URBAN ART- STREETS OF CITIES - GRAFFITI & TAGS

Street art is an activity that has developed in urban public spaces, establishing connections between the visual message, the techniques of the artists (or writers and crews), and the wider audience of the city's wanderers.

Existing in dynamic cities, underground places, abandonned spots, the art is observable in the landscape of our reality. A direct impact in our society can translate it as : contributions of existence, passages, contestations of the dominant ideology, statement against political practice and systems. From paper to high buildings, the urban art exists in various ways and has different meanings.

The art has emerged worldwide.

The youngest find inspirations from the letterings of their elders, and will inspire the next generations. Most of them fill entire research sketchbooks called "black-books", they can be their portfolios or simply pocket notebook. Each writer has their own motivations. From apprentice to masters, the movement keep flowing in our streets.

Street art is participatory, it allows anyone to create, to paint over it, to add something to it, to complete it or to destroy it. Urban art seeks to enter in communication with a large circle of people. The observers and passers-by are also active participants, in fact, it is a part of the public sphere admitting social reactions about the visual artworks.



Earlier in history of art, the term " graffiti " is derived from graphein in Greek γράφειν meaning "to write". The word also has origins in Italy with the form graffito or graffiato which means engraved or scratched. 
Wall painting is an ancestral form of art to devote a presence in a place.
The fresco is a particular technique of mural painting that is carried out on a plaster before it dries. The term comes from the Italian word affresco, which means "in the fresh".
Contrary to mural frescoes, most of graffiti artworks are made without official commission, they are often done on a surface in the wild of a public area without rules. It exists legal spots where painting is allowed and associations of artists are growing the message to legalize the freedom of expression.




Difference between tags and graffitis : 


A tag is a smaller form of style writing, a signature, usually done with a marker in urban public surfaces. 
A graffiti is a more elaborated piece painted with different techniques and has a more consequent size.

Writers do not use their real names, but instead they create a new name that is used as a writer's tag, which is essential for every writer. Renaming oneself and developing a specific identity based on the tag and an original style is one of the basic motivating factors behind modern graffiti.







Pieces with sinograms characters are not very common yet. The majority of graffiti, if they include any words, are written in English, because Euro-American graffiti found on the Internet is used as models. 
 One reason for not using Chinese characters is related to the question of style. According to writers themselves, Chinese characters become easily illegible if written in a vigorous wildstyle and therefore English is still preferred. But the Asian scene of writing is growing numbers ! (Soos, interview, 13 June 2008; interview, 1 July 2008)




Both graffiti and tags have a meaning of a manifestation of self-expression of existence in society. 
Painting is an art form where the gesture is as important as the result.





Urban art is often an act described as temporary due to alterations of life movements. It involves time and space. The transience of street art is what proves the impermanence of life itself.
There are no copyright or money involved, the audacity and visibity of the artworks show the passage of a - wanderer, a potential human, a crew, a uncommon personnality, a random one, an intellectual artist, anyone... who can feel it.

"Nothing last, as long as you can remember."

Coffin of BIZR (crew LORDS)

Cities are hubs and epicentres of creativity. Mobilising, concentrating, channelling human creative energies. Communities emerge with development of communication to share ideas, common interests, to help each others.
They turn that energy into technical and artistic innovations, create new forms of commerce and new industries, contribute to the evolving paradigms of community and civilization.
The term Urban Art is broader than Street Art and also includes legal works. Urban Art is an umbrella term for art in the style of Street Art, Style Writing or mural art.

Many artists show interest for the freedom of expression and the research of identity (such as chosing a name to tag, finding their people, their genres, their place...)
New socio-politial circumstances are emerging with modern nations and challenge traditions : writing in public spaces become a form of manifestation of political act. The conspicuousness of public areas become the white papers and canvas of new forms of expressions.




- from a legal point of view – these are often considered to be vandalism.

Although some street arts today have roots in propaganda or political posters, urban art seeks to communicate or send a message " intentionally in communication with a large circle of people ".
It can have a rebellious statement against authorities and capitalist systems. The authenticity of these art forms focus attention on illegality, illegibility, anti-commercialism, transience/temporarity, public and private, freedom and more. The heritage values of street art must be experienced, and being able to see it in the street is the experience.