Presentation Feedbacks (Tomomi)

I would like to write about the feedbacks for our virtual NPO which we created and presented to our classmates in class. We made an NPO called "SOV(School of graffiti)", to broaden peoples understandings towards graffiti. Brief outline of NPO is explained in Azusa's post before.

Although many people had negative image towards graffiti when we have made a survey, most people found our NPO's issue important. Through our presentation, we mentioned about other NPO groups to work together which were all from outside Japan. We wanted to include some elements of Japan but it was really difficult to find any of those informations. From the class, I have found out that such organization is very rare and people have less understandings compared with other countries in Japan. I hope that graffiti positive NPO in Japan would become reality in the future.

NPO Outline

As I mentioned in the last post, my classmate and I made a virtual NPO. In this post, I would like to share the outline of the organization.

Through our surveys, we found out that many people don't know much about graffiti, but most of them have bad image toward it. To coexist with graffiti, we thought it is effective for us to give lectures. Thus, we decided to make our NPO, "School of Graffiti".

The issue that we deal with is the fact that many people don't know much about graffiti and the goal is to reduce their misunderstandings on graffiti. To achieve the goal, we visit schools and give lectures and we also hold graffiti shows. To recruit our  members, we ask graffiti artists for volunteer and we also visit art schools and ask students to join us. We raise our funds by donations and selling our own t-shirts.

As far as we have researched there are NPOs that stands on only one side, whether it is good or bad. However, there are no group that state there are good ones and bad ones. Therefore, our group would be the first organization to stand on both sides. As we don't require membership fee, it might be easier for people of any age to join our group and by joining our group, we hope that we can tell there are both good and bad sides of graffiti.

Also, I made promotion video for our organization.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rflJhrHpfUM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This will be my last post on graffiti! Thank you very much for viewing:)

Presentation Feedbacks

This blog is for our class. The goal was to make a virtual NPO/NGO on controversial issues and our NPO was on Graffiti. In our last class, we did a presentation and we got feedbacks from our classmates, so let me share that.  

Most of the comments were positive and they said that they are interested in our NPO. They caught the purpose of our NPO, so I think we communicated what we wanted to the audience. Through the feedbacks and our research, I found out there are very few information about graffiti in Japan. We had a comment that we should give examples in Japan. While doing research, it was very hard for us to find out statistics or surveys on graffiti in Japan. Thus, it might be necessary for our NPO to research that.

Sharing the survey result (Tomomi)

I would like to share my survey result as well!
20 people answered to my survey and most were teenage girl.



Q1 Please tell us about your…

Nationality: American 1   Japanese  19

Gender:  Male 5  Female  15

Age:  17→1   18→2  19→12  20→3  49→1  55→1

Q2 How much do you know about graffiti? Please write anything you know about it.

Don't know much  3

It is painted on walls/tunnels  11

Something illegal/bad  3

Know graffiti artists  2                                                                                        (1 did not answer)

Q3 What do you think graffiti is most similar to?

 Comments for other:

・ I think it is both →3 person

・Nuisance(troublesome behavior)

Q4 Do you think graffiti should be banned?

Q5 Choose the image closest to your image of graffiti from below

Q 6 Seeing the pictures above, has your image towards graffiti changed? If so, how?

It didn't change→ 5

It did (In a positive way)→ 12

                                                                                                                     (3 did not answer)

From the survey, I have found out that many people have a negative image towards graffiti without much knowledge. My survey was answered mainly by young people, but if I asked older generations I think they will have even more negative image towards it. I understand that graffiti sometimes have bad effects and I am not saying that all graffiti are god. But I personally think some has values as an art. Through the survey I felt that it would be better if there were more understandings towards graffiti.

Sharing the survey result

I did a survey regarding to graffiti and I got answers from 23 people.

Q1. Please tell me…

・Your nationality　Japan 21　America１　China 1

・Where you currently live Tokyo 6  Kanagawa 1  Saitama 2  Japan 16  Karamay 1

・Gender Female 18  Male 5

・Age 18→3  19→15  20→2  48→1  49→1  55→1

Q2.Have you done graffiti?

Q3.What image do you have toward graffiti?

