Then there are the more intricate pieces that get done. These require a lot more time, effort and skill. The graffiti artists who do these works are usually part of a ‘crew.’ A crew is a group of graffiti artists who share either the same style or live in the same area. Tyno69, who heads a local crew, ‘DB Crew’ explained the differences between those who just tag and those who do pieces. “Taggers go around and tag their ‘nicks’ everywhere without ever doing a proper piece, I hate them, they are absolutely useless!” They are looked down upon by the rest of the graffiti world and gain no respect from other graffiti artists. “The ability to produce a complicated piece is what separates a tagger from a graffiti artist.”
Stencilling is also another form of graffiti. It is where a stencil is made that usually carries a certain statement, political or social. It is often used as a way of getting the same message up in a number of places, in a shorter amount of time. This method has also been used as a marketing strategy by various companies whose target market is the hip-hop and skater cultured youth. A clothing label in Cape Town, ‘Circus Ninja,’ relied solely on stencils to promote the launching of their label, with great success.
Most graffiti artists will go to all lengths to put their work up in the most dangerous or visible places. This can cause conflict as suitable ‘canvasses’ are hard to find. This is where the world of “graffiti politics”, so called by Mak1, is revealed. Graffiti politics can be the politics between rival crews who are fighting for ‘turf,’ or even between individual graffiti artists. Numerous graffiti artists, including an anonymous graffiti artist from Stellenbosch, have had to change their tags because they were stolen and used by others. “I just walked around the corner, and there was my tag, for everyone to see… it was in a great spot, but the only problem was that I didn’t put it there.” Some graffiti artists will put a rival’s tag up in a very public place in order to get the rival into trouble with the authorities.
The legality of graffiti has been hotly debated topic for some time. In the eyes of the law, graffiti is vandalism and therefore an offence. One has to ask the question though, that if Monet, Picasso or Leonardo decided to draw something on a wall, would it be vandalism or art? Some might argue that graffiti is essentially unattractive, and therefore a kind of optical pollution. Not all instances of graffiti are good examples of the art form though, just like not all framed gallery works are good examples of painting or even worthy of being called art. Graffiti has also been criticised due to its invasive manner, it appears in public places without warning and is forced onto the community. Graffiti artists however argue that flyers and billboards are forced on the public in a similar way. “They complain that we shove our graffiti in people’s faces, but what about all the posters that are everywhere advertising all kinds of crap.”
Graffiti artists generally just want to be recognised and have the opportunity to showcase their works to large audiences, without commercial exploitation of the art form. Others want the rush of adrenaline they get from risking being caught and also the pride of having everyone see what they have accomplished. ‘Chef,’ a graffiti artist in Cape Town shared that “there is nothing better than the instantaneous gratification as the sun rises as there is your work for everyone to see.”
