Talk:Graffiti

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[edit] Photos

I think we should add a "photo gallery" section or the like to this page. It would help display the wider variety of graffiti styles. Tungsten92 (talk) 02:15, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] First paragraph

"Graffiti (strictly, as singular, "graffito," from the Italian — "graffiti" being the plural) is graphics applied without authorization to publicly viewable surfaces." - If graffiti is plural shouldn't this say "Graffiti are graphics"
"When done without the property owner's consent, graffiti are a form of vandalism and are punishable by law in most countries." - This contradicts the first sentence. If graffiti is "graphics applied without authorization" then surely all graffiti is a form of vandalism...

--

Incorrect usage of grammar is acceptable when it is considered, in both formal and informal settings, to be normal. It would sound peculiar to many people to use the correction of "are," not "is". Valid point nonetheless. Tungsten92 (talk) 05:53, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] ZeWall.com Online Graffiti more than 4400 selected graffiti from billions made by internet users

Would Someone add ZeWall.com online graffiti site ? it's in google directory since 2001. Thanks

[edit] Video Game References

I liked Oarih's old idea about including a section on graffiti simulators (as in video games). Several games could obviously fit under this section, but I am not sure how much coverage some of the very tangentially related games should have. As far as I can see, video games with graffiti can be broken down like this:

It seems to me that art work from current graffiti artists which reference video gaming could also be appropriate in this section (examples: [1] and [2]), and mention could also be made of the PSP graffiti ad campaign (eg. ref: [3]). -Thibbs (talk) 23:49, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Seeing no objections I have added this information to the article.

-Thibbs (talk) 01:22, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Remove this image?

Spanish inscription at El Morro National Monument, 1605, with later graffiti
Spanish inscription at El Morro National Monument, 1605, with later graffiti

User Key to the city recently deleted this image, commenting "number of possible pictures for this article are countless, readers can find all the related images when following the commons link below"

I find this an unusual and striking photograph, and a nice addition to the article (but then, I'm the one who contributed it). Here's the previous edit: [4]

Your opinion? Thanks, Pete Tillman (talk) 00:29, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but the same could be said for many images. A limit is necessary. We have three pre-20th century examples of graffiti in the article, and I think that's all the present text commands. I found the stub article on El Murro very interesting though. 86.44.30.169 (talk) 03:45, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

The point is that the image is not lost to the article. The commons link at the end of the article guides the reader to all graffiti related media. Key (talk) 13:05, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
We could move the commons:Graffiti template to underneath our lead image, in spite of wp:layout? 86.44.30.169 (talk) 01:26, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
That's a thought, but probably someone else would just move it back.... <G>.
Another thought would be to replace the muddy and indistinct "Latin political graffiti at Pompeii" image with this one. We currently have two Pompeii images, one good and one mediocre. Cheers, Pete Tillman (talk) 02:35, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Replacing another historical graffiti image if you feel that another image is of better quality, is no problem, of course. Key (talk) 07:59, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Done. Now we lead with a contemporary and a historic image, and fill up more of the white space next to the info box too. Looks cleaner, I think. Cheers, Pete Tillman (talk) 15:55, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] hip hop section

Key, see my edit summary when I changed this.[5] The roots of "hip hop graffiti" are American. Graffiti as an element of hip hop is the perfect title for that section. What that section details is graffiti as an element of hip hop. There is no chauvinism (nor systemic bias, i myself am not American) in it, it is purely the best encyclopedia heading. 86.44.30.169 (talk) 01:00, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, I'm not disagreeing that "Graffiti as an element of hip hop" would be a better section. But the problem is that the actual content of the section is solely about America (which is not that strange, because graffiti in the hip hop context originated in the US) and that others see it as US bias if you give a general title to a section which only deals with the US. There have been people who put US bias templates on the article because of that.
I think you could use the general title "Graffiti as an element of hip hop" if a subsection would be added about hip hop graffiti history in the rest of the world, and the other subsection titles are changed to "Mid 1970s (US)" etc. Key (talk) 07:56, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
That solution has a certain elegance. Problem is that no one has offered any info on 80s history outside the US or even New York, really. And I suspect that is because there isn't any worth speaking of. I presume this part of the culture spread nationally and internationally on the back of movies like Wild Style and Beat Street and by the time their influence was manifest the connection to a hip hop lifestyle was already a traditional one (almost a historical one?) even in the U.S.
It's a tiny bit like, say, The saxophone as an element of jazz. Once you document the American history there isn't a lot left to say. 86.44.30.169 (talk) 20:13, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
Well, something along the lines of 'Wild Style etc. spread the culture to the rest of the world' could be a small subsection, and I'm sure other people will add to it. Key (talk) 08:30, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
Yup, I added to the late 70s and early eighties section to talk about expansion, but it still needs a section to itself. The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture, ed. by Dipannita Basu and Sidney J. Lemelle (see Beat Street article) looks tasty in this respect. Anyone got this? 86.44.17.45 (talk) 13:14, 28 April 2008 (UTC)
Made the expansion part its own section. 86.44.17.45 (talk) 13:24, 28 April 2008 (UTC)