Q4.Have you ever seen graffiti near (within about 10 minutes by walk) your house?

Q5. Do you know any graffiti artists? If you do, please name them.

   No 17 Yes 5 ( Banksy 2, Keith Haring2, Jean Michel Basquiat)

Q6. Do you think graffiti has a bad influence or good influence on society? Tell my why you think that.

For the reasons of the answers, I had...

It can be both, it’s artistic, it seems dangerous, it may damage environment, it is not impressive, etc.

One person did not answer the question because…

I can't answer this question because it 1) depends on the type of graffiti and, 2) depends on the context. Some graffiti (like Banksy's) makes an important social commentary, however, other graffiti is just a gang's territory "marking" or just done to damage property and to show distain. It also depends or whether it damages private property or provides some enhancement to public property.

Q7. What painting materials do you think is for graffiti?

Q8. Have you ever seen a Graffiti- related TV program? What type of program(News, Variety, etc.) was it? When did you watch it?

No 15 Yes 7( News 3, Musical 1, Traveling 1, Radio, 1Variety Show 1)

Q9. Has your property ever been damaged by graffiti? If yes, comment how it was damaged.

No 22 Yes 1

Comment

The "mansion" that I live in now has been graffittied many times. The home owners' association have to decide to paint over it or to just leave it alone. If it's left alone there's the danger that it will attract more graffiti and lower the property value. I think we should hold a graffiti writing championship and try to attract more highly skilled graffiti artists. My opinion isn't popular.

Mansion means apartment in Japan.

Q.10 Are there any actions to stop graffiti around you? If yes, comment what kind of actions are done.

Yes 3  No19

・Wall painting by school children

・ Installing surveillance cameras and clearly posting the penalties for doing graffiti.

Through the answers of the survey I found out that although many people think graffiti are environmentally bad, they don’t know much about it. In my opinion, as one person answered in question six, they have both bad and good sides. By spreading knowledge and people to know that graffiti have both sides, I think we can reduce misunderstandings on it and we can live together.

Answering Questions ⑦

I would like to answer to question 13, 14 and 15 !!



13) Are there any rules between graffiti artists?


I have found some on the Internet, but they probably have spread through artists to artists so all of them are without evidence.

As I have explained in the earlier post, there are rules that you can only paint over other's work if you can overcome its quality. I searched a little more and there were more specific rules with in it. Even with the quality, it doesn't mean that you can paint over everything. There are several types of graffiti such as tagging, throw up and piece. Tagging is a sign of a name written in one color. Throw up is work painted quickly using two colors. Piece use more than three colors and often requires techniques. You can paint throw up over tagging, but you can't tag over throw up. Same goes for piece. You can draw them over throw up, but you can't paint throw up over piece. The original level required is different with in each style. So you had to keep that in mind when you paint over other's graffiti.

There were also some rules that you can only use the spray that you stole.

These rules are rules in Japan. Artists in America for example, think that they are the rules and make up their own. It seemed that American artists are more free in painting than Japanese. Maybe rules are something cultural.


14) Why do some places have more graffiti than other?


In some places graffiti is legalized. For example in Mexico, the police helps artists to find walls for them to paint on. Some place use graffiti to decorate the city and use it as a sightseeing. Mexico has even ordered artists to paint the whole city which surprisingly reduced the crime rate.

15) Does graffiti have copyright?


Graffiti is some times illegal and often taken as a vandalism so many people feels uncomfortable with graffiti copyrights. Although copyright rules are different in each countries, most of them don't require its lawfulness.  Every original and artistic works can have copyright. So even if it was illegal, as long as it has originality and is artistic, it can have copyrights. But I think many artist do not care much about it.


＜Bibliography＞



グラフィティ暗黙のルール【Jimule】ブログ. (n.d.). Retrieved July 23, 2016, from http://www.jimule.com/blog/60.htm

ETSU, J. (n.d.). グラフィティのルールに縛られる日本人ライター | graffiti art jimule. Retrieved July 23, 2016, from http://jimule.jugem.jp/?eid=151

Eisinger, D. (n.d.). Police in Mexico City are Helping Street Artists Find Walls to Paint. Retrieved July 24, 2016, from http://www.complex.com/style/2014/01/street-art-in-mexico-city-police-help-artists

Mexican Government Asked Street Artists To Paint 200 Houses To Unite Community. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2016, from http://www.boredpanda.com/crew-germen-graffiti-town-mural-palmitas-mexico/

Illegal graffiti capable of copyright protection. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2016, from http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/articles/2595

Answering Questions ⑥

I would like to answer to question 11 & 12 !!!


