6.4: The Rhythm of Graffiti

Another revolution in hip-hop culture was the public battle cry and territorial claims as depicted since the 1970s, known as graffiti. Around the same time as the emergence of hip-hop, urban art began to appear on buildings, boxcars, bridges, walls, and subways or other city-scape surfaces. Typically drawn, written, or painted within public view, but without permission, graffiti is a controversial subject, to be sure. Graffiti is considered by property owners to be vandalism, and leaving graffiti is a crime as the removal of graffiti defacement costs money to sandblast, repair, and restore public surfaces to the way the property owners want them to appear. Moreover, graffiti is used by street gangs to demarcate territorial claims in a city, so there is an associated with danger and criminal activity related to graffiti art. Some city leaders have viewed graffiti as a consequence of urban blight, and innovated grant-funded projects for commissioned murals and other works that employ graffiti artists, rather than punish them.

Definition: Graffiti

A form of visual communication by an individual or group, the act of graffiti is typically illegal, and involves the unauthorized marking of public space.

Graffiti is closely tied to hip-hop culture and dance. For example, the reasons for graffiti as well as the embedded rhythm of the artwork mirrors the reasons for hip-hop dance battles for individual virtuosity on the dance floor, where rhythm of the music drives the flow. Just like hip-hop dance, graffiti is now a global phenomenon and typifies the cry of disenfranchised peoples. In Australia for example, artwork claims “You are partying on stolen lands”, decrying the colonial project that ousted the aborigines from their native lands (Figure 6.5). Even in Tehran, political messaging came in the form of graffiti during the 2009 uprising in Iran, known as the “green Movement”, a street artists named Absurdious sprayed “Enemy of the People” (Figure 6.6)

Figure 6.5. Graffiti on an Aboriginal flag with the caption “You are partying on stolen land” decries the colonial project

(Riotgrrll. (28 February 2017). Graffiti of Aboriginal flag with the caption "You are partying on stolen land" spray-painted over it. Located on the graffiti wall at Camperdown Memorial Rest Park. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Camperdown_Memorial_Rest_Park_Graffiti.jpg)

Figure 6.6. Graffiti in Iran with religious undertones protests political leadership, “Enemy of the People”

(Zerosiv (18 June 2023). Absurious_001. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Absurdious-001.jpg)

“Tag” – an artist’s name, usually in spray paint or marker – a personalized signature

“Bomb” – an act of painting several surfaces in an area quickly, some artists include the year

“Throw up” or “Fill-in” – normally painted quickly with only a few colors and is all about speed

“Piece” – a more elaborate version of the artist’s name using block or bubble letters

“Blockbuster” – a large piece of art to cover an area with two contrasting colors

“Wildstyle” – a form that uses overlapping letters, arrows

“Roller” – is a fill-in that intentionally takes up an entire area, and some artists use stickers or stencils to decrease the amount of time to complete a piece of art

Found on the streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world, England-based Banksy’s political and social commentary is distinctive in that his stenciling technique is used to satirize politics through subversive street art. He stated, “Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don't come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they're having a piss” (Banksy, cited in Farrell, 2012). His work also appears on publicly visible surfaces as well as self-built physical prop pieces (Urbanist, 2019). Banksy does not sell photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti, but art auctioneers have been known to attempt to sell his street art on location and leave the problem of its removal in the hands of the winning bidder. Exit through the gift shop Banksy's first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, billed as "the world's first street art disaster movie", made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released in the UK on 5 March 2010. In January 2011, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary for the film.

Interactive Classroom Activity: Graffiti Art

Costume Creation for Hip-Hop Dance Showcase

Each student brings a self-supplied white T-shirt to class along with cans of spray paint in various colors. Students collaborate on whether the message on each T-shirt should be cohesive and connected, or individualistic. After planning and collaboration, students create graffiti on their T-shirt to create their costume for semester-end showcase.

Tag: Dancers decorate their T-shirt by using spray paint to personalize their name as an artist and dancer.

Piece: Students create an elaborate version of their name in bubble or block lettering.

Roller: Performing a myriad of shapes and colors, students create specialized meanings for observers by using stickers, stencils, and paint to cover the entirety of the garment, a canvas for their message.