"People
probably chipped these things on the walls of Egyptian bathrooms 2,000 years
ago. So progress is a ball-point pen."
-
Graffiti
on bathroom wall of a Berkeley coffehouse
·
Graffiti
is the term for writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly
on a wall or other surface in a public place. Stickers and other
adhesives are not considered to be graffiti.
·
The
singular of the term is graffito.
·
The
word’s use in that context dates from 1851, when it was used in Italy for
ancient wall inscriptions found in the ruins of Pompeii. It comes for the Latin “graffiti” meaning “a
scribbling”, which in turn comes from the Greek “graphein”, meaning “to
scratch, draw, write.”
·
The
term “graffiti” was applied in art to the creation of a work by scratching a
design into a surface. A related term,
“sgraffito”, applied to a technique of scratching through one layer of pigment
to reveal another below it, a device utilised by potters who scratched designs
into the glazes.
·
Although
the earliest forms of drawing on, and scratching into, walls dates back to
30,000 BC - prehistoric cave paintings
and pictorial depictions – it has been disputed that these constitute
graffiti. Certainly in the modern sense
the term graffiti refers to unauthorised works, often in the nature of
vandalism, whereas the prehistoric works were endorsed by the tribe.
·
The
first known example of "modern style" graffiti survives in the
ancient Greek city of Ephesus in modern day Turkey.
It is an
advertisement on one of the marble paving stones for a brothel and shows a
heart, a cross, a woman’s head, a foot and cash. It has been translated as “turn left at the
cross roads where you can buy a woman’s love”.
·
Craved
graffiti has also been found on the walls and monuments of ancient Rome and
Greece, where it declared love, made political comment and expressed
thoughts. Graffiti has been preserved in
Pompeii by the eruption of Vesuvius and shows that graffiti was widespread,
especially in the brothels and the gladiator school, so much so that the
basilica contains a graffito: “O walls,
you have held up so much tedious graffiti that I am amazed that you have not
already collapsed in ruin.”
Graffito from
ancient Pompeii showing a caricature of a politician
·
Some
examples of word graffiti from Pompeii:
"Satura was here on September 3rd"
"…If she can break my tender heart, why can't I hit her over the
head?"
"Celadus the Thracier makes the girls moan!"
"Here Harpocras has had a good fuck with Drauca for a
denarius."
"Lucius painted this."
"To the one defecating here. Beware of the curse. If
you look down on this curse, may you have an angry Jupiter for an enemy."
"Gaius Sabinus says a fond hello to Statius. Traveller, you
eat bread in Pompeii but you go to Nuceria to drink. At Nuceria, the
drinking is better."
"The city block of the Arrii Pollii in the possession of Gnaeus
Alleius Nigidius Maius is available to rent from July 1st. There are
shops on the first floor, upper stories, high-class rooms and a house. A
person interested in renting this property should contact Primus, the slave of
Gnaeus Alleius Nigidius Maius."
"If anyone sits here, let him read this first of all: if anyone
wants a screw, he should look for Attice; she costs 4 sestertii."
“Restituta, take off your tunic, please, and show us your hairy
privates.”
"Chie, I hope your haemorrhoids rub together so much that they
hurt worse than when they ever have before!"
·
The
most famous of ancient graffiti, dating back to the end of the second century,
refer5s to the advent of Christianity. It is a caricature of Jesus in which he
is tied to a cross with his feet restiing on a horizontal board--and he has the
head of a donkey. Next to him is a Christian with arms raised in adoration, and
underneath is the commentary, "Alexamenos worships his god."
·
Modern
graffiti began appearing in the early 20th century on American
boxcars and subways.
Engraving of
Kilroy was here on the World war 11 Memorial in Washington, DC
Dating from the
1920’s the graffito “Kilroy was here” began to appear and spread
internationally. In England the phrase
was changed to “Chad was here”; in Australia it was “Foo was here”. Some historians claim that “Foo was here”
predates “Kilroy was here” by twenty years or more – see:
Although
political messages on walls developed in the 60’s and 70’s, especially
associated with student unrest and opposition to the Vietnam War, the real
spread of modern graffiti was associated with the development and spread of hip
hop culture in the early 1980’s. That
culture also brought break dancing and rap to prominence, the depictions in the
film Style Wars causing international emulation.
Stencil graffiti
also began appearing in this period, including in Australia as documented by
photographer Rennie Ellis.
·
Today
the popularity of graffiti has led both to a degree of legitimisation and its
commercialisation. It is now the subject
of numerous video games and numerous graffiti artists – for example 123Klan and
Banksy – have built professional careers in design and art as a result of
popularity and high profiles from graffiti.
Some of Banksy’s
graffiti
·
In
May 2012, just before the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, a graffito appeared on
the side of a London shop which, in 2010, had been found to be selling items
produced by an Indian sweatshop where a 7 year old boy had been working 100
hours per week.
The graffito
depicted a young boy, appearing to be of Asian origin, producing Union Jack
bunting on an old sewing machine. The
image has been interpreted as a comment on the exploitation of third world
cheap labour by the West, by nationalistic celebrations and by the corporations
which profit from them.
Whilst the
graffito is in the style of Banksy, it is not known whether it was made by
him. Most people accept that it is a Banksy work.
Another Banksy street art work.
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