Tuesday, February 26, 2013

(#3) NYC's Graffiti is Still Burning

There are numerous similarities and differences between gang graffiti, graffiti art, street art, and the integration of graffiti into the global community. In class we have begun to identify a few. Graffiti has been used as a visual symbol of resistance, group identity, and individual identity in and out of art galleries and the corporate social world. Current graffiti artists incorporate images of popular culture into their work and are also challenged with creating artistic and aesthetically pleasing works in the public environment. Graffiti is no longer considered subculture but has a history quite independent of that in the dominant culture.

For this homework assignment, I would like everyone to locate an example of graffiti or street art in their local community or neighborhood. If possible, this example should be photographed, or even sketched, so that it can be distributed and shared with the class on Thursday. Then, a brief synopsis of the chosen example should be offered in the same fashion as a piece of art that hangs in a formal gallery. Using the Glossary of Graffiti, employ key terms to help describe your chosen example. The following list of questions should help to guide you.
How long has the work or graffiti or street art been there? On what kind of wall or building does it appear? What is the medium used: spray paint, sticker, marker, etch, scratch, etc.? What type of graffiti or street art is your chosen example? What are the significant elements and aspects of the chosen example? Who is the artist; i.e., what is their assumed name or identity? To your knowledge is the artist active in the city still? How much territory have they claimed? Where else does/might their work appear?  

Explain how and why you consider the chosen example to be vandalism or art, or both. What purpose might your example serve for the individual, for passersby, or for the community? What are some of the emotions you feel upon viewing this example of urban graffiti or street art?

Please post the description (about 250 words in length) of your graffiti or street art example as a comment below. Visual reproductions of your example can be linked by providing a URL to the photo in your post, they can be emailed to me before class meets, or they can be printed and brought to class. (Due 2/28)

34 comments:

  1. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2523/3690672588_f643e26fe5_o.jpg


    above is the link to my chosen piece of graffiti

    From the looks of this piece, it isn’t really known how long it has been on display. However, it is located on The Lower East Side and was done by the one and only Antonio “Chico” Garcia. This piece was done on a gate of the known Puerto Rican “Raul y Joe’s Unisex” hair cutting shop in the neighborhood. From how this piece looks, this chosen selection looks like it was done by spray paint and is presented as a mural with the main three Latin Gods from back in the day. The significant element of this mural is that he spray painted Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, and Tito Puente who have unfortunately passed away within the past years. In the Hispanic culture, these three artists are the Gods of salsa and play a big role in Hispanic (Puerto Rican) neighborhoods. No matter what, neither their music nor their spirit ever dies. In the Lower East Side, “Chino” is much known. He started his graffiti career in the 1980’s and till this day, still does many murals and wild style pieces for different occasions and specific stores within that community. Throughout the years, “Chico” has claimed many areas within the Lower East Side because of his creativity. Walking through the neighborhood and seeing different pieces on gates of stores, or walls of buildings; most of the time you will notice that it was done by him especially when you see his tag “Chico”.
    With this chosen example, I do not look at it as vandalism, but art because it is a mural of three important artists within the Spanish culture. As a passerby, I’m sure they would appreciate this piece because of how significant these artists were and still are. Even though these artists were not around my time era, I still grew up to listening to their music and appreciating their music. So, to see that they are still recognized after their deaths, it means that their music and spirit will never vanish.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Guys, the street art/ graffiti is chose is located on east Burnside and Morris Ave's in the Bronx on the side wall of the building. This graffiti was done by one Howie Jr. Lucas Jake and from the extensiveness of the drawing, Jake might be a popular art in the Bronx area and a lot of similar works are around the area. I have notice this graffiti since 2010 when I started working in the Bronx. The graffiti re-present a back to back style, it also featured in the piece are 3-D, Tags, burner and wildstyle. The graffiti seem like it was done with a combination of spray and pain. The drawing feature a burning background with spray cans and what appear to be an underground sewer. It also shows a Ninja leaving the scene.
    I think while the graffiti might have started out as vandalism, I think the owner of that building as legitise it, since in my view the art work and creativity is stunning and represent a piece of the Spanish culture in that session of the Bronx.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The piece of graffiti I chose is located in Coney Island on the wall of the Carousel Collision and Body Shop at 1902 Neptune Avenue. This piece has been there for almost twelve years. This piece looks like it was done with spray paint. I would consider this a piece that uses top to bottom. It can also be considered a 3D piece of work because the artist shows a life like photo of Cory Pelzer. The painting depicts a young man who was twenty-two years old when he fell victim to violence.
    On May 16, 2001, on a crowded B82 bus, a tall, black teenage male wearing a light jacket and dark pants walked to the rear of the bus. He raised a .45 caliber pistol and fired one bullet into Cory Pelzer's forehead, just above his left eye. Cory was rushed to Coney Island Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The police never arrested anyone; however, they feel this was revenge by the members of the Crips. Cory who worked in the Guess Store in Kings Plaza caught members of the Crips stealing so he activated the roll-down gate that trapped them inside the store which occurred weeks before the shooting.
    I consider my chosen example not to be a form of vandalism because the owner of the collision shop said, " He wanted it there to help him get through a difficult time in his life." The owner took Cory's death hard because Cory worked with him since he was thirteen years old. As a passerby, I am strickened with sad emotions. It hurts me to see that a person who was just beginning to enjoy life has been robbed of that precious gift from God.