11) Do styles of graffiti differ within the country?


The style of graffiti is different within each artist so it is very difficult to find the cultural differences in it. They might write it in their language. For example, Japanese painting in Kanji. But I think that is all.


12) Has graffiti changed within times?


When it started, graffiti was just tagging their names by spray. But as the time passed, different styles appeared. I would like to introduce some of the styles that has developed through times.


Stencil

Stencil graffiti is painting using stencils made of cardboard, paper and other more. It began in 1960's New York. Some of the famous stencil graffiti artists are John Fekner, Belk Le Rat, and Faile. It enables graffiti artists to put up complicated pieces very quickly, and also make it possible to paint much more detailed picture than just using spray can. Stencill graffiti was made popular by the likes of stelcil artist, Banksy, and has now spread through the world. It is thought to be associated with political and social issues more than other graffiti methods.

Wild style

Wild style is one of the most complicated forms of graffiti, developed by artist such as Stay high 149 and Tracy 168 in New York. It often contains arrows, curves, spikes and many other elements, which needs techniques. They are usually painted in 3D. Its form is very complex and stylized that it is hard for untrained people to read what it says.

Blockbuster

Blockbuster is a style used to cover a large area in a small amount of time. They are usually written in straight block bold simple letters. It is often painted with roller, which makes it faster and easier for them to paint. It is said to have been created to cover others work or to block somebody from writing in the same area.

＜Bibliography＞

"Graffiti Designs & Styles: Tagging, Bombing and Painting." WebUrbanist Graffiti Designs Styles Tagging Bombing and Painting Comments. N.p., 2009. Web. 20 July 2016.

"What Is Stencil Graffiti." What Is It. Sixtine Gurrey, n.d. Web. 20 July 2016.

"What Is Stencil Graffiti." What Is It. Sixtine Gurrey, n.d. Web. 20 July 2016.

Answering Questions Vol6-Final-

13．What is the most common place to do graffiti in Japan?

              I couldn’t find statistics or articles relating to this question. However, as I mentioned in the past posts, they are paints that are done basically on public properties, such as, trains and buildings, which doesn’t belong to an individual. I think I see them mainly under railway viaducts.

Picture of a graffiti that I took

14. Is there any graffiti museums?

              There are graffiti exhibitions in museums. For example, in 2014,“City as Canvas: Graffiti Art From the Martin Wong Collection” took place at the Museum of the City of New York. They showed the graffiti-related materials by Martin Wong.

              In Yamanashi, Japan, there is a museum of Keith Haring, who used to be a graffiti artist. It is the first museum in the world to show only his works.

Pictures of art works by Keith Haring that I took at the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection

15. What city is famous for graffiti in the United States?

              Big cities such as, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago are famous for graffiti. As I mentioned, New York is the city where graffiti became famous firstly. Also, in Los Angeles, you can see graffiti in all over the city.  

Bibliography

• Johnson, K. (2014, February 06). Writing Was on the Wall, and Some Still Remains. Retrieved July 17, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/arts/design/graffiti-art-at-the-museum-of-the-city-of-new-york.html?_r=0

• Nakamura Keith Haring Collection. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2016, from http://www.nakamura-haring.com/pg25.html

• Art Crimes: City Walls: United States. (n.d.). Retrieved July 17, 2016, from https://www.graffiti.org/index/usa.html

Answering Questions Vol5

 I would answer questions No10 to 12 in this post.

10. Is there some communities that their public security became bad because of graffiti?

I couldn’t find a specific community that their public security became bad only because of graffiti. However, as I mentioned in the past posts, graffiti is basically paints that are done illegally, to protest the society that they live. Therefore, as the numbers of graffiti grows, the number of crimes would be high. I think that is why people think graffiti has an influence on public security.

