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Create My Own Graffiti
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Create My Own Graffiti
Graffiti Creator
Graffiti Groups
 Those who write graffiti for more
than a few months typically go through a series of structured stages similar to those of more
recognized careers. As we have seen, the writer begins with tagging, a solo activity that
satisfies a range of individualistic needs.
After a few months, most taggers abandon the marker and spray can
for non-graffiti pastimes, but those who continue on to the next career stages-the painting
of "throw-ups" and larger, more complex "pieces"-begin to collaborate and in the process
forge close personal and professional relationships.
[ Create My Own Graffiti ]
 The new emphasis on style prompts
them to cluster in groups, constructing, according to Richard Lachmann, "a total art world"
for discussing new designs, devising aesthetic standards, and judging innovations.
Historically, writers from the same schools and neighborhoods began gathering at local coffee
shops and parks in the early 1970's, and eventually "writers corners" appeared-subway stops
where writers from across the city would gather to share ideas and to watch and evaluate train
pieces.
Many of the early artists also dabbled in neighborhood gangs,
which, like graffiti, satisfied their craving for identity and recognition. Anxious to paint
across the city, most found the gangs too restrictive, however, and eventually broke these
ties, often advertising their independence by wearing gang-style denim jackets on which they
painted their graffiti tags.
Preoccupied with rivalries and impressed by the writer's
fearlessness and skill, gangs generally left them alone, but for a short time in the early
1970's, artists in areas where gang wars were especially intense sought safety in numbers and
established writing gangs such as Brooklyn's ex-Vandals.
This strategy backfired, however, sparking conflicts among writers
and with some of the larger non-graffiti gangs, and by 1973, the ex-Vandals and similar
groups had disbanded. As the graffiti gangs dissolved, writers began to organize more
informal groups or crews, not for protection, but for companionship, collaboration, and
support.
Create My Own Graffiti ]
The first crews were master groups of highly skilled and
experienced writers-"crack team[s] that couldn't be touched ... a chosen few that were in a
class by themselves," according to Phase 2. The high standards and exclusivity of these crews
created intense competition among those vying for membership as well as between rival groups.
Beginners' crews and groups composed of writers at various levels of proficiency also
surfaced.
The Baltimore writer Deka became involved in one of these
multi-level crews as a teen. Touched by "a fever" for graffiti at the age of ten, he
regularly cut his high school classes to watch and draw with older, more accomplished writers
who would critique his work and at times share letter models with him. Eventually some took
him into their crew, where Deka assisted on pieces designed and executed by his mentors:
"they took me on, and I just started doing characters and stuff like that cause they were
doing heavy detail work," he recalls. "Its almost like an apprenticeship, they'd start you
off with characters so you couldn't mess up the wall too bad . . . ."
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