Why Do People Do Graffiti?
Screen capture from Writers Madrid, “Letter to Graffiti - FAS - Graffiti Bombing Documentary”
According to Art Journal, “there are many possible purposes for graffiti: it can be to tell a story, highlight a certain moment in time where things went wrong or right, describe people, politics, culture, art, places and society together; express yourself anonymously, or just be another art form.” However, that is only a partial answer. The actual reason why people do graffiti is much more complex and involves learning a bit of history —making it impossible to summarize in one sentence.
The best, most easily digestible explanation that I found online was a video-summary of this phenomenon by Slovak YouTuber DokeTV, who is mainly known for his incredible graffiti pieces and for his vlogs. He addresses the question “why do people do graffiti?” by comparing graffiti to a game.
Ancient origins
DokeTV starts with the origins and says that the very first graffiti was made by prehistoric humans who painted on cave walls. According to Historical Honey, “there are many parallels between ancient cave art and modern-day graffiti: like cave paintings, graffiti is a form of symbolic expression, using abstract ideas and shapes to communicate a message to other humans. This message may be different than that portrayed in early cave art, but it is the same mechanism and process.”
"20,000 Year Old Cave Paintings: Hyena" by Carla216 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
When our ancestors developed letters, they started to engrave them on walls. Hieroglyphs found on the walls of ancient Egyptian temples dating back to 1400 BC are perfect examples of this. So, it seems that the urge to paint something is in our human nature.
"Hieroglyphs" by ЕленАндреа is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Beginnings of graffiti as we know it today
Modern graffiti started in the 1960s in New York City and Philadelphia. According to the New York Times and Huffington Post, one of the very first graffiti writers is considered to be Taki 183. His tag was short for "Dimitraki," an alternative for his Greek birth-name Demetrius, and the number 183 came from his address on 183rd Street in Washington Heights, NYC. Understanding the story of Taki might help us understand some of the reasons why people do graffiti.
"Taki 183 with Martha Cooper" by vandalog is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
From the 1996 book "Style: Writing from the Underground" (via Wikiart)
According to DokeTV, Taki was a young Greek kid in America who was bored. The legend goes that one day he stumbled across something written on the streets that spelled out Julio 204. Taki got inspired and started to write his name everywhere. Unlike Julio 204, who retired when he was arrested for vandalism in the summer of 1970, Taki 183 would grow to become one of the most influential graffiti artists ever. You can learn more about Taki 183 here.
According to taki183.net, in the fall of 1970, TAKI went to high school in midtown Manhattan, taking the 1 train down and back. Along the way, he wrote TAKI 183 on the subway stations and anywhere else he thought was a good spot. He had seen election posters and stickers plastered around the city in 1968, and again in 1970, and emulated their campaign tactics. When he started working as a delivery boy in midtown, running packages of high-end cosmetics to fancy places like the Upper East Side, he held the box up against light poles, using it as cover while he wrote his name.
It was probably one of these tags on the Upper East Side that caught the eye of the New York Times reporter, who tracked TAKI down near his home. On July 21, 1971, TAKI's fate was sealed: " ‘Taki 183’ Spawns Pen Pals," read the headline of the Times article. Just like that, TAKI 183 became the father of contemporary graffiti. His legend grew, and rumors spread that TAKI even tagged a Secret Service car and the Statue of Liberty.
1971 New York Times article, “‘Taki 183’ Spawns Pen Pals”
Working as a delivery man, TAKI was riding his bike around the city, which was the perfect opportunity to spread his name. People started noticing his tags and realized he was famous. Others got inspired and wanted to try it, too, and suddenly the city of New York was covered in names and addresses. Graffiti as we know it today started to spread. It was sort of a competition, sort of a game or challenge.
So, the way to become better at this game was to write in a better way than the others, which is how different styles emerged. At first, people were doing graffiti with markers. To get some advantage, writers started to use spray paint because it allowed them to paint on a larger scale. Suddenly, a sizable group of people were interested in graffiti and were competing with each other using a combination of markers and spray paint cans to develop their own individual styles and spread their tags around the city.
The ordinary public did not like this graffiti at all. Back then people were calling it “a mess,” a disease that suddenly appeared in the city, and they were asking themselves the same question as we are now —“why do graffiti in the first place?”.
Why Graffiti?
DokeTV’s theory is that people simply wanted to express themselves. In the 1960s, there were no personal computers or phones, and the internet did not yet exist. So, people - especially young people - were spending a lot of their free time in the streets. In these public spaces, they generated revolutionary social movements around not only graffiti, but hip-hop culture as well. Some of the kids that were dancing and rapping also started to write their names. Just like in break-dancing or rap music, they sought to develop their own graffiti styles and signatures.
When young Taki was riding his bike around the city and saw his tags, he felt good. Other people saw it and found it interesting. They tried, and they suddenly felt good, too. And boom, you have a graffiti game. And if you play a game, you want to be the best at it. So, graffiti evolved. Some thought that to be the best you need quality, while others believed that quantity makes you climb the leaderboard in this “game.” Some later graffiti writers started to involve topics in their pieces. They tried to spread a message as well as express themselves.
The reasons
According to Artradarjournal, graffiti can be prosecuted under the US Criminal Act 1971 under section 1, which describes it as criminal damage. So, graffiti became highly illegal and dangerous. It could land you in prison, make you pay a hefty fine, or you could simply die due to the risk involved of being on the train tracks, subway, or other dangerous spots.