    ReplyDelete
  4. http://yodonbleekraps.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/224061633.jpg

    I’m sure many of guys have seen the mural of nicki minaj’s album cover “Pink Friday” done by fans on Jamaica ave. It was a display of love and recognition of her finally making it in Hollywood. The mural’s not there anymore but it was for a good 2 years, it was located on guy r brewer and Jamaica ave. They brush painted it to the side of a foot locker store, it seems like it was done with spray paint, brush, and stencils. Although it is known as a mural for her success, I think it’s more of an advertisement to increase her album sales.
    I looked everywhere for the names of the artists but I couldn’t get any instead, fans of hers constructed the mural. So if anyone has an idea who they are please let me know. I consider it to be an art because of the technical skill the fans used, you can clearly see the creativity in the tools and materials that they used, the artistic interpretation of what I or most people would consider beautiful. I remember the first time I saw this painting, I thought that many young girls were going to dress up, and have the same hairstyle as this famous person. Cut to a week later, I was actually right, even girls in my neighborhood had the same type of hairdo. This painting impacted the community because it gives them—young girls—hopes that they can also become successful, it really doesn’t matter where you come from.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The piece I have chosen is located on 23rd ave and 31st in astoria on Ditmars blvd. It's under an over pass for the train station there. It's been there since 2010. I picked this piece because it's a central part of my neighborhood and I see it everyday as I take the train from there to get around. It was done by an artist who is actually very well known called lady pink. This mural was done also by the students of the frank Sinatra high school. It appears on a brick wall and I'm assuming that actual paint was involved in creating this piece. The mural has music influence as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Micheal Jackson are on it, along with people dancing, an eagle playing a sax among other examples. Lady pink is still active as she has another mural right across the street under the overpass. She also just did another one about maybe 10 blocks away over the summer. I'm not exactly sure how much territory that still has her art on it but in the 80's she tagged buildings, subways, parks etc. I consider this mural to be street art and not vandalism. It represents the neighborhood and shows that the youth can do good creative things. To me personally I've always considered it part of the neighborhood. Even though it was put up in 2010 that was the year I moved into the area, so to me it's a vital part of the community.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Graffiti as a work of Art This is a photographed Graffiti painting of a Locomotive train. It is located at the entrance of the St. Albans LIRR train station in Queens New York. The painting was done in 1982 by William Joseph and Ronny Rickey. It was restored June 2001 by J. Stephenson, Emily Greenberg and students of PS 36, grades 3,4, and 5. The painter used a selection of colors to paint a beautiful work of art on an old shabby concrete wall. Before this graffiti painting the entrance to the train was ugly looking but now it is a beautiful site. Passersby often stop to get a close up view or to take picture. The picture is ironic, it a picture of a train at the entrance to a train station. The locomotive train in the picture and the women in the background create an early 1900 settings in the 2000. Just by looking at this piece of art it takes you to the settings of the 1900 and you wish if you were boarding a steam train like the one in the picture. The artists choose a perfect spot to paint this picture; it brightens up and brings life to the area. Even though this painting was restore, it still looked original. The elementary school children did a great job and I am quite sure if they decided to follow up with painting they would excel at it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My graffiti is located at Long Island City where near to my high school that I could that graffiti everyday when that subway passed by. I choose this because this place is famous and it is an amazing work. The location becomes a permit place for artist to draw their feeling and share their experience in the graffiti. The pictures really speak for themselves and it’s an emotional expression to show the society and community’s issue such as this picture “Yoda 99%”. Yes. It is talking about the Occupy Wall Street which corresponds to the main point of graffiti that explore the social phenomenon. The transformation of message is so fast that happens in today and post on the wall next day. Artist uses spray paint to draw this picture and I think it emerge after occupy just happened. The picture show there is a monster holding a post “occupy wall st the 99% we are” however this only show one to demonstrate this activity. Even though we are the 99%, we still cannot beat the rest of 1%. Someone says that graffiti consider as a vandalism or art. I think art is a way to show the creation of illusions and a desire to convey meanings which is the purpose of graffiti.