11. What kind of measures are done by government or communities to prevent people from doing graffiti in Japan?

As I answered in Answering Questions vol2, there are places like Shimokitazawa Ichibangai or Miyashita Park in Tokyo that ask famous artists or students to paint their walls or shutters to prevent graffiti. I also asked these questions in a survey that I am doing right now. Two people answered that they have seen paints by elementary school students on the public walls.

12. When do people do graffiti?

I also couldn’t find the answer to this question. In my guess, I think they do it during night because they don’t want people to see their face since it is a crime.

Links to my past posts that I mentioned in this post

l  http://graffiti-controversial.blogspot.jp/2016/07/answering-questions-vol3.html

l  http://graffiti-controversial.blogspot.jp/2016/06/questions-regarding-to-graffiti-vol2.html

Answering Questions vol 4

In today’s post, I will answer questions 7 to 9.

7. Is there any country that graffiti is not illegalized?

I couldn’t find any country where graffiti is allowed in anyplace. However, I found places where people can do graffiti legally. One of the most famous places is Venice Beach in California, United States. There is also a legal place for graffiti in London. At Alexandra Palace’s skate park. People have permission to do so from the Alexandra Palace itself. One problem they have is that the wall space is limited.

8. What do you do if someone does graffiti on your house?

My reply to this question is if the graffiti is artistic, I will keep it, but it is for example, just spraying their names or bad words, I would erase it. I might also put a security camera.

9. How much does it cost to erase square meter graffiti?

I couldn’t get the answer by square meter but I got the answer for square foot. If you ask to do it to professional service, it would cost from a dollar to $3.5. If you do it by yourself, it would be $0.02 to $0.3. One another site said that it depends on the wall material, but it is about $1-$3 as well.

 

Bibliography

l  http://matadornetwork.com/trips/10-places-where-graffiti-is-legal/

l  http://blog.thelondonvandal.com/2013/05/legal-graffiti-walls-london/

l  http://www.howmuchisit.org/graffiti-removal-cost/

l  http://www.graffitisolutions.com/node/6

Answering Questions ⑤

I am going to anser to question 9 & 10 :)

9) If graffiti was legalized, would it still be considered as vandalism?

This is all just my opinion, but many people consider graffiti as vandalism because some graffiti artists paint on someone's property. Even if graffiti was legalized, I think it doesn't mean that they would allow them to continue damaging people’s property. It would probably only allow graffiti to be painted in certain public spaces or areas. Unless all artists follow the rules, even if it was legalized, I feel that many of the people would still consider it as vandalism.

 

 

10) How did graffiti spread around the world?

 

 

Modern graffiti, as Azusa explained in the earlier post, is said to have appeared in Philadelphia in early 1960s and reached to New York in the late sixties. As the tome goes on, graffiti gradually starts to get paid attention. In 1971, New York Times made an interview to "TAKI 183", a graffiti artist, which was the first time this subculture was introduced to the world. This article spread graffiti to the world and TAKI 183 got well-known as the first writer. 

 

Sorry for being a little short. There wasn't much information.

＜Bibliography＞

"Birth and Evolution." Birth and Evolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 July 2016.

"グラフィティの歴史　history of Graffiti　web餓鬼の眼." グラフィティの歴史　history of Graffiti　web餓鬼の眼. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 July 2016.






 

Answering Questions ④

I'd like to answer to question 7 & 8!



7) Why do graffiti artist paint over someone else's piece? Why do they accept that?


I always wondered why they accept it. There were no clear answer to this question but I'd like to introduce a possible answer.

Most of graffiti artists know that their piece of work is something that won't last forever. Battling and competition is part of graffiti culture. Artist could paint over someone else's piece only if they are certain to overcome its quality. It means that better you are, more accepted you become and piece remains longer. It also leads to the improvement of the whole graffiti quality.

However, not all go like this way. It was surprising to find out but many also hate to be painted over. This may be because many artists are an amateur. Also some graffiti has meanings. Such as gangs painting it to show it is their territory. In that case, the situation gets a little different. People get beaten up by bats, have someone broken into their house, or worse get hit by a car. Even with the culture, I felt that it is better not to draw on somebody's piece if it was in place you do not know much about. So as a result, it might be that it just seems to be accepted for us, but in reality isn't.