But what are the reasons that keep graffiti writers in the game despite the high risk? According to DokeTV, these are the 5 most common reasons graffiti writers do this:
Freedom. Some graffiti writers say that they feel free when they do graffiti. They see it as a free form of expression.
Rebellion. Rebellion against the system, against society. These people see graffiti as protest.
Fame. Graffiti is an outlet to achieve fame if you are good at it.
Superhero feeling. Some writers say that when they do graffiti and see their pieces and tags around the city, they feel like superheroes.
Mountaineering. Mountaineers collect mountains. They want to climb them all, and there is an enormous amount of risk involved. Graffiti writers collect street spots, subway systems, train cars, etc. A huge amount of risk is involved, but writers do it anyway because they want to “collect” all those spots. Most graffiti groups or writers do not get a lot of attention from the ordinary public, but they do it anyway.
For a lot of writers, the reasons to do graffiti are a complex mix of the ones just mentioned. Or they cannot explain why they do it. They simply do it.
A lot of people ask if graffiti is a form of art. Writers would say the answer is no, it did not start that way. It was more of a game or a sport. It was about winning the game, seeing your name on the streets, seeing your name rolling on trains. DokeTV believes that art came into graffiti with style, because when you try to practice something to make it great, that can be considered art.
Now, to better answer the question that this article is based on, it is important to hear some personal insight from graffiti writers themselves.
Why does Doke TV do graffiti?
DokeTV YouTube channel profile picture.
DokeTV did illegal graffiti, but just for a little while, and he really enjoyed the risk. His friends were doing it, so he joined them in what he calls “the game.” There was a community, and he wanted to be a significant part of it, so he practiced and tried to be better.
Today, DokeTV just does what he describes as “legal-stuff.” Although he has one of the biggest YouTube channels dedicated to graffiti with 1.25 million subscribers (as of June 2022), he does not consider himself a graffiti writer anymore. He calls himself an artist or street artist. He is not collecting spots or subways, and he cannot see his marks in the streets. But thanks to the modern world of today he can still express himself through street art and share it with his audience.
He still feels like a superhero when he finishes a piece, he can still protest, and he can still be famous. Maybe even more famous than those who do not post their work on the internet. But this is not a graffiti game, this is a modern art game.
Why does FAS do graffiti?
Finally, to conclude this post I wanted to share this love letter that Spanish graffiti writer FAS dedicated to graffiti. I think it best answers the question, “Why do people do graffiti?” through poetry. (The text presented here is taken from the video subtitles.)
Dear Graffiti,
One more night I’ve grabbed my roller and paint to meet you again. One more night full of sensations that I’ll never be able to express on paper, that I’ll never be able to accurately describe to whoever asks me why I do all this. In fact, since I met you I’ve never wanted to give an answer to the question why I go out at night to paint because I know I’ll never be able to put into words every single thing I feel when I hold a spray can or a roller in my hand. Believe me, I think that not even myself is capable of understanding all the emotions that graffiti means to me. But the truth is, when I think about happiness, I remember you. You arrived in my life without knocking on the door, like a fresh breeze coming in through the window on a hot summer afternoon and next thing I knew, I looked at myself in front of the mirror and saw my face and my hands covered in paint and in that moment I knew you’ve come to stay. And I started realizing all you were making me feel when I’d ask myself what would I do on the last day of my life and I’d always answer to myself the same thing: painting a roadside wall. You’ve been my only motivation to get up in those mornings when everything was gray. You’ve made me feel more alive than ever in the moments where if I didn’t know you, I’d have felt dead, empty, lost. When the rest of the things failed… you were there. When I hold a spray can in my hand, time stops, every problem disappears in an instant. There is only the wall, the spray can and me, with cars as the background noise. How small a spray can is and how big it has made me feel. You’ve made me feel like life was worth it. But… How many times did they tell me that you would get me into trouble? That I should forget about you? That I was crazy and not capable? Lots of times. But… How was I going to set aside what had saved me from being buried underground now? And this is why, with this letter I want to thank you for all you’ve made me feel since you appeared in my life. Because if there is something that will last forever, it’s the moments I spend with you.
We live in a selfish society that hasn’t got any empathy and doesn’t hesitate about destroying others to achieve its objectives. I feel proud of belonging to a movement where respect is one of the most important values. And I am grateful that it is one of my main values, because that was what got me to grab a pole and a roller in order to paint without going over other pieces. Night after night, roller after roller, when nobody else was doing it. Thanks to that, rollers have ended up being one of the things that has defined me.
Years after having met you it was hard adversity that made me realize I couldn’t keep painting the same piece or roller that I had made to make every night special and different. Years after, I keep trying to get the hang of it. But many times, my excessive self-demandingness makes me feel I haven’t progressed shit. But… that’s the battle.
One of the things I most enjoy with you is traveling and painting from home. That sensation, that one little part of me will remain on that land, blending into its surroundings, into the local habits. And coming back, years later, and seeing that it’s still there. Intact, despite the passing years. That sensation is indescribable.
But let’s be clear. Everything is not always as great as it seems to be. They say whoever can make you feel the best is the same one who can make you feel the worst. And I’ve lost friends because of you. I’ve had family issues. But what hurts the most is that I’ve lost my head: paranoias, obsessions, failures, sleepless nights. To the point where I feel like I am your slave. And yes… I’m sorry to tell you, I’ve asked myself many times if all this has been really worth it… Yes, of course it is!
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