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This graffiti has been on Long Island City for quite some time now. I have noticed it and thought it was cute considering the fact that I hate clowns especially after that movie “It” I’m terrified of clowns, but for some reason every time I see this it makes me relax and smile. My boyfriend who understands the terms and love graffiti more than I do says he is a new artist and he’s trying to mark his art in different parts of the city, personally I have only seen it in Long Island City, he says he has seen it in Brooklyn somewhere. So far I have seen the clown face mainly on brick walls around Queens NY, I believe the artist is using paint because the lines are a bit round they are not straight like in” tagging”. To my knowledge the artist is still active, because so far I have seen him around more often in Long Island City, and in hidden landmarks for example, corners, streets etc, Territorial wise he is in Long Island City because this is where I see it often. I admire art, and feel that we are an artist in our own way. When viewing, I feel a sense of calmness and I’m not threatened by it. I feel the purpose of this graffiti may serve a sense of something that belongs to the residence of Long Island City.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It was back in 2002, the founder “Meres” Jonathan Cohen, began his work in this block-long complex at Davis Street and Jackson Avenue. I chose the piece of a light bulb character. This particular graffiti gives the illusion that there is anger. In fact, there are several light bulb pieces in this complex created by Meres which represent his signature tag. The medium used is spray paint. Meres plans to transform this property into a graffiti museum some day, he is presently attempting to get a 501 certification to be exempted from paying taxes.
    I consider my chosen piece to be art. Meres was granted permission by the landlord to do graffiti at 5 pointz since the building was omitted. A passerby might realize that there are several light bulb characters with different expression, as shown in some of the pictures I took. It is notable that the artist is trying to state “I am here” by leaving his mark and claiming territory. These light bulbs are fascinating to me as they show different emotions whether it is anger, fear, happiness, confusion, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This piece of work has been in this area of Briarwood New York for as long as I know. And it extends almost every time I pass by, last summer it was just full of tags, on the poles, but as the months went by, the art expanded into bigger and broader “throw up” and “wild style” type of graffiti. In this piece, it looked like a lot of spray paint and some markers were used; Spray paint for the bigger lettering on the wall, and marker for the poles under the bridge. I am assuming the artist of this work are some Hispanic boys who are always hanging out under the tracks during the summer, their house is right by this space, and there are a numerous amount of them always standing and playing ball in that exact area. I think they have claimed almost everything around this area because a lot of houses on end lots have graffiti either on the fence, siding or garage. I consider this type of graffiti to be vandalism, and not art because it’s more of bad words, nick names, tags and etc. It shows no emotion, no story or anything, just a wall full of names such as “Spookz” and such. This type of graffiti says nothing about telling a story or expressing some type of feeling. I don’t feeling anything towards this work. Unlike some other pieces around the city, this is just regular tagging and area, no message or strange statements or picture that make you sit there and try to figure out what was the purpose of it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Graffiti is a form of art that can be viewed all over United States. There are many different forms of graffiti. For instance some are memorial works, street tags, but the majority of them are dynamic art. Graffiti art is categorized in different forms such as gang relations, art pieces and street art. This is a brief idea on a graffiti that I choose to present for my homework.
    I don’t know how long the graffiti was there because I don’t see any date. It appears on a brick wall. It seems they use spray paint as medium. I’m not too sure about the type of graffiti that I have .However , it looks like a street art to me. It’s made with more than two colors and there’s no artist’s name around the graffiti. Therefore, I don’t know if the artist is still active. The artist uses a large amount of the wall to expose his/her work. I consider this graffiti as an art and also vandalism. An art because it’s a way of expression and it’s so beautiful. It’s considered as vandalism because they put it in private property. I think that this graffiti might be an accomplishment for the artist, a colorful art work for the passersby and based on the demographic of the community it might be considered as graffiti. Just looking at this form of art I can tell how some people are so talented. I never pay attention to graffiti before, but now I can view them as a work of art.

