Week 7: Graffiti Is Art

 

Chaz Bojórquez, Por Dios y Oro (detail)

Language and voice are identity; they define who we are. Art expresses a vision of our world. Graffiti is often stereotyped as vandalism and lacking control. Tagging and graffiti will never die. In the 1940s the Latino Zooters had their own prominent culture that influenced graffiti. They spoke their own language, Caló, which is Half-English half Spanish rhythms. They also have their own tag names and graffiti language. In Los Angeles, gang wall writing is called Placas. It is a pledge of allegiance to one’s neighborhood. The style of this graffiti features black, uppercase letters with a letter-face that  is always called “Old English.” Font is meant to signify formality, as is the contemporary high advertising-type format which is comparable to the US Constitution or ancient Sumerian clay tablets. Cholo gang graffiti is by the neighborhood for the neighborhood. Whereas with hip-hop graffiti the emphasis is on “getting up”(p4) one’s individual tag in a wide variety of places.Hip hop style typeface is more personalized with upper- and lowercase letters. This art seeks respect and validation. Advertising and Graffiti can be compared in the way they both bring up issues about who “owns” space and what is a “violation” of a space. The Graffiti movement is evolving as early artists age and new artists, many of whom have traditional art training, flood the scene. These new artists self validate. They believe Graffiti is born from “our contemporary fast-paced urban American lifestyle, and it reflects the ‘cable ready’ mindset of a rebellious generation.”(p5)