The Writing is on the Wall

Graffiti art through the ages. 
 
A great example of ancient graffiti would be the literal hand writing on King Belshazzar's wall. You know the story....the one in the Bible - specifically Daniel 5. Dooming his kingdom into oblivion. 
 

 
“And if art is a crime let God forgive all”
 
Yes, even graffiti! The anonymous artists through the ages creating their ideas and scribbling them on the wall for all to see. Driving forth the creative ideas inherent in us all. Gossip and political commentary. Including those wicked and often funny vulgarities have always been a common theme throughout history. 
 
Whether you love it or hate it graffiti has always been an endearing factor in spreading ideas to affect human behavior. Anonymous images and memes compelling the common man to think, laugh, and sometimes even cry. Out in the fringes the bleeding hearts and artists making their stand...

 
These are some remarkably beautiful and illuminating works. It’s not your standard “Kilroy wuz here” stuff, although names found have found, and it’s definitely not the bawdy libels of Roman Pompeii. They are line drawings, some abstract, some of people, demons, ships and crosses. Circles are also a popular theme. It’s social history, contributions of the regular parishioners who attended church but couldn’t afford to leave their mark by sponsoring rich vestments, dazzling stained glass or soaring bell towers."
 
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/22808
 

 

D.C. Temple graffiti prank won't die
 
WASHINGTON D.C. — Who did it?
 
Who played the part of the Wicked Witch of the West and was the first in the early 1970s to spray paint the message "Surrender Dorothy" on an overpass on the Washington D.C. Beltway right where the Mormon Temple comes into view? The mystery is now, at least partially, solved.
 
Orson Scott Card, who writes a column for the Deseret News' Mormon Times section, tried to explain in 2005 why the movie quote graffiti is funny: "This is funny because clearly the Mormons didn't intend their temple to remind anybody of a classic fantasy movie, but once somebody put up the graffiti, it made everybody think of it and laugh."
 
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/70016...t-die.html
 

 
Those magnificent graffiti artists flying with ease....
 
:tongue:
 

Comic and vulgar with dramatic themes. Underlying the complex layers within the meme. From the simple taggers to the ones carving their dated names. They state for us all "I was here!"
 
"What started as a simple phenomenon of “tagging” or “throwing up” a person’s initials on the subway along with a specific number to coincide such as that said person’s address or birthday, graffiti art started taking its toll in New York City in the late seventies through little scribbles and doodles decorating the already busy picture of urban life"
 
http://www.loopedblog.com/city-as-canvas...eum-of-ny/
 

 
 

I like this thread. Doodling in ancient manuscripts would be a kind of graffiti.
 
http://forum.chickensomething.com/index....surprises/

Despite not calling himself an artist, Banksy has been considered by some as talented in that respect; he uses his original street art form, combined with Banksy stencils style. Due to the shroud of secrecy surrounding his real identity and his subversive character; Banksy has achieved somewhat of a cult following with his Banksy Art from some of the younger age group within the stencilling community. 
 
https://youtu.be/un9Rp2tMwdo
 
https://youtu.be/un9Rp2tMwdo

How Graffiti Artists Are Journeying From The Streets To The Computer Screen
 



 

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/...ter-screen

This sort of leads into something like graffiti trolls. I wonder if spammers count as artists of a kind? Like cyber trolls spray painting bullshit everywhere. Graffiti to push products...more to push agendas. The meme makers creating effective devices of all sorts to garner public emotion swinging their preconceived plans of disinformation. The modern day tagger marking their territory like dogs pissing on trees.


Sometimes graffiti can be real ugly.

http://forum.chickensomething.com/index....llosphere/

Graffiti As Vandalism, Not Art


Living through the graffiti era of the 1970’s and 1980’s New York was to live through the height of urban blight.


Yes, the graffiti “artists” shown in the MCNY exhibition were talented. But these “artists” in the exhibition made up a small percentage of the people that defaced and destroyed public property. They represent the few that had some artistic talent, however misdirected it might be. It is the criminal act of graffiti, one of public vandalism that the public should truly find deplorable.

http://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2014/03...alism-art/

 

It must be recognised that graffiti must always be illegal by its very definition. Furthermore, this illegality is at the core of its being. That is not to say that certain superficial stylistic mimicries of the symbolic core of graffiti do not appear in other media, only that graffiti in all forms is inexorably linked with criminality. 
 
Although there are many contemporary manifestations of graffiti, the one focused on here will be referred to as agnomena, that is to say wall writing centred on a name (more commonly known as hip-hop graffiti). However, this should not result in the medium being stripped of any creative validity. Creation is often spawned from destruction, and vice versa; as the forest fire clears the way for new shoots to sprout, or as a writer desecrates the cultural sanctity of a pristine white wall in order that he may symbolically communicate certain unique subjectivities to all who pass by
 
Almost all prolific writers of undeniable talent began their careers developing their skills through illicit bombing. Unlike an art gallery, in which we only see the refined, finished products of those considered "artists", graffiti allows the viewer a glimpse into the entire spectrum of the medium. We can bear witness to work by established writers of supreme technical ability next to amateurs who are yet to learn elementary skills, incomplete or damaged creations, and critical responses that utilise the same medium as the criticized object. A trained eye can trace the stylistic progression of individual writers, as well as gain insight into the complex web of relationships within the community itself. These are traits rarely found in gallery art. 
 
"tags are the result of very specific needs that have accompanied humanity for thousands of years. Tags are about spreading a message, about drawing attention to something." 
 
https://www.graffiti.org/faq/spigelman_graffiti.html

Hit and run graffiti trolls use their spray to spit out all kinds of ugly lines. Spam in a can with a dick in hand. Ugly to behold!

 

https://youtu.be/0eZAzK8wV6k

 

A collection of photos depicting various acts of vandalism perpetrated by some people with profound sense of humor. Though, one should never condone graffiti and vandalism, we have to admit that some of these smartass acts we find to be very funny and have made us laugh... Many of these vandals are so creative that some of this work may qualify as street art, indeed!

 

https://youtu.be/0eZAzK8wV6k