    ReplyDelete

  12. Yogeeta Ramotar

    I would classify the image that I chose to be considered work, graffiti and street art. To me I see a little of all three. It is located in Brooklyn on Autumn and Jamaica ave.This drawing has been there for about a month now. It appears to be on the side of a concrete wall next to an auto shop. The drawing looks like it was done in spray paint. I do not really know what the artist was trying to say or explain but I do see different things in the drawing. For example, the artist uses bright color spray paints. The artist also has graffiti writings, drawings of birds, flowers and even butterflies. The drawing look like it is a " wild style, back to back and legal." I was not able to come across the authors name but I did notice that whoever drew this picture did leave a little message along with their art info number. To my knowledge, I do believe the artist is still active in Brooklyn because I have noticed that the drawing changes every month. So to my assumption, it could possibly be the same person. The artist has claimed a whole side of a bricked wall where he displayed his art work for everyone driving by and even walking by to notice and admire. I'm not really sure where else this artist work might appear but I have notice similar drawings around the area. It could be the same person or it could be someone else.
    I consider the drawing to be art work because usually when someone is vandalizing property they would not do it in broad daylight. In addition, the artist would not leave their number on the wall if they were destroying property. To be honest, I cannot really understand what the artist is trying to come across with his drawing. To me I feel like the artist has mix emotions because one minute he does graffiti writing and the next minute he draws butterflies, birds and flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  13. In my neighborhood prior to Hurricane Sandy you could say that street graffiti was considered a normal thing to see especially on store shutters, however due to some reconstruction I have not noticed the creative art displays are not as prevalent as before. However, this particular piece of Graffiti, in its simplicity, caught my attention. I am unaware of who the artist of this street art or what was his intensions but it appears to be recently done.
    This piece of graffiti is located on a shutter of a pharmacy located in a mini shopping center in Far Rockaway Queens. Black spray paint is the choice of tool used to create a 3 letters or symbols on the metal shutter. This piece is not done by a crew but by an individual instead based on its simplicity and no tags were left to identify each artist. The graffiti is hollow because it is not filled in but appears more of an outline of letters. It is a “throw up” piece done by the artist by its one color of black spray paint and it has more of an “bubble” letter look to it as well.

    http://mail.aol.com/37488-111/aol-6/en-us/mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=72860&folder=Inbox&partId=3

    ReplyDelete
  14. I do not have any pictures of street art nor graffiti because I no longer live in New York. I now reside in Stamford, Connecticut. This town does not have “those” particular work of art. I will discuss one that was located in the school/playground on E 93 and Rutland Road. This is where I grew up from childhood to late teens. There was a young man named Mike, also known as Ike. He started a basketball program for inner city kids that accommodated young men from ages 11-18 years old who resided in Crown Heights to Brownsville area. Throughout the summer, they would have tournaments and the best teams would play in the championships. But where these tournaments were held, the walls were infested with ugly gangs tags and spray painted scribbles. Mike decided to get local artist to create beautiful tags and murals that portrayed pictures of children and the sport of basketball. It gave the community a positive vibe and a sense of safety that an onlooker, such as myself felt.
    The artwork displayed a sense of community, safety, and progression. Mike passed away in 2003, but his legacy continued. I personally feel that graffiti/ street art should be displayed in parks and designated spot that’s made for that. However, I think random graffiti in neighborhoods and on personal property is considered as vandalism. These are the reasons: the neighborhood appears lawless, it decreases property value, show dominance of a particular gang (especially if the name is seen everywhere in the community), it appears less attractive, it has a negative impact on the identity of community, it discourages progress and gentrification, and it increases the negative stereotypical outlook of those graffiti driven communities. Do we really want to own or have assets in these types of communities? Do you ever see tourist staying in a hotel that is located in graffiti infested area. Let’s think about that for a moment.

    ReplyDelete

  15. I found this graffiti on an underpass near 140th and Farmers Blvd. “RIP GANGSTA LITE”, was spray painted in black on the wall. The message is clear; it serves as a memorial for some crew or gang member. I think this vandal lives in the community and wants to show his respect for a slain crew member. What I found interesting was the message or name that was “capped” or “buffed” out directly below it. I think it was the vandal’s way of showing disrespect to some rival crew. Although his identity is unknown, he “tags” the dead crew member’s street name, “Gangsta Lite”. I assume that this message would appear on other places around his community as well as the community of a rival gang. I noticed that it was done near a neighborhood corner store. This was a prime spot because there is a lot of foot traffic around this store.
    I am sure most people can relate to losing a loved one, so in this regard I felt empathy for this vandal. However, I do not agree with gang activity at all. I found myself wondering what kind of life “Gangsta Lite” lived, or if the world is better off without him. I do not consider this art. This message isn’t creatively spray painted and neither the process nor the product seems extraordinary.

