Graffiti first appeared in the United States in the 1960s. After so many years of development, graffiti has spread to many countries in the world. In some big cities such as New York, Berlin, London, and Copenhagen, it is slowly being accepted by people. And it has gradually become an art, rather than the original rebellion on the streets of the United States and the regional counter-cultural behavior of black youth. The graffiti culture that has existed for decades now is in the ascendant. Based on this, this group conducted in-depth research and discussion on street graffiti culture.
1. Social Background
As a capitalist country, the United States’ fundamental economic system has led to a very wide gap between the rich and the poor in people’s living standards in American society. Such social conditions will arouse some dissatisfaction and rebellion among people, resulting in the emergence of some unique American street cultural behaviors such as street basketball, hip-hop, graffiti, HIP&HOP, and RAP songs. This is also the root of American street rebellion culture.
The New York City area from the 1960s to the 1980s was a city full of enthusiasm and fast pace. The narrow living environment left life on the streets, coupled with the huge gap between the rich and the poor in society, it was difficult for people to live in this city. People on the fringes of subculture society under such social pressure are enough to form so-called counter-culture small groups. What's more, there are a group of unemployed, Hispanic or black youths who have dropped out of school and are regarded as social problems in the slums. In the ideological trend of anti-racial discrimination, anti-war, anti-sexual repression, and anti-rights repression, they touched on the racial issues, poverty, and employment constraints caused by the living environment, forming a regional counter-cultural social behavior. These behaviors include street basketball, street graffiti, hip-hop, HIP&HOP, RAP rap songs and other activities. Among them, graffiti originated from the fringes of New York society that was on the verge of destruction. A group of children who dared to challenge the US government authorities rebuilt the fragments of secular culture. Graffiti culture began in the late 1960s and became popular in the 1980s. From the late 1970s to the 1980s, a group of graffiti enthusiasts made a living by developing their own unique graffiti art to express their own ideas and distinct personalities. In the later period, it was no longer simply a counter-cultural act, but something artistic was added to it, making it more acceptable and legal. Slowly walk from the ground to the ground.
2. The meaning of graffiti
The Italian meaning of graffiti is (scrawling), while graffiti (the plural form) refers to the writing on the wall. scrawled images or drawings. Basically, Graffiti is an act close to writing, with words accounting for a large proportion. Image symbols, logos, and graphics are also common content, but most of the images are written in a way that is similar to writing, concisely expressing the intention without deliberate intention. to describe. However, in later graffiti art, pictures, symbols, and logos in turn overwhelmed words and became dominant in graffiti art. Compared with words, pictures can better reflect the content that the author wants to express and the dominant idea of ??his work.
3. The formation and development of graffiti art
In the early 1970s, when canned spray paint could be purchased everywhere, from subway train cars to platforms to street walls You can see all kinds of graffiti with bright colors and distinctive personalities everywhere, right up to the walls of the toilets. Early graffiti creations were mainly text-based. The creators of those graffiti paintings called themselves (writer) {writer} rather than (painter) {painter}, and they were usually anonymous. They popularly used street numbers to pseudonymize them, such as TAKI 183, JULIO 204, FRANK 207, their graffiti have a strong sense of marking the territory. Most of the graffiti creators are neither professional artists nor professional art students, but street teenagers from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem, New York. The act of graffiti itself is a kind of rebellion against authority, and graffiti is also a form of artistic expression. Through such behavior, from an artistic point of view: performance art can quickly attract the attention of the social and political circles, the media, and the mainstream art and traditional art and cultural circles. As a result, the text of graffiti gradually decreased and transformed into large and exquisite cartoons. Painting images. Academic artists also followed suit, and professional graffiti people began to appear. Groups similar to alliances and societies also emerged one after another. Graffiti art began to enter art galleries for people to appreciate, collect, buy and sell, and invest in. The nature of graffiti has changed dramatically since then.
As a result, a graffiti art craze has emerged in various countries around the world. Graffiti art is very similar to rock and rap music of the same period. In the beginning, people used this kind of creation to resist the system, express dissatisfaction, vent their emotions, and accuse society. Later, the original essence of these graffiti art was absorbed by the entire capital system, and the original counter-culture art became a true branch of art. It becomes an art with the same nature as traditional painting. The original nature of graffiti is gradually disappearing in the graffiti creation of other countries.