This got nothing to do with the question but it was very interesting when researching, that finding rules between graffiti artists in English sites was very difficult, but as soon as I changed into Japanese I found it straight away.



8) Do artists paint in groups or alone?


Many artists paint with 1~3 people. This is because it is easier for them to paint if they have someone who watches out for the police or gangs. When painting a big piece, it sometimes takes several hours for them to finish. Concentrating both on their painting and the police would be a great stress. Although, they do not bring too many people because then they get found more easily. so I thing they do not paint with more that 10 people.



＜Bibliography＞

"Graffiti Q & A." Graffiti Q & A. Ed. Susan Farrell. Art Crimes, n.d. Web. 10 July 2016.

"ヒップホップ・グラフィティの歴史と暗黙のルール～ヘタクソは上書き禁止." RSS. Global Information Site Silzou, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 10 July 2016.

"What's Graffiti?" What's Graffiti? WORLD OF STREET ART, n.d. Web. 10 July 2016. http://yachu-graf.com/street_art/what.html

Answering Questions ③

I would like to answer to question 5 & 6 this week!


5) Are there any laws for graffiti?

I found out that there are laws for graffiti in some countries.

In America for example, there are graffiti laws within different states.

In California, it is stated that…

“Every person who maliciously commits any of the following acts with respect to any real or personal property not his or her own, in cases other than those specified by state law, is guilty of vandalism: (1) Defaces with graffiti or other inscribed material (2) Damages  (3) Destroys.” It clearly mentions “graffiti” and in the law it also defined graffiti as any word, figure, mark, or design, that is written, marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on property. If the damage of destruction cost more than $400, the person had to pay a fine not more that $10000 or put in to jail for not more than a year.

In NY, it is stated that…

“Defacement of property, possession, sale and display of aerosol spray paint cans, [and] broad tipped markers and etching acid prohibited in certain instances.” And there were more specific laws. I was really surprised by it since New York is where graffiti has started, and I thought it would be more generous with graffiti. Not only does it ban people to draw on public and personal property, it also requires property owners to remove it (Call the city). It turned out to be much strict than I thought it would be.

But as a country, there are no laws specific to graffiti. However, an individual's right to free speech and expression is protected in The First Amendment to the US Constitution, which I think graffiti could be included in. It depends whether you consider graffiti as “ART” or “Vandalism”. I personally take it as a form of talent and a way of expression (if it wasn’t causing any trouble to people). I don’t want cities to be too strict with graffiti.

6) What is the definition of  "Graffiti"?


I searched throgh different dictionary to find an answer. It is a little similar to Azusa's post.

In Obunsha’s COMPREHENSIVE English-Japanese Dictionary, it defines graffito (graffiti) as “scratch, writing, drawing in public spaces”. I looked up few other dictionaries but most of them said the same thing. However Longman Dictionary of Cotemporary English LONGMAN was a little different and said “rude, humorous or political writing and pictures on the walls of buildings, trains etc.”

It is hard to say which is right, but one thing I found out is that there is no word that has exactly the same meaning as graffiti in Japanese. If you translate it to Japanese it would be “落書き(rakugaki)” which means scribble and does not necessarily mean drawings on walls. If you say “落書き(rakugaki)” to Japanese people I think only a few people would think of graffiti. Also, I personally felt that dictionary made in Japan tend to explain graffiti as in more negative way. So although the definition in English would be the one I have mentioned first, I thought that it is different within different countries.





＜Bibliography＞

California Penal Code - PEN § 594 | FindLaw." Findlaw. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 July 2016. http://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-code/pen-sect-594.html

Anti-Graffiti City and State Legislation." Anti-Graffiti City and State Legislation. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 July 2016. http://www.nyc.gov/html/nograffiti/html/legislation.html

Takahashi, Genji, and Yoshio Ogawa, eds. Obunsha’s COMPREHENSIVE English-Japanese Dictionary. 8th ed. Shinjyuku: Oubunsha, 1975. Print.

Longman Dictionary of Cotemporary English LONGMAN. Vol. 4. Shinjyuku: Kiriharashoten, 2005. Print.