    ReplyDelete
  16. In my neighborhood there are a lot of graffiti all around. I live in the Bushwick/Ridgewood neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Many of the graffiti signs you see in the neighborhood are gang signs tagging what they consider to be their area. Recently, many members of the Bushwick/Ridgewood community are working towards changing the negative gave symbols and cleaning up the public properties that that defaced with their "gang tags". One particular way they have done this is by creating murals.
    One mural in particular that is very popular and has a message within my neighboorhood is a mural about police brutality. This mural is located on Irving Ave and Gates Ave. The mural was painted about 3 years ago. I can remember the artist painting the mural one summer day as I was walking home from the grocery store and wondered what this artist was painting. A few days later, I walked past the mural and it was complete. It was beautiful and the message was very clear. The artist used bright colors and 3-D bubble letters for so of the writing. The message was writing in both Spanish and English which was very helpful as the neighborhood is prodominantly hispanic.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Graffiti (singular: graffito; the plural is used as a mass noun. Also known as Graff) is writing or drawings that have been scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place.[1] Stickers and other adhesives are not considered graffiti.[citation needed] Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and it has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire. Wiki

    The piece that I chose is located on Atlantic AVE AND 114ST IN QUEENS NY. This art has been here since 2005. I know this beacause that was around the time that i was in high school. This mural is down the block of my high school. I vividly remember them creating it. I remember the smell of toxin spray cans in the air. Over the years they have edited and added pieces to the wall. The artis those not seem to publish his or her name but those give a contact number for future murals. Im pretty sure the artis is active since they left thier number. They want some exposure. This type of art might appear for memorials since its so detailed oriented. The artist has alot of talent.


    To me this is not vandalism. There seems to be some kind od concensus that the owner of the building gave to the artist. The phone number alone makes me infer this. This peice of art gives exposure to the artist they are trying to maqke a name for themselves, This is good for the community, it gives the block life not a boring dull block. When i look at murals like this one it gives me a sence of happiness. Knowing that there are talented people in the world like this is very refershining. I do not have the talent to do this so it makes me appreciate it more.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The piece I have chosen is located on Jamaica Avenue near Guy R Brewer. From the weathering on the piece it seem as though it has been there for quite a long time. After hours of research I was unable to identify it’s artist. This type of graffiti may be considered a “piece” as it is completely filled and the letters are clearly defined. This elaborate mural style is spray painted, spreading across the entire length and width of the wall. What I like about this particular piece is the message its conveying according to me; keep our community clean, do not litter. I would not consider this particular piece vandalism, as it serves a purpose. To inform all who visit or live within the vicinity to up keep the area by not littering. Graffiti can be considered art or vandalism, it all depends on an individual’s perception of art.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I found many tag graffiti but I chose a graffiti work located at East Newyork on Liberty ave. I choose this one because is the one thatusually catches attention when walking by, mostly because is the biggest graffiti you can find in the area and that the pastel blue and greens stand out of the dark red brick wall. also I belived that the women on the paintin are another reason why people stare at it with curiosity. It is on the wall of a apartment building in a area that is not very comercial and kind deserted. Is dated 2006 so its been there about seven years,the main medium use is spray paint. The colors use are , brown, black, grey, orange, yellow,red,white, and two tones pastel blue and green which are the ones that gives it a brightsness and makes it stand out. This work falls in the piece style because of the details and readeble words. It is sign by Pelican Bay at bottom left side of the piece, nonetheless I have nt seen more graffiti relate to this artist in the area, therefore I can't tell how popular or known the artist is. However there could be more than one artis because on the top rigth corner there five words that could be nick names or even names of possible participants in making this graffiti. In my opinion this piece is more of art then vamdalism because in a way it decorates the block that seems very plain. Also what mostly stood out and caught my attention was the writing on the middle of the left side that read "unlock your mind", and a man with a jail uniform,I think is trying to send a message i'm not sure what the message could be, it is probably open to the viewers interpretation. but in my inetrepretation is maybe suggesting to the youth to imform or educate themself because crime would just get them arrested, ther could be more to say, but that is what I got from it. By taking npmy time to see this pieces with more attention I was able to understand and accepted as art. Before I would just pass by and not put to much mind to it, I would notice the figure of the women, and I did not realy like it I though it was kind of vulgar. But now that I actually took my time to obserb it and know more about, I grew some apretiation for it.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The example of graffiti I have chosen is located on the window of an outside structure about the size of a small closet in a single room, New York City Apartment. The structure itself is made of metal, is black in color and contains a varied collection of stuffed animal such as dogs cats zebras, teddy bears that you can win by playing a game of skill; for a quarter you try to lift the cuddly toy of your choice with a pair of pliers like pincers with handle outside the box itself that you grip and manipulate to maneuver the prize you want over to the opening that is just wide enough for the toy of total pincers that is provided on the sticker, in green and white, is a cartoon like drawing of a pill-a capsule, perhaps representing a recreational drugs. The capsule is on its side and it had a face done with two arrows eyes-eyes clenched shut-and an open mouth that is red in color rather. Hot dog- like in shape this is what amount to the head of the capsule as capsules are made up of two sections- the other part is the "body". There is writing in some foreign language in the body half of the capsule along with the sign which would seem to indicate the equivalent of copyright ownership, completing the negligible sign above the green capsule that says “Stay Up”. I have spent more time describing this object that I otherwise would have to make it clear what its function is, because it is quite popular game among the people in the neighborhood, with kids, teens, adult and grandparents. This is an important point to be aware of, because for all the attention it receives, it has only two pieces of graffiti adorning it. I would not describe this particular graffiti as s vandalism due its uniqueness of supremacy and representation of symbolism to the people of that particular neighborhood as the kids of my own family use this work of graffiti or rather street art as a joyous activity of their own. And so therefore it the main purpose of this graffiti as well.