From the 1970s to the 1980s, New York galleries began to hold various graffiti art exhibitions, inviting street graffiti artists to the galleries, and graffiti became a high-pressure form of art creation. Important event exhibitions include:
1. The first graffiti art exhibition was held in 1972 by the Blade Gallery in Soho, Manhattan, New York.
2. In 1975, United Graffiti Artists exhibited at Artist SPACE in New York.
3. The Times Square Exhibition was launched in 1980 - graffiti really began to be displayed in large numbers and attracted great attention from the art world.
4. 1983 was the peak period of graffiti art. The first art museum exhibition was held in the Boyman-van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam.
4. The style war of graffiti
1. Early graffiti preferred a single color and used non-pun quotations, such as smoke symbols and hello.
2. Next, transform the arrow in the form of a text into a crown and wear it on your head to show your dignity.
3. Later, with the goal of being dazzling, eye-catching, and prominent, I began to write my name on the subway or the street with high-color spray paint and surrounded it with contrasting colors or black, and even used stripes, twill, Decorations such as stars, checkerboards or polka dots will hopefully make the name stand out.
4. In the mid-1970s, it appeared in the form of alter ego emblems. Most of the contents were heroes from cartoon movies. Most of these characters appeared in unusual postures such as being attacked or insulted.
5. Graffiti backgrounds are becoming more and more complex. Spray paint is used to improve the device and maximize its functions and functions, as well as the artistry and personality of graffiti. Burning sun, stars, bullets passing by the wind, painted landscapes, self-portraits, abstract symbols, etc., are combined and reborn to create another interesting picture.
4. Differences between graffiti artists and graffiti artists
1. Graffiti artists have no traditional baggage and can create freely according to their own preferences and thoughts and directly convey their emotions; they have received school training Graffiti artists use aesthetic attitudes to reconcile the current social situation.
2. Graffiti artists use a signature without special marks to create a style that stands out to the masses; graffiti artists integrate into society with a depersonalized style, and their work styles are such as advertising or politics. Declaration, signed in standard print.
5. Discussion of Aesthetics and Sociology
When it comes to graffiti, it usually gives people polarized views; most people regard it as a bad and dirty thing. It can cause damage, madness, violation, and intimidation; but some people believe that graffiti is a real aesthetic product and a personal monologue of the suppressed or those who have no voice. For example, John Cage believes that we should cherish every graffiti mark; in 1974, the writer Norman Mailer regarded the phenomenon of graffiti as a It is a racial rebellion against the sinful industrial and commercial civilization, and it is romantically interpreted as a display of social freedom and disorder; art critic Suzi Gablik believes that those street teenagers are hungry for freshness. Discovered by the art market.
6. Representative figures
1. Keith Haring was the most important leader of the New York School in the 1980s. He has a clear aversion to the conceptual art and extreme art that were popular in the 1980s, and has a strong interest in the graffiti that can be seen everywhere on the streets and the works of some artists by Lao Pupu.
The American Pop artist Tom Otterness's work "The Dodo", which has the joyful and fun characteristics of cartoon characters, has a great influence on him. Haring's works are full of very happy little characters, as well as a large number of sexual symbolic images. The depiction method is very smooth, simple, clear, and has a strong sense of entertainment. Many of his works are called (Untitled). His (villain) image is currently widely used in clothing, interior decoration, and advertising design. It can be said that he is a master of graffiti art.
2. Jean-Michel Basquiat was not from an academy. The use of African images, bright colors, and topics related to people of color in American society can be said to be a typical example of the problems of people of color in American society.
3. Kenny Scharf draws on cartoon animation, surrealism and other specialties to present a gaudy and rich visual world that is highly stimulating to the eyes.
4. Lee Quinones
5. Futura 2000
Graffiti culture around the world
< p>To understand graffiti, we must trace it back to its origins. Although China's graffiti culture is slowly growing, it still cannot be compared with the graffiti culture of Western countries. In this regard, this group decided to use the weekend to search online for graffiti from around the world. Some of the more classic graffiti culture. Through this activity, we have a deeper understanding of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures through our understanding of graffiti culture.Haikou Street Culture Graffiti Scenery
In order to have a deeper understanding of the development of graffiti culture in Haikou, this group decided to conduct a thorough survey of graffiti in various streets and alleys in Haikou area. investigation. At the weekend of this week, members of this group Zhong Chen and Cen Kaijie went to the vicinity of Haixiu Road to take photos of some graffiti. Through this activity, we have a deeper understanding of the impact of graffiti culture on the local area, and fundamentally understand the breadth and popularity of graffiti. The research on this topic has taken a successful step.
Graffiti culture around the world
To understand graffiti, we must trace its origins. Although China’s graffiti culture is slowly growing, it still cannot be compared with the graffiti culture of Western countries. than