About Graffiti

[Rasputin]

While graffiti is associated with vandalizing other people's property, it has evolved into an art form in and of itself. As such, here's how you can explore graffiti both legally and creatively.





Steps

Know and respect the history of the art. Graffiti is a hobby with a long history. Look at early hip-hop and the first writers (people who write graffiti), such as Taki in NY. The worst thing to experienced writers are "toys" making fools of themselves and destroying the scene for everyone else.

Pick a name. Practice drawing letters and pick some that you like drawing. Do not try to get too crazy with extensions and bending at first. Take it slow and make everything as clean as possible. It is very helpful at this point to find inspiration from other pictures you see. However, in the future, you will want to develop your own, unique style. A very important aspect to creating a good style with your name is flow. Keep characteristics of letters common throughout the rest of your name. Style is everything.

Carry a sketchbook and pencil with you wherever you go. Practice your craft as much as possible. As you come up with new ideas for tags and designs, sketch them in your book and develop the concept by trying out different variations. If possible, carry pencils of a few different colors.

Work with your cans. Buy a piece of plywood from Home Depot to practice on. At this point, colors and styles should be simple. Practice your can control and your techniques for painting and steps for putting together a clean "piece."

Be smart. Many cities also have "permission" or "legal" walls specified for graffiti art. Legal graffiti is often more respected than street art. You have unlimited time and freedom to do what you please. Compare legal walls to quick throw-ups found on the street. You will find that legal walls are intricate and aesthetic. Street art is just trying to be seen. Legal graffiti art is more remembered and respected by those who do not completely understand the artform.

Try to meet experienced writers who can help you learn the ropes. (However, be cautious; you do not want to come off like an undercover officer.) Show your appreciation for their work and their skills.



Tips

Don't get frustrated with lettering, it takes time.

Wherever you write, keep in mind that you are representing the entire graffiti culture anytime anyone else sees it. People usually don't differentiate between writers, they just know that somebody destroyed their property.

Stay away from privately-owned businesses, worship areas, high profile business buildings. The experienced writers nowadays tend to stick to low-profile spots such as tunnels, abandoned buildings, and, if so desired, legal spots.

It's a lot easier to use stencils. Buy some sticky paper and put it in your printer. Use Photoshop or any other graphics program to make the paint layers. Print them.


Warnings

Graffiti, as vandalism, is illegal, and could get you arrested. Even if you are doing it with permission, some states are so uptight that they will still arrest you.

Consider wearing latex gloves and a paper mask. If spray gets in your nose, it could damage your respiratory system. You can buy these from any pharmacy.

Tagging in subway tunnels is very dangerous. Not only that you could get hit by a train, any spark or flame could ignight the fumes causing a fire or an explosion.

[Khorsheed]

Oh i adore graffti art .. its really imperssive . .thanks for sharing

[Rasputin]

The Writing on the Wall

http://www.graffiti.org/

[Rasputin]

Pioneering era

The time between 1969-1974 is referred to as the "pioneering era", where graffiti underwent a surge in styles and popularity. Soon after the migration to NYC, the city produced one of the first graffiti artists to gain media attention in New York, TAKI 183. TAKI 183 was a youth from Washington Heights, Manhattan who worked as a foot messenger. His tag is a mixture of his name Panayiotakis, TAKI, and his street number, 183rd. Being a foot messenger, he was constantly on the subway and began to put up his tags along his travels. This spawned a 1971 article in the New York Times titled "'Taki 183' Spawns Pen Pals".[5][4][6] Julio 204 is also credited as the first writer, but didn't get the fame that Taki received. TAKI 183 wasn’t the first graffiti artist, but he was the first to be recognized by society outside of the graffiti subculture. Super kool 223 made a permanent mark on the graffiti movement by being the first to do pieces on subway cars. Other notable names from that time are: Stay High 149, Junior 161, Cay 161, Hondo and Stitch 1. Barbara 62 and Eva 62 were also important early graffiti artists in New York, and are the first known females to write graffiti.