    ReplyDelete

  21. The graffiti that I chose it located in Elmhurst, Roosevelt and the 79 street. I do not know how long the graffiti have been there but I have four years living in this area. This graffiti was done by the owner of a tattoos store. His email is villagemoontatoos@gmail.com. This guy did his graffiti in his own store. He used spray and bright colors to do his work. I think that not all graffiti are vandalism, in particular the one that I chose because it looks so creative and amazing. Everybody that passes from his store stay observing the graffiti and taking pictures. I think this graffiti is more artistic than vandalism. When I looked this graffiti I really appreciate his hard work.

    ReplyDelete

  22. After a whole day of scavenging the streets and subways of NYC for a piece of graffiti, I finally decided to settle for one scribbled on the back wall of Bud's Ale House - a newly opened bar located on the corner of 34av and Steinway street in the heart of Astoria. The graffiti inscription can be considered a tag style as the color used for the graffiti is in sharp contrast with the background color. The piece looks to have been sprayed recently, maybe circa 2 years ago due to the sharpness of the ink. The background is a dark to light-brown brick wall that enabled the black ink appear more vivid.
    The alphabets on this graffiti are legible with the word “VICE” followed by FB carefully sprayed on that brick wall. I’m not a 100% sure of the meaning of the graffiti but I think it might be related to a website called vice.com – this is only a speculation. Surfing for more information online, I was able to come across a few images of the same “VICE” graffiti on two train cars in Europe. One was located in Sweden while the other was in the Czech Republic. This concludes that the graffiti artists responsible may have a collaborating crew in Europe.

    ReplyDelete
  23. This is a piece that we have at one of my bootcamps(Uraban Jungle) in woodside queens as a decoration. The piece was suppsoed to reflect the name as well as the community(hence the 7 train). The artist uses 3D effect making it seem like the train is coming at you, as well as making the letters seem like they are poping out. I also noticed he uses arrows on his letters, however it does not point in the direction of where the text is going.
    This definitely wouldn't be considered vandalism because the artist was asked to have his work displayed, making it art and not just what may seem to other as a senseless waste of time.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Ok, so due to the fact that there was absolutely no graffiti in my travels since Tuesday, I had called a friend of mine who works for the town parks department to ask where i can find one. He let me know of one in Point Lookout which is in the east end park of Long Beach, NY. I drove there this morning before work and took the pictures. According the the parks department, any kind of vandalism or graffiti has to be removed within a certain amount of time according to the Town of Hempstead code number 129-1. Although it is considered vandalism because it was done on private town property, I also think that it is a form of art. I feel the artist who is unknown (well to me at least) is expressing himself in an artistic way and marking his territory. It reminded me when I was growing when my cousin use to graffiti all over his bedroom walls. Every time someone would go to his house, they would want to see his room. He was an awesome artist. My aunt and uncle let him do it just as long as he would paint over it when told. I thought that was awesome. Free expression. The purple graffiti lettering I saw this morning, I think is a hollow 3D wild-style composite with a tag using a type of spray paint. I'm sure the crown on the top means something. This seems to be street style.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Graffiti style art like other art forms enables individual expression which like all other art forms has evolved over time. The example of Graffiti I have chosen was found on my home from work in the Ridgewood area of Queens. The Graffiti appears to be a mural and was located only within the constraint of the entire garage door of an auto repair shop. This clearly does not appear to be vandalism due to the controlled area of the piece. The owner of the auto repair shop seems to have allowed the artist to be creative.
    Unwanted Graffiti however artistically displayed on private property is considered a form of vandalism that is unwanted by the owner of the property and in turns defaces or devalues property. The removal of unwanted unapproved Graffiti is left up to the owner; whether the actually Graffiti is art is truly disputable by the owner of the private property.

