Book Chapter Annotation and Citation on Graffiti

Danysz, Magda. From Style Writing to Art: a street art anthology. Italy. Drago Arts and communication, 2009. Print. The author explores the reasons graffiti should be considered art and also others perspective on the topic. Danysz states that graffiti is art and it has been a significant artistic movement. She focuses in one of the chapters, why graffiti is art and completes the chapter with biographies of graffiti artist in her opinion, covering their entire career, from beginning to end.

You Tube Video Citation and Annotation

"Graffiti Documentary Mural." You Tube. NYC Arts Cypher, 21 January 2013. Web. This documentary promotes the NYC Arts Cypher organization in Staten Island that offers a mural graffiti program. Their aim is to inspire graffiti artists in a productive way. The instructors of the program make a clear distinction between graffiti as vandalism and graffiti as an art.  To them, graffiti is a self–expression done with permission while graffiti vandalism, is a form of social rebellion without permission. The Graffiti Mural documentary aims to sway the audience into this belief system by presenting benefits of such a program and the perspectives of artists, teens and the community.

NYC CYPHER - A LEGAL GRAFFITI PROGRAM IN STATEN ISLAND FOR CHILDREN

The topic of graffiti is fairly new to me.  I always saw graffiti on buildings and in the subway among other places but did not pay close attention to it.  I never wondered what it might mean to those that put it there and what drove that kind of motivation in the first place.  I viewed it as defacing public property. I never saw the beauty in it until reading articles on the history and watching countless documentaries.  These enhanced my knowledge and awareness on the topic. After viewing so many graffiti in New York City, I know now it evolved from simply putting one's name in public spaces in the most creative way.  Such a small idea transformed into well-organized, creative, self-expressive murals and art form of graffiti.  This is truly admirable.  The above picture done by the NYC Arts Cypher members is an inspiration to youths who have an artistic talent or wish to learn graffiti art. The NYC Arts Cypher program takes graffiti from the streets and turn it into a legal productive thing for youths in the community. This is quite interesting. The viewing of graffiti in NYC, I found in deed remarkable. 

"Style Wars".

The video "Style Wars", directed by Tony Silver is a 1982 documentary on graffiti and hip-hop as subcultures of New York City. The film looks at different perspectives and response to the issue.  It captured the impact graffiti had, the government campaign against it, the writers' view of what it represented as opposed to other citizens and the sense of accomplishment gained.  This documentary shows the essence of what life was like in the 70s to 80s when the subway system was seen as an area to write on and fill with graffiti and hip-hop as a means of entertainment.

In my opinion, this film is a "must see".  It gives the audience a chance to develop one's own perspective on the topic based on others' views.  It helps one to understand the reason behind graffiti and what it symbolized to the "writers". According to the film it was more than just randomly writing their names on the trains or buildings. To the graffiti writers, it included a thought process of outlining the design, filling it in, organizing, creating the best style and adding color.  One particular writer referred to the next that he could eventually be another "Picasso".  This shows how highly they thought of themselves, the constant trying to better their work and compete for that spot.

On the other hand, the view of then New York City under the regime of Mayor Koch formulated a campaign against it by implementing penalties for those who were caught since the masses viewed graffiti as a "violation, disgust to sight and misplaced values of the minority population". Eventually this era came to an end. However, it is simply magnificent that this documentary was able to capture such a golden age especially at a time when art galleries displayed graffiti on canvas once as a hot commodity. It shows how society as a whole values shift as capital comes into play and the need to make more. Overall "Style Wars” to me, is an unbiased film. It reveals psychological reasoning behind graffiti for various groups in New York City at that time.  Therefore, I think it is indeed a great and enlightening documentary.

 

Newspaper Article citation and Annotation on Graffiti

“Johnson, Ken. "Writing Was on the Wall, and Some Still Remains." The New York Times 06 February 2014: 1-3. Web. Johnson’s article briefly summarizes his reasons as to the rise and fall of graffiti as a subculture in New York City. He gives a descriptive personal recollection of when graffiti emerged in the 1970s. He makes known his admiration and fascination of graffiti murals but also his gratitude for its end. However he places emphasis that graffiti art still remains somewhat in New York City through the collection, “City as Canvas”, which he believes currently alludes to the presence of this subculture.