As the influence of graffiti grew, a graffiti movement began in Brooklyn as well with prominent artists as Friendly Freddie and Cope2. Also taking place during this era was the movement from outside on the city streets to the subways. Graffiti also saw its first seeds of competition around this time. The goal of most artists at this point was called "getting up" and involved having as many tags and bombs in as many places as possible. Artists began to break into subway yards in order to hit as many trains as they could with a lower risk, often creating larger elaborate pieces of art along the subway car sides. This is when the act of bombing was said to be officially established. Around this time, tags began to take on their signature calligraphic appearance because, due to the huge number of artists, each graffiti artist needed a way to distinguish themselves. Aside from the growing complexity and creativity, tags also began to grow in size and scale – for example, many artists had begun to increase letter size and line thickness, as well as outlining letters in colour. The use of designs such as polka dots, crosshatches, and checkers became increasingly popular. Spray paint use increased dramatically around this time as artists began to expand their work. "Top-to-bottoms", works which span the entire height of a subway car, made their first appearance around this time as well. The overall creativity and artistic maturation of this time period did not go unnoticed by the mainstream – Hugo Martinez founded the United Graffiti Artists (UGA) in 1972. UGA consisted of many top graffiti artists of the time, and aimed to present graffiti in an art gallery setting. By 1974, graffiti artists had begun to incorporate the use of scenery and cartoon characters into their work, which later went on to become famous in Berlin Germany.

After the original pioneering efforts, which culminated in 1974, the art form peaked around 1975 – 1977. By this time, most standards had been set in graffiti writing and culture. The heaviest "bombing" in U.S. history took place in this period, partially because of the economic restraints on New York City, which limited its ability to combat this art form with graffiti removal programs or transit maintenance. Also during this time, "top-to-bottoms" evolved to take up entire subway cars. Most note-worthy of this era proved to be the forming of the "throw-up", which are more complex than simple "tagging," but not as intricate as a "piece". Not long after their introduction, throw-ups lead to races to see who could do the largest amount of throw-ups in the least amount of time. Graffiti writing was becoming very competitive and artists strove to go "all-city," or to have their names seen in all five boroughs of NYC. Eventually, the standards which had been set in the early 70s began to become stagnant. These changes in attitude lead many artists into the 1980s with a desire to expand and change.

The late 1970s and early 1980s brought a new wave of creativity to the scene. Fab Five Freddy (Fred Brathwaite) is a popular graffiti figure of this time, often credited with helping to spread the influence of graffiti and rap music beyond its early foundations in the The Bronx.It was also, however, the last wave of true bombing before the Transit Authority made graffiti eradication a priority. The MTA (Metro Transit Authority) began to repair yard fences, and remove graffiti consistently, battling the surge of graffiti artists. With the MTA combatting the artists by removing their work it often led many artists to quit in frustration, as their work was constantly being removed. It was also around this time that the established art world started becoming receptive to the graffiti culture for the first time since Hugo Martinez’s Razor Gallery in the early 1970s. In 1979, graffiti artist Lee Quinones, and Fab Five Freddy were given a gallery opening in Rome by art dealer Claudio Bruni. Slowly, European art dealers became more interested in the new art form. For many outside of New York, it was the first time ever being exposed to the art form.

During the 1980s the cultural aspect of graffiti was said to be deteriorating almost to the point of extinction. The rapid decline in writing was due to several factors. The streets became more dangerous due to the burgeoning crack epidemic, legislation was underway to make penalties for graffiti artists more severe, and restrictions on paint sale and display made racking materials difficult. Above all, the MTA greatly increased their anti-graffiti budget. Many favored painting sites became heavily guarded, yards were patrolled, newer and better fences were erected, and buffing of pieces was strong, heavy, and consistent. Many graffiti artists, however, chose to see the new problems as a challenge rather than a reason to quit. A downside to these challenges was that the artists became very territorial of good writing spots, and strength and unity in numbers became increasingly important. This was probably the most violent era in graffiti history – Artists who chose to go out alone were often beaten and robbed of their supplies. Some of the mentionable graffiti artists from this era were Skeme, Spade, BG 183, and Flight. This was stated to be the end for the casual NYC subway graffiti artists, and the years to follow would be populated by only what some consider the most "die hard" artists.

[Rasputin]

1st generation Graffiti in Iran

Iran… what do we really know about it? And which of all these facts are actually true? What kind of image do we have? And would we include something like ‘Iranian Graffiti’ or ‘Street Art from Tehran’ in this image?


If so, what would that look like? Do we expect any strong Anti-American messages? Or do we think of a strong form of expression against the government maybe? Or could it be sympathizing with a local party? Or what if it was not about any official statement at all, but what if Iranian street art was simply a form of personal expression? Or maybe it is even all of the above, still testing out what ’street art’ could possibly be in this particular environment… PingMag interviewed A1one, the one who started graffiti in Tehran.

