The Graffiti Subculture

"When writers spray their names on a wall, they appear to leave a part of themselves there too. Almost like a stand-in or double, the name embodies and represents the individual who wrote it- 'there's a bit of you there', It's like you being there." (MacDonald, 314)

 It is easily arguable that the graffiti subculture is not comprised of people but only of names. The names that represent the spirit of the individual being in more than one place at one time, at unreachable highs and even at greater lows. It is a sub-culture that prides itself in its "writers" as alter-ego personas capable of networking with each other on nothing more than brick walls. It provides more than an escape but a thrill for writers who made their identity that is expressed through their paint. They become affiliated with one another and put differences aside to only see the street writer that embodies a name that I'd probably seen before somewhere down at 16th avenue and Newkirk Dr. and they become respected in that way for reasons of claiming public space, and leaving their mark. 

In a sense, these anonymous individuals are claiming public space as their own, as we think back to Clark's theory of social spaces being won over for people who are part of a social construct. This ultimately allows nearly anyone to essentially gain satisfaction of being well known if not famous by name or symbol. Their name is a virtual reinvention of their identity as an image. It is from that image that people are able to open express themselves as well as have others openly question it. The social space dominated by the Graffiti subculture and on travelling mediums such as trains and trucks allows the individual of the claimed space an extraordinary sensation of having their identity travelling to different places to be seen by different people, and in a way, claim that space even if it only for a little while.

The Banksy film "Exit Through the Gift Shop" had given viewers the chance to see the rare moments of graffiti as it is being plastered by on by a graffiti artist named Shepard Fairey as well as Banksy himself. Fairey's iconic OBEY posters have had a huge impact on the street art community for his use of propaganda style of repetition and stencil papers. What exactly this film intended to capture, I'm not entirely sure as it passed between several subjects of interest. What I did see from this film was a man named Thierry (Mister Brainwash) profiting huge off of the cheap exploits of what street art is portrayed as; something tossed together with some pictures and sells it as one picture. Thierry, did what Fairey had showed him to do and with Banksy's encouragement, Thierry set out as Mister Brainwash, a man with a camera on a sticker who eventually sold works for thousands at his art exhibition within a short time.

This is not what street art is about according to the accounts taken in Nancy MacDonald's article: "The Graffiti Subculture." It’s about creating an identity through the careful selection of a meaningful word or name and placing it in significant places of influence or social space. "You become more than yourself in this subculture because you escape the need to represent yourself. Your graffiti 'speaks for you', freeing you from the features or factors that might normally hold you back." (Jel, Macdonald, 313) This quote made by Jel during an interview with Macdonald explains that graffiti is more than just street art but is lived as a lifestyle with an alter-ego of expression; that graffiti is not for a profit but to fill the public space with a personalized version of one's own work. 

I don't believe that bathroom graffiti can fall under the same category, at the same time, every time I find myself in a stall with time to kill *ahem* I love reading what those who'd been there had to say or speak what was on their mind. It makes me wonder what type of people these people were like. Yet, they are vandals, regular people with nothing better to do that leave their comment on the wall next to them, some of it dating back 20 years or more in the truck stops off the highway. I feel like it adds a history to the building itself, to know that these people existed and that they had a sense of humour. Even though it makes the place look run-down and gross, it provides mild entertainment in a small shared space where hundreds of individuals pass through regularly. 

But are those who instil bathroom stall graffiti sharing the same values and ideologies of the street graffiti subculture? It's hard to say if seeing the same name or brand everywhere could just as equally represent the same individual spirit as the one who scratches a dick onto every wall in every public bathroom. There's a fine line to draw what is considered vandalism and what is art. Although graffiti is usually considered illegal, its product can be remarkable, inspiring, cynical and satirical in the face in the normal society.