large piece, almost always done in a block shaped style, done simply to cover a large area solidly with two contrasting colours, sometimes with the whole purpose of blocking other writers from painting on the same wall. These are usually accomplished with extended paint rollers and gallons of cheap exterior paint.
«Wildstyle» - is a more difficult kind of graffiti. His streaks are interlacement of letters and sharp corners. The origin of the name of this style is connected with the character or the drawing - wild, explosive, incomprehensible. Usually such graffiti can't be read because of many extraneous elements. Sometimes writers draw on stickers and paste them on walls. Though this type of graffiti seems to be very easy it is often clever piece of work.
Many writers think that graffiti doesn't need much time because it doesn't live up itself. Every graffiti can be spoiled by another graffiti drew over it. This spoiling is called capping and it provoke a strong indignation among writers.
Anonymous writers
Graffiti artists constantly have the looming threat of facing consequences for displaying their graffiti. Many choose to protect their identities and reputation by remaining anonymous. Modern graffiti - is the result of a long history of traditional graffiti at first it was simply the scratched word or phrase, and now turned into a picturesque expression of thoughts and feelings. From March to April 2009 150 artists exposed 300 graffiti at the Grand Palace in Paris . So the French art world took a new form of art .
Elimination of Graffiti
In the 20 century the departments on the elimination of graffiti were founded in Europe. Sometimes they worked with impetuous energy. So, in France the members of one of the scout teams worked so hard, that they damaged two historical drawings of bison in the cave Mayry. Then they were given the Shnobel prize in archaeology. Nowadays there are special places for graffiti in some big cities.
Bansky
The most famous representative of graffiti movement is Banksy. He is one of the first writers who's works were exhibited in museums and sold at auctions. His work is equal to the art. Banksy was born in 1975 in England. At the end of 90-th he started to write graffiti. His works became popular because of their acute social subject matter. It's is interesting, that Banksy is still keeping anonymity and hiding from the police! In 2010 Banksy made a documentary film which is called «Exit Trough the Gift Shop» and it was nominated for an Oscar.
Graffiti in our district
In the process of creating our project we made some photos of the graffiti in our district. And now we want to show you them.
In the first picture you can see the graffiti which represent us an elephant and two giraffes walking through the savanna. In our opinion, this graffiti really turned a boring building into an object of art.
The next graffiti was drawn on the transformer kiosk on the territory of our school. And due to its location the graffiti contains some school objects. In the photo you can see only one side of the kiosk, but two other sides are decorated with graffiti too.
The last graffiti was drawn in honour of the Victory day. This graffiti is rather big and it is drawn with lots of details.
In our view, all these graffiti made the buildings look interesting and bright and they decorated our district. We can certainly say that these graffiti are objects of art.
Conclusion
Now we will answer on the main question of our project: is graffiti art or hooliganism? In some cases it is art, but in another it is hooliganism. We can definitely think that graffiti is art when it is beautifully drawn and when it passes the author's feelings and thoughts. But it is hooliganism when it spoils private property or historical buildings without the consent of the owner.
Graffiti as art can serve the good service for the restoration of old ugly buildings. In many different cities all over the world authorities began to cooperate with graffiti writers: they give to the writers vacant lots, fences and ugly buildings and graffiti writers decorate them with their drawings. So, authorities don't need to spend the money on the restoration and at the same time writers can show their talent with the common good.
An example of the idea that graffiti is art is the fact that some graffiti works are exhibited in museums or art galleries. And also, different graffiti festivals are kept all over the world develop the art of graffiti and acquaint wide public with it.
There are a lot of cases when graffiti is considered as the hooliganism. Very often such graffiti contain rude words. Graffiti as hooliganism can be punished with a fine or correctional work.
So, we came to conclusion that graffiti can be art or hooliganism depending on its purpose, position and content.