In 1998 I was into painting and got involved in independent music in Iran. This is when I met an Iranian rapper from Germany called Nima. He was brought up in Germany and during the two nights we spent talking, Nima told me everything about real underground hip hop, noise artists, graffiti crews and street art.

I was aware of wall paintings and mural arts of Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera or Alfero Siquerus. I saw many wall paintings here and big fonts in movies and magazines, but I didn’t know that this sort of scene existed: expressing your own ideas through images and letters on city walls. I also didn’t know that it is as illegal in Germany as it is here.

Although Nima and I were only talking, it triggered something and that was a matter of real motivation for me.

In 2003 I made a 30×40 cm Munch’s scream stencil which I sprayed on university walls to express the uncommon pressure inserted at the universities which was endured in silence.


When I left university I found myself free from obligations and dedicated myself to start street art and graffiti as A1one.

What does graffiti mean to you? Is it a protest against something or is it more of a personal expression?

Not a protest - I am not a soldier and my works aren’t stones for throwing! They are personal experiences I want to share with people. A drawing on the street is similar to a letter: It proves that there is a writer. Whether people want to receive this letter or not is a different question…

You were the first to start graffiti in Tehran spraying in the APC neighbourhood. How did you start it all?

When I started there were no paintings. Nothing at all apart from some tiny scribbles and imitations of heavy metal band names.

My first work was a very simple work titled “searching for friends” painted on a wall right next to the Tehran-Karaj expressway late at night. It was a really frightening night for me… The next morning I got three calls from friends who recognized my style of painting. They were shocked to see my work on a public wall.

After one month Magoi, a good friend of mine joined in to do graffiti with me. At that time we created works titled “Good Morning Tehran”, “Social Prison”, “Social Sorrow” and the “One eye” series. All these paintings got scratched or removed by either officials, unofficials, or new comers of the 2nd generation graffiti scene.

How has the graffiti scene in Iran evolved since then? Who else joined in?

I invited some other artists I respected to do wall paintings. Some simply rejected, some were really shocked to be asked in the first place and some actually joined. Artist friends included Elle, K.T. and Isbah. Then another group formed in the Gisha neighborhood in Tehran and sent me some of their images in early 2005. I think today we have about 10 activists.

Do the different writers get along?

After two years some of my older works got buffed by the newer generation of street artists in Tehran. I guess that was simply to get more attention or to show their negative attitude towards me. Nowadays we are a pretty good community of crews and individuals.

Are there any women involved in the scene?

Yes, about two or three. The first one was the Persian rapper Salome. I found shots of her works on a website, so now we are connected by email.

How does the police or the government react to graffiti?

In fact we have no laws yet, but they consider everything to be political and if a young person sprays a wall they probably think that this person is with the Americans and wants to make a revolution or is obsessed with the West or something…

[Rasputin]

Graffiti In Tehran ... March 2007

[Rasputin]

اگر از شهرک*های غرب تهران یا حتی چهارراه ولی*عصر رد شده باشید حتما دیوارنوشته*ها یا برچسب*هایی با امضای ''تنها'' یا A1one را دیده*اید. ''تنها'' هنرمند گرافیتی ۲۵ ساله*ایست که گرافیتی را به طور مخفیانه یا زیرزمینی با نوشتن بر روی دیوارهای دانشکده*اش در سال ۱۳۸۲ شروع کرده. او در کنار هنرمندان فعال دیگری چونMagoi، Ck1، Bigchiz، Salome، Banger، old nick، Ice Punks، shade، Pendar از پیشتازان نسل جدید هنر گرافیتی یا دیوارنویسی در ایران است. کارهای ‘‘تنها’’ نه تنها در فضای شهری تهران بلکه در شهرهای هاوانا، ملبورن، سان فرانسیسکو، پورتلند و گرانادا نیز به نمایش گذاشته شده*اند.

