|
| PAGE | 1 | 2 | |
 |
Speaking of sites how do you think the evolution of New York graffiti has been affected by the conversion of the subway trains to stainless steel which makes them no longer a suitable canvas for graff artists? |
| JIM: There's no doubt that train painting was instrumental in graffiti art's development. Some artists will tell you that conversion of the trains was devastating because the work they had been creating was meant to move. A few stopped writing altogether. The rest simply turned their talents to the streets and started to create bigger, more complex pieces on sites difficult to access and on the police beat. |
| KARLA: The trains may not be there anymore, or at least in terms of graffiti they're not, but I think the edge and the rawness still exist, particularly in bombing. And there will always be bombing. To 'get up' an artist has to become known for bombing, tagging, throw-ups and piecing. |
|
Could you explain those terms?
|
| KARLA: A tag is simply a writer's name or signature; a throw-up is a quickly executed letter outline that is either block or bubble shaped; and bombing involves covering large amounts of illegal or risky territory with tags or throw-ups. Pieces on the other hand are large multicolor works that incorporate various techniques and styles–they offer more quality and innovation but they require precision timing and a lot of pre-planning. |
| JIM: Getting up is what all graff artists want to achieve. It means that your work is recognized and your name is established. |
|
Is graffiti art something that can be taught?
|
| JIM: To a degree it is. Take the TATS CRU in the Bronx for example. The members are a group of friends who were bombing trains in the 80s but are now doing graff legally. They teach graffiti mural art at the Point Community Development Center a couple of times a month and they usually have around 20 to 30 kids attend. TATS CRU supply markers and paper and work with the kids on lettering and sketching |
| KARLA: TATS CRU have exhibited their work all over the world They've been commissioned by Coca Cola and have created memorial walls for rap artists—they are making a legal living out of the skills and talents they developed as illegal graffiti artists. |
| Succeeding against the odds. |
| JIM: It certainly is, particularly if you consider that for a very long time their work met nothing but resistance. |
 |
I understand you had a lot of difficulty photographing some of the pieces featured in Broken Windows. |
| KARLA: We sure did. Because we wanted to present the works with seamless, clean shots but the best vantage-points always seemed to be obstructed by things like fire hydrants, parking meters, and parked cars. In some cases we went to pretty extreme lengths to get what we wanted—but it paid off. |
| I guess the bigger walls posed the biggest challenges. |
| JIM: For the bigger walls we had to use composites made up of as many as 12 separate shots. It was a huge amount of work. |
| How did the graffiti artists react to September 11? |
| JIM: Oh, they were very sensitive about it. A lot of walls were painted as memorials and with great reverence for the victims. They told us that because so much had been taken away they wanted to try and give something back. |
| KARLA: Apparently a lot of people stopped to comment as the artists worked on the 9/11 pieces and encouraged them to do more of them. |
| Do you think it's possible to convince the public to see graffiti as a positive art form? |
| KARLA: The purpose of this book is to show people graffiti's awesome strength and to help them understand its underlying messages. Throughout history free forms of art have always had trouble being accepted. This gives me hope. |
| What does the future hold? |
| JIM: It's impossible to say. There is no doubt that graffiti has had a strong influence on other art forms and the media and it will continue to do so. Hip-hop borrows from graff all the time. Whatever the future holds I'm convinced graff's place in art history is already well-established |
KARLA: I think graffiti will continue to exist, but whether it will flourish or not, that remains to be seen. In Broken Windows a few of the artists have given us their views on the future. Perhaps therein lies the answer. |
| P A G E | 1 | 2 | |
| back to top |
