Welcome to....Chicago Graffiti
| L-Train: Hello, I am a first year student at DePaul University in Lincoln Park. I am originally from the north side of Chicago although I did live in New York City for five years. I attended Northside College Preparatory high school where I excelled in many things. I played volleyball and water polo for the first two years of high school and then gave them up. This website is an assignment for our Explore Chicago graffiti course. Besides the website we have been volunteering at different service learning sites all scattered throughout Chicago. The community service has been a worth-while experience. |
| Mondiddy: Wasup everyone, this Mondiddy. I’m from Chicago; I used to go to Lincoln Park high school before DePaul University. Surprisingly. Things have changed a lot since beginning college. Lost touch with old friends and thoughts. While meeting some new ones, and learning a bunch of new stuff too. The biggest surprise of all is how I’ve been able to stay on top of my grades, something I never expected. I haven’t gotten a B on a math test in 3 years until now. Just proving how bizarre things have turned out to be. |
| J to that Izzo: My name is J.D.S. and I go to DePaul University. I graduated form Lane Tech High School. I can honestly relate to this class because I used to be involved with graffiti and bombing. I first started writing when I was about nine years old. It was something that I liked to do because of the rush of doing something illegal. I feel that this class has really caught my attention considering it is the first quarter and I really don’t take to school. The various projects that we do in this class are not new to me in that I have been around this art for so long, but they are very fascinating and I do appreciate this class in its entirety. |
Vandalizm: is the unauthorized painting (and, more recently, window etching) of private or public property that vandalizes roadsides, mass transit, commercial districts, and residential areas. These taggers use spray paint, markers, shoe polish, rollers with paint, blades, and anything else they can get their hands on to write on anything and everything they can. Tagging is not the only form of graffiti vandalism; there is also gang graffiti. Gang graffiti is everywhere there are gangs. They use many different signs and symbols to show pride in their gang or to put down another gang. This form of vandalism is looked down upon by mostly all graffiti writers whether they tag themselves or not.
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| Graff Blasters: In recent years, graffiti blasters have become as big of a presence in the graffiti world as graffiti writers themselves. Especially in Chicago, where we have the nations top graffiti blasting team and equipment. New technology has enabled the removal of permanent spray paint pieces from nearly any surface through the use of highly concentrated amounts of baking soda. In class, we watched the process of graffiti elimination. It was an eerie site that brought mixed emotions. Pissed, because graffiti was being erased ( and we like graffiti,) but kind of happy because the tag sucked. |  |
| Taggin': To some, tagging is art and a “way of life”, but to others, tagging is whack, and not artistic. Tags are usually done very quickly. An artist usually carries a large permanent marker - such as a Magnum 44 – while out and about, and quickly marks his name on public property. Tags are sometimes seen as someone’s claim of territory. Tagging can be related to gang graffiti, in that it establishes status and lets everyone know who they are. But to more artistic and real graffiti artists, tagging is a less creative way to get known or up. Tagging is considered whack when all an “artist” does is tag, you are not a true graffiti artists if you just know how to scribble your name a bunch of times. |  |
| Permission Walls :“Permission” is defined as: formal consent. Permission walls can be obtained in one of two ways. Either the graffiti artists asks the owner of a building, or place of business, or the owner contacts the graffiti writer asking them to do something for them. A permission wall is when an owner allows graffiti artists to paint on his property. It is legal because the actual owner is allowing the graffiti. The owner is usually not creatively involved, but can be. The owner always OK’s the final sketch to make sure that he is making the right choice of what is being painted on his property. |   |
| Throw Ups: Throw ups stand in the middle ground of tags and pieces. It’s not done as quickly, and easily as a tag. It’s not as complex or decorative as a piece. Many times tagging is seen as toy. When writers want to be recognized and seen in the community, without tagging, throw ups are a perfect outlet. They can be executed in a matter of minutes, while exuding much more space and, color. For a writer throw ups can also be a way of experimenting with an array of styles, such as a basic blueprint for a more elaborate piece in mind. |  |
| Alternatives: Alternatives is located at 4732 Sheridan, close to the intersection of Lawrence and Sheridan. On Saturdays, Alternatives has a break dancing program from 1:30-4:00. Whether you are an experienced break-dancer or not, going to Alternatives will be a positive experience. As an experienced breaker, you can come and dance with other experienced breakers; you can shares moves and styles. If you are inexperienced it’s ok, there are volunteers there to help you learn. Everyone at Alternatives is really nice and genuine. I would encourage any child to go to Alternatives at least once to see what it’s about, and to see if it is a place for you. |  |
| Southwest: I have found my community service site to be fun and enjoyable. It was nothing like I expected to be; crazy busy with kids running around everywhere. Southwest youth collaborative is just a spot to chill at on your Sundays off. So far I have participated in 3 of the hip hop courses being taught there. For the graffiti course, we all thought of a tag name for ourselves and tried to come up with creative, unique ways of writing our names. For the MC session I participated in, I had a lot of fun. We all wrote words on index cards, combined them all. Shuffled them around and went around in a circle picking a card. Whatever word you got, you had to begin rhyming and free styling to it on the spot. It was hard most of the time, and I’d end up blabbering about things that don’t make sense, but hey it rhymed! So I’ve been having some fun there. |  |
L-Train: My Photo Essay was on my friend, Morgan. Morgan is friend the north side of Chicago. He has been doing graffiti for almost 8 years. He first started in 7th grade. Morgan is in two crews, he helped form FYM (Free Your Mind) and is in NSH. Morgan did not always write Morgan, he could first been seen writing ESCO, and then Master, or Mast. Although he has changed his writing name a few times, he is most well known using Morgan. Besides Chicago, Morgan has gotten up in California, San Antonio, Tennessee, and small various parts of the Midwest.
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Mondiddy: In the beginning, trying to find a topic for my photo essay was getting on my last nerves because my mind just couldn’t come up with anything. Until I was chillin with my friend one day, and realized that he would be the perfect subject of my paper. Crae is the writer (as in graffiti writer, not the one who wrote) who is the topic of my photo essay. I decided to do sort of a biography on his life as a writer. Where he came from, what influenced him into wanting to paintand how he has become a staple of the current Chicago graffiti scene. I feel that I’ve done a proficient job on my essay, hopefully Professor Vandenberg will agree. |
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J to that Izzo: In my photo essay I am taking an in-depth look into my very own life and the graffiti and crime that I participated in. I am going to start from the beginning of my knowledge of the art and how it led me to a life of crime and vandalism. I am going to interview a close friend of mine as well and let you see his point of view on the art of bombing versus that of permission writing. I will also show many pictures of bombing throughout Chicago done by another one of my friends who writes, “HUMOR.”
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