می*شه خودتو معرفی کنی؟
من "تنها" هستم. کارم و علاقه*ام نقاشی کردن و اثر گذاشتن روی سطوح شهریه. ممکنه خیلی*ها من رو یه خرابکار بدونن. من حرفی ندارم. خیلی هم خوشحال می*شم اگه یه خرابکار به حساب بیام.
چرا ''تنها'' رو به عنوان امضای هنریت انتخاب کردی؟
خوب زمانی که من شروع کردم هیچ*کس تو تهران گرافیتی نمی*کشید. حتی می*تونم راحت بگم که کم بودن کسایی که تو تهران با واژه گرافیتی آشنا بودن اون موقع به هر کی می*گفتی گرافیتی، فکر می*کرد داری از گرافیک صحبت می*کنی. سعی کردم دوستان و نقاش*هایی که دور و برم می*شناختم به این کار دعوت کنم. اما اکثرا بعد از اولین تجربه*ای که روی دیوار می*کردن دیگه این کار رو تکرار نمی*کردن. من موندم تنها! از یک طرف هم حرف "A" و عدد یک به عدد و حروف توی اسمم نمایش دهنده اولین نفر بودنم هم هست. فکر نمی*کنم کسی با این جمله آخر مخالفتی داشته باشه.
چطور با هنر گرافیتی یا دیوارنویسی آشنا شدی؟
هیچ جوابی در حال حاضر براتون ندارم. اما باید بگم که سال ۱۳۸۱ اولین کارهام رو خیلی خیلی ساده از روی دیوار دانشکده و از ۱۳۸۲ به بعد روی دیوار*های شهری تهران شروع کردم.

تو دانشکده چی خوندی؟
این رو اگه جواب بدم که. . . . سال آخر از دانشکده اخراج شدم. برگه ابلاغ جرمم دستمه: تشویق و تحریک دانشجویان به اخلال. از همون موقع بود که فهمیدم مدرک گرفتن از این دانشگاه*ها فرقی با ریا کاری و دروغ پروری نداره!
چرا کار گرافیتی می*کنی؟
فکر می*کنم خوبه مردمی که از خیابون*ها می*گذرن با یک تصویر شخصی مواجه بشن. کار هر کی می*خواد باشه. تصویر می*تونه تاثیر بذاره. حتی یه تصویر خیلی کوچیک.
چه مسائل یا موضوعاتی رو معمولا تو کارهات منعکس می*کنی؟
اجتماعی، گاهی هم کاملا شخصی. مثلا از فیلترینگ اینترنت، اعدام یک دیکتاتور و حرف*های جورج بوش گرفته تا اسم آهنگی که دوست دارم و عکس نویسنده یا نوازنده*ای که بهش علاقه دارم.
تا حالا کارهات رو تو گالری*های تهران نمایش دادی، یا دیوارهای شهر و فضای باز رو ترجیح میدی؟
این رو باید توضیح بدم که کار توی گالری دیگه هنر شهری نیست. یه هنر تصویریه توی گالری. هیچ اشکالی هم نداره. من هم کارهام توی گالری*های مختلفی بوده، توی تهران هم امسال نمایش داده می*شه اما این*ها کار شهری نیستند؛ بلکه مجموعه آثار یک هنرمند شهری هستند یعنی کار*هایی که روی بوم یا چوب هستند و در گالری نمایش داده می*شن. قضیه کاملا متفاوته هنر شهری توی شهر اتفاق می*افته اما هنر کلاسه شده می*ره توی گالری برای آدم*های یکم مودب و یا مجموعه*دار*ها و خریدار*ها.
تو چه محله*هایی می*شه کارهاتو دید؟
کار*های قدیم من رو می*شه تو دو شهرک آپادانا و اکباتان دید البته خیلی وقته که دیگه اونجا کار نمی*زنم چون یه سری از دوستان "ظاهرا هم کار" کار*هام رو می*کنن یا روش رنگ می*کُنن. چاهار راه ولی عصر و همینطور اطراف درب محلی که بهش می*گن خانه فرهنگ صبا بیشتر می*تونید ببینید.
به غیر از گرافیتی چه کار دیگه*ای می*کنی؟
کار*های دیگه: چاپ دستی و تولید تی شرت. اجرای نقاشی دیواری. طراحی پوستر و مطالعه و آماده کردن یه کتاب خیلی کامل در باره گرافیتی به همراه یکی دو نفر از دوستان.
می*دونی هنر دیوارنویسی از کی تو ایران یا تهران شروع شده؟
اولین کسی که توی اینترنت کارش ثبت شده ظاهرا مربوط به سال ۱۹۹۹ است اسمش هم اسنس Escnce هست که سال*هاست که دیگه توی ایران زندگی نمی*کنه. قبل از اون هم نقاشی دیواری انقلابی و بعد از جنگ تحمیلی هستن که بعضی*هاشون با گرافیتی همخونی دارن. اما این اتفاقات جدید از ۲۰۰۳ شروع شد و تقریبا هم زمان هم روی سایت کلاه استودیو منعکس شد. بعدها هم از ۲۰۰۵ ایران گرافیتی بلاگ سپات راه اندازی شد که وبلاگ پر بیننده*ایه.