    ReplyDelete
  26. The pieces I have chosen are found in the south Bronx. As I was driving to my cousin’s house I caught the attention of bold, spray painted letters on the gates of a work zone. The artist uses spray paint to create this tag form of graffiti. At first I thought that this artist wrote over the “divorce” sticker for a reason but the use o the bubble writing and joined letters make the art harder to read. The other photo of the silly face could be a result of a person making their mark. The first piece is more of a wild style because of how difficult the words are to read. Both pieces are very three dimensional like. There are many different graffiti artists in the Bronx and New York in general so it is hard to know who created the piece and if they are still pursuing this. I consider both pictures to be vandalism. The face is sort of mocking me and also whoever owns the land or fence it is on. It is obvious that the space used is a work space and not an area where graffiti is allowed. Urban graffiti and street art is more colorful and makes sense to me, however, these pieces do not.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Marie B. Pulanco
    WRIT 303 TW2
    Professor D'Amato
    HW#3:NYC's Graffitti is still Burning
    February 28, 2013

    I have seen a lot of different kinds of graffittis around the city, may it be with purpose or no purpose at all, for any reasons I never actually take time to find out who the artist is, or what’s the reason behind it. Whenever graffitti or a mural comes to my mind, there’s only one place that I know, one place that has always caught my attention, it is located at the LES at the corner of East Houston and Bowery. It is a huge wall with spotlight on which shows clearly that its not vandalism or a non permitted act but it’s a display of art for public appreciation and awareness. I believe that this is an example of a “Legal” type of Graffitti to which a certain wall is dedicated to showcase art.

    The piece that I chose or what is currently on display is called “The Day After” It is beautiful with all the elements and colors the artist placed on it although its confusing at first for me to understand what’s going on in the portrait. The medium used is paint and I think I first saw it was in December while I was walking towards Broadway to meet my friends in soho. At first I don’t really understand the concept behind the display until I noticed a text saying, “In memory of Tony Goldman” that’s when I realized that it is a tribute to someone, to a guy named Tony Goldman. The piece is called “The Day After” serves as a tribute to the former owner of the wall, Tony Goldman. He died at the age of 68 on September 11, 2012 due to heart failure. The piece was painted by a German twins How & Nosm as their tribute to the real estate visionary and also to the city itself, the New York City to which has just faced a horrible nature disaster which is Hurricane Sandy. According to a friend, the art will still displayed until February.

    I consider this as an art, rather than a vandalism act, because it is located in a private wall dedicated to artits to showcase their pieces and talents. This example shows the respect they have for the owner and the city as well. Two sad memories happened in one year, too much for a person, a culture or a nation can contain.It shows that amidst death or any tragedy that people will not give up and look for ways to shows that they care even in a simple form called art or graffitti.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Stacey Stephenson
    Writing 303
    Prof. D’Amato
    2/28/13

    The examples of graffiti I have located are from my portfolio. I took these pictures for my photography class because graffiti is something that I’ve grown up with all around me. I used to draw graffiti style. Which came to me naturally that came out of learning how to write. To me graffiti was stylized design of the creative nature of writing. Later I learned that graffiti was used as a means to vandalize people’s property, which took away from the quality of my neighborhood. Soon enough I stopped drawing and moved on to a higher style of art. That being said in this photography project come out of my memories of going to work with my mother at City Corp in Long Island City, reconnecting with a past that I lost connection with. Walking through the area as a adolescent still thought graffiti was unappealing. However I still notice to it because my friends were still doing it and then I noticed different styles all over the city. I saw scribbles that are assumed that were basic tagging and more advanced stylized tags. Tagging is basically a rhythmic scribble or doodle that is stylized into the artist’s signature. Tagging usually tells others that the area where the artist graffiti is draw is the property of the artist.
    Then real masterpieces that looked like portraits. Then I realized that the art had evolved but I still don’t appreciate it much. The reason why I left this way because I felt that graffiti lacked a sense of texture. Meaning the paint application was always matt meaning dull. So to me it was always lacking some type of appeal no matter what and variety. When I started college I stopped paying attention to the quality of the work but the movement the artist was making. Because to me it was more about the raw expression that was being spewed out. For example, at five point near to the to building where my mother worked I started to notice that all the works were examples of the individuals souls. This is like one of the too few freedoms of expression because no one can tell you how to do your own graffiti. Its something that is unique to the individual. Overall anyone can do graffiti, to many it’s an outlet of outside stressors. And its defiantly does take a genius to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  30. The wall that this image was presented was that of an abandon building. The medium utilized in creating this piece was spray cans. This piece was considered street art and the artist name was not made clear. The style in which the artist incorporated was “Pieces,” which is short for masterpieces. This artist work may appear on other abandon building that are definitely in the public’s view, so his artistic nature can be expressed. The elements of this piece express the artist’s skill in shading, using solely black and white. This piece to me is undoubtedly art in nature as well as vandalism, assuming that the building is not owned by the artist. Upon viewing this piece for the first time I was definitely amazed as to the amount of effort and skill that went in creating such act. Others might see it as a waste of the artist’s time, or vandalism (essentially demeaning the community), but I portray it to be an expression of the artist’s talent, and his/her willingness and determination to incorporate the time to create such an enormous piece.

