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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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