Current student of Towson University.

My Focus

Annotated Bibliography 

        ~Books

        ~Journals

        ~Internet Sites

Become a Graffiti Artist

My Focus: I chose graffiti art-art or vandalism as my focus to my annotated bibliography.  This subject intrigues me since growing up in Baltimore I was capable of observing this type of art work created on the street.  I consider graffiti art to be both art and vandalism, depending on the location and style of the work.  Graffiti art has been a part of society and our culture for many centuries now.  While it was on a decline for several years, the events of September 11th have brought about an uproar in the Graffiti art works created.  They are typically works created to show how people viewed and are remembering the disaster that happened and reminding everyone with their work.  Graffiti art does trigger significant social and cultural changes simply by the wide range of people who have started graffiti art in their own town.  The widespread issue is present in every city, county and town here in America .  When you are trying to figure out if Graffiti is art or vandalism, there are many contradictions when it comes to being legal or illegal.  There are special parks for graffiti to be displayed where they will not be prosecuted for creating their art work.  If it is created on the street and destroys property then it is considered illegal and you will have to pay fines and possibly go to jail. That is why I am staying mutual that there are various situations where graffiti is art and vandalism.

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Annotated Bibliography

Graffiti Art:

Art ~or~ Vandalism 

~ Books:

*~* Austin, Joe. Taking the Train: How Graffiti Art Became an Urban Crisis in New York .  New York :  Columbia University Press, 2001.

Taking the train is a broad overview towards the history of graffiti.  Austin traces graffiti from the beginning to the end as it made its way from the subways in New York, to the expansion created in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.  This book is an inspiration towards the future work of the social development of graffiti in New York and the future.

*~* Cooper, Martha and Henry Chalfant. Subway Art. New York : Henry Holt and Company LLC, 1988.

This book was published to show how graffiti art was back in the day.  It gave detailed information about graffiti artists from vocabulary to techniques on how to become an artist.   Cooper and Chalfant explain how the stereotypical gang graffiti artiest was just more then an adolescent kid on the street, but a person who was just trying to get recognized.  Back then, graffiti art was not considered art, just as an illegal crime that bad kids in gangs were able to get away with.  They were able to create a better image for the upcoming new trend in art.

*~* Ganz, Nicholas. Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents.  New York : Harry N Abrams, October 2004.

Using high quality pictures, Ganz created this book to inspire people all around the world to open up their eyes and appreciate graffiti art.  Using numerous examples of graffiti art set up on display in his book, he was able to give little bits of information about the artist and their history with graffiti.  Coming from various artists around the world, you are able to see how graffiti art was created from city to city.  Though little text was wrote on the pages, you really did not need a description of the work due to the fine detail and elaborate images created.   

*~* Powers, Stephen.  The Art of Getting Over.  New York : St. Martin 's Press; 1st edition, October 1999.

            Being a graffiti artist himself, Stephen put together a book for graffiti artists.  Comically written he puts together the story of how graffiti was then, compared to the life of modern graffiti.  Brilliant full color and black and white pictures are used to display the contrast between the past and the future.

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~ Journals:

*~* Higgs, Larry.  “Red Bank Takes Aim at Graffiti.”  Asbury Park Press. (October 2005).

                        In a small town, graffiti is all over the sides of dumpsters and back ally ways of buildings where it is a pretty penny for business owners to clean.  Some suggest having the school children paint murals on graffiti covered walls instead of removing them.  Many towns have an anti-graffiti law where if property owners don’t remove the graffiti themselves, public works crews will come in and bill the owner to remove it.  A third way suggested is refusing to sell minors spray paint.  No one really has the answer on stopping this graffiti.

*~* Powers, Lynn.  “What Ever Happened to the Graffiti Art Movement?”  Journal of Popular Culture.  29 (Spring 1996): p137-142.

                        Graffiti, on the other hand, was not an isolated activity. It became an important element within the New York City hip-hop subculture. This subculture was a lifestyle concerning styles of dress, language, dance and music. Graffiti was often described as imitating hip-hop culture.  Some critics believed that graffiti was the next reasonable development in art history.

*~* Satchell, Jeremy.  “Graffiti.”  Education in The Age (January 2002).

                        What is graffiti?  Everything you need to know about graffiti is written in this article from modern graffiti to political graffiti and vocabulary.  Taking a different approach the article suggests that graffiti might not be a form of art, but yet another language.  This is how young teens and graffiti artist communicate with one another and the community.  Although many residents of towns and cities don’t appreciate the art for what its worth, the artist will always create an image on a blank canvas.      

*~* Turner, Jennifer.  “Two Arrested for Alleged Gang Graffiti.”  The Benton County Daily Record.  (October 2005).

                        Up to date information about minors and graffiti, and the charges they press against the teens.  You would think that the appropriate charges would be destruction of property, but with more than eighty percent of the graffiti in the city linking back to the teens, they were charged with felony criminal mischief.  The police in the town are under the belief that all the graffiti in the city was to communicate with one another.  No one is sure if that is true, only the teens can tell the truth. 

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~ Internet Sites:

*~* Giammarise, Kate. Graffiti Issue Persists.  Available [Online] :

       <http://www.chillicothegazette.com>[4 October 2005]

This was an informative page written about the Chillicothe 's crown, Yoctangee Park .  It focused on the main issues about hate graffiti, how expensive it is to clean, hard to prosecute, and trying to find solutions.  Many of the towns will not clean up the hateful graffiti because they feel that once they clean it up; to the artists it is a clean canvas for them to start all over again.  They are trying to pay people who give out any information they have on the people who are committing these acts.  

*~* Morrison, Justin.  The Trainmen Who Keep Art Alive.   Available [Online]: 

         <http://www.dailyvanguard.com>

                     This piece was written by a man who simply loves graffiti art.  His whole focus on his writing was about old time trainmen that would doodle little drawings to achieve the same goal as huge graffiti art.  He also expressed his thoughts on a movie entitled The Lonely Trainmen film that inspired Vanessa Renwick's film “Critter” that explored the wonderful world of hobo and railroad worker art. 

*~*  Slocki, Ashley.  The Illegal Art.   Available [Online] :                                                    

         <http://www.barometer.orst.edu> [4 October 2005]

For Colin Wonnacott age 22, graffiti was a way for him to say “I am here.”  Graffiti is a way for Colin to claim his territory to gain some power.  He created “The Wall” located on the corner of First Street and Washington Avenue as a legal venue for the people to work on.  His work was created with various colors and different techniques to show his respect for graffiti art.

*~* Stowers, George. Graffiti Art An Essay Concerning The Recognition of Some Forms of Graffiti As Art.  Fall 1997 Available [Online] :

         <http://www.hiphop-network.com> [4 October 2005]

                        This piece was to explain the meanings and differences between what graffiti was and is in present day.  He takes an approach of saying that graffiti is not just a way for people to communicate with one another, but as a way to brighten up the community.  A very good point is brought up in the article about the difference in art and graffiti, location and presentation.  The where and when are the key factors that make graffiti unique in its art form.   

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~Become A Graffiti Artist:

          Have you ever thought about becoming a Graffiti Artist?  By clicking on the website below, creator Mike Wigen created a website to allow the public to experience graffiti writing.  Please be sure to read the Terms of Use section when creating your art work.  Note: If you choose to visit this website, you might have to download a program to your computer allowing it to run properly.  Have fun experiencing the various techniques of graffiti art.  

http://www.graffiticreator.net

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