''فرشته*ها'' - این جالبه! شب شام غریبان من دیدم یکم شاید راحت*تر باشه تو خیابون گشتن و رفتم بیرون دیدم نه، خطرناک*تره. رفتم یه گوشه نزدیک مسجد و دو تا نقاشی کشیدم. این یکی از اونهاست.
جنبش زیر زمینی چیزی بود که اولین روزها روی دیوار، یا زیر نقاشی*هام می*نوشتم. چیز*هایی مثل:
Kolahstudio underground Group یا Underground Movement
بعدتر هم دوستم ''رها'' وبلاگ جنبش زیرزمینی رو زد که خیلی هم پربیننده شد. کمی بعدتر هم دوستای دیگه*ای که توی محل شروع به کار کردن از همین ترکیب استفاده کردن. تعدادی مقاله هم توی بخش هنر شهری سایت کلاه استودیو هست که بد نیست بخونید.
گرافیتی چقدر تو مردم و فرهنگ ایرانی جا افتاده؟
خوب تمام سعی من به شخصه و کلاه استودیو و وبلاگ*ها و برنامه*هامون اینه که از راه ایده دادن و ایجاد جریان*های کوچک گرافیتی، تفکر نوگرایی رو بین برو بچه*های همسن و جوون*تر از خودمون رواج بدیم یا اون رو به شکلی به مردم نشون بدیم. به هر حال این ۵ سال داستانی داره! ما سعی*مون اینه که هنر شهری هرچی بیشتر و بیشتر پا بگیره. بیست و دوم بهمن سال هشتاد و پنج هم یه طرحی رو با همکاری کلاه استودیو اجرا کردیم که ۱۸۰ تا برچسب از تمام دنیا جمع شد و ما تونستیم با همکاری دوستای دیگه اونها رو در حوالی چهار راه ولیعصر و میدان ونک بچسبونیم. همین کار*های کوچیک باعث اتفاق*های خوب و قابل قبولی می*شن به نظر من.
معمولا چه وقت*هایی و کجاها رو برای دیوارنویسی انتخاب می*کنی؟
معمولا سعی می*کنم جایی رو انتخاب کنم که محل رفت و آمد مردم عادی باشه. گاهی اوقات توی روز کار می*کنم اما بیشتر وقت*ها نصفه*های شب می*زنم بیرون.
تا حالا شده حین کار بگیرنت؟
اخیرا یک بار فقط برام ترمز کردن که خیلی راحت غیب شدم یا شایدم خوش شانسم!
تو ایران برای دیوارنویسی جریمه هم می*کنن؟
فعلا که نه!
دخترا هم علاقه*ای به این هنر نشون می*دن؟
بله. سالومه، که خواننده*ی رپ هم هست. چند نفر دیگه هم هستن که مطمئنن علاقه ندارن اسمشون برده بشه.
توی وبلاگت دیدم که کارهات تو جشنواره*های جهانی مختلفی شرکت داشتن. تا به حال تو این نمایشگاه*ها شخصا هم حضور داشتی؟
نه، حضور نداشتم.
چطور برخورد مردم با کارهات رو تجربه می*کنی؟
با فروش اینترنتی آثارم و همینطور نظرات بینندگان وبلاگم.
نمایشگاه بعدی کٍی هست؟
نمایشگاه بعدی شهریور ماه توی تهرانه که قراره یک گالری عمومی، یک ورک*شاپ زیرزمینی و چند تا کافی*شاپ توی تهران رو براش در نظر بگیریم.

مایلی برای یک هفته به پرسش*های خواننده*های زمانه پاسخ بدی؟
حتما. اگر سوالی باشه! بیشتر از همه مایلم به دوستان جواب بدم.

برای دیدن کارهای بیشتری از ''تنها'' تارنماهای زیر را ببینید:
وبلاگ A1ONE
وبلاگ جنبش زیرزمینی