    ReplyDelete

  31. Graffiti’s
    This graffiti seems to be posted about more than a year ago, its colors are faded. The graffiti is printed an old brick building on Archer Ave and 160th Jamaica, Queens, close to York College. The artist or artists spend a lot of time about two hours.The person or persons who marked these graffiti were young artists, and they are used a variety of colors such blue color, red color, white color and black color, and they performed their work by using drawing, spraying painting and posting their signature. They wanted to show that they live or lived at the building. According to the “Graffiti: The use of the Familiar by Jessie L. Whitehead this graffitist belongs to the set of tag and pieces style (February 21, 2013). These arts have a bunch of elements Mickey Mouse face, a hand with four fingers, white human head like a masks like Kukuklan, blue grapes, and some apples or pumky. In addition, there is variety of signatures such as Rewittzonf, Lam. Liyp W l 94. These graffiti’s are quality like as a vandalism act, because artists invaded public building, and they had broken the law. Furthermore, the building looks ugly and people will not like to live at the building.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Fatema Khaton
    Writ 303 RQ1
    Prof. D'Amato
    NYC's Graffiti is Still Burning
    Date-28th Feb 2013


    One of my friend who lives in Bronx Kingbridge, Some time I go to her meet with her. So when I thought about the graffiti, suddenly one picture came into my mind which I saw around that community. I thought that graffiti will be inetresting to show in the class. Therefore, I told my friend to send me that picture and share with the classmates. It was done infront of the Rite aid pharmacy wall. I think this graffiti has been there for long time about 5 years. The Royal Kingbee did the this graffiti and it was done by spary I think. In that graffiti, it shows one big bee and one man who is carrying a back on his back. Also it shows that a hand holing flowers.

    I chose this because in that area i didn't see any other graffiti work that had been drew and so attractive. It could be advertise beacuse this graffiti doesn't show any type of vandalism any personal property. Vandalism is when people appeal for someone else property or do graffiti without personal owner permission.

    ReplyDelete
  33. The graffiti that I found was on a fence facing a main road in Amityville. It seems to be a classic tag that was spray painted in blue on an old brown fence. Although I couldn't make out what the graffiti said, the initials "swk" are sprayed off to the side. Those initials seem to be the artist's signature. This is the first time I have seen these initials with graffiti, however the artist seems to be trying to get recognized. With that being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see more graffiti by this artist. This example would be considered vandalism because it appears on a fence that is public property and doesn't belong to the artist. However, I would consider this to be art due to the simple fact that it is someone's creation. The artist put time and effort into creating this, even if it is just a word or phrase. The artist seems to be making their mark with this graffiti. It faces a main road, which means they want to be noticed by the public and everyone passing by. As I drove by, I felt as though the artist was earning credit for their creation.

    ReplyDelete
  34. BAHIA MAUNDI
    WRIT 303 RQ1
    PROF. D AMOTO
    GRAFFITI
    2/28/2013


    Graffiti

    Graffiti is the borders of true art, mindless trash and a way of s getting your name around. Graffiti is the everyday scrawling of misdirected teenagers or the well-laced masterpiece by a keen eye. There are so many hidden meanings in murals that it is hard for some people to grasp because they cannot relate to it. But for those who can, the murals and graffiti are considered art.
    There are so many places you can find graffiti. Take a drive, or walk through a major town, especially back roads and you will probably find some on almost every wall. They are every ware, on the road, subways, buidinings etc. the graffiti that I choose is one near my building, (Kosciuszko st, Brooklyn) and it has been here for almost two years now. It is on residence building. I think they use spray paint. I don’t know the artist because it doesn’t say or he/she didn’t put name, so is hard for me to know. I chose this graffiti because it has good message it says mistakes make everybody and this is so true.
    I consider this as a street art because I think it denotes meaning for the individual, and hopefully to the people that are viewing it. I think that graffiti is a language, an image, a voice and a vision engaging the spirit when the soul of art is discovered. And also I think there are so many hidden meanings in murals that it is hard for some people to grasp because they cannot relate to it. But for those who can, the murals and graffiti are considered art.

    ReplyDelete