This document provides a history of graffiti from ancient times to modern day. It discusses how ancient graffiti displayed simple messages while today it often conveys social and political statements. It outlines the development of different graffiti styles over time, from cave paintings to the invention of aerosol spray paint cans. Key graffiti artists from the 1970s onward are mentioned like Cornbread, Phase 2, and Banksy. The emergence of graffiti into an accepted art form displayed in galleries is also touched on.

1. Content Research

2. History
• Ancient graffiti can be seen as displaying phrases of love and simple thoughts.
However, today it is seen as displaying social and political messages.
• Cavemen drew line figures on cave walls.
• Artists carved inscriptions on rock surfaces as early ad first century BC.
• The Safaitic language was used to carve rock inscriptions in various dialects of old
Arabic.
• Graffiti can be seen in the inscriptions found on walls of ruins such as the catacombs
of Rome.
• In art history, graffiti is seen as art produced by scratching a design on a surface. This
technique was used by potters who would scratch designs onto their products. In
ancient times chalk or coal was used to carve graffiti on walls with a sharp object.
• Aerosol was first put in a can in 1927 by Norwegian engineer Erik Rotheim.
• In 1949, Edward Seymour put paint in a spray can for the first time. – The company
‘Seymour of Sycamore was founded to manufacture the spray paints and still goes
strong to this day.
• In 1998, the Norwegian post office produced stamps to commemorate the invention
by Erik Rotheim.

3. History
• The first modern graffiti is considered to be by ‘Cornbread’ who was a high
school student trying to get the attention of a girl by tagging walls in
Philadelphia. This was in 1967. After realising he enjoyed spray painting, he
continued tagging Philadelphia with his name.
• He now works with ‘The Mural Arts Program’ which helps prevent illegal
tagging.
• The idea of tagging in bubble writing came from ‘Phrase 2”. The style was
developed in the 1970s and became an influence on hip hop culture during
the 1980s. This influence can be seen today being used by graffiti artists
such as “OG Slick”.
• In 1983 a documentary called ‘Style Wars’ was created. The documentary
was about hip-hop and focused on the graffiti scene. It also focused on the
idea of artists expressing themselves and opposing views of graffiti.
• In the 1970s another artist called Blade became known for covering entire
train carriages with graffiti.
• In 1972 ‘The United Graffiti Artists’ was formed by Hugo Martinez, who saw
the potential in this new art form and started to get work displayed in
galleries.

4. History
• After the decline of the USSR at the start of the 90s, many Eastern European
countries became more open to graffiti art.
• Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat took up graffiti as a homeless runaway in 1979 who
started with the name ‘SAMO’. His art later ended up in top galleries even as he
created work on the street.
• Keith Harring was a graffiti artist in New York from 1981 – 1990. He started out by
drawing in empty billboards in the city subway stations. He created bold cartoon
figures which have later appeared on T-shirts to skateboards.
• “Blek le Rat” came to the scene in Paris, 1981. He is known for using stencils to
graffiti, much similar to the later work of Banksy. His work often was influenced by
social problems. For example, in 2006, he created a piece of homeless people to
raise more awareness on the issue.
• Banksy began creating freehand pieces in the early 1990s in Bristol. However, in
2000, Banksy switched to stencil art, much like Blek le Rat.

5. Organisation 1
Positive Arts
• http://positivearts.co.uk
• Positive Arts is an organisation that does community workshops
and events for different groups of people to get rid of the stigma
behind spray paint and vandalism and make it more accepted as
street art through murals.
• The director of the company, Julian Phethean, has been working
with young people for 20 years
• There are 4 artists that work with the company.
• The costs can vary on each piece created because of the size of
the people in the workshop and the size of what they create.
• As they are a spray paint company, they also have the option to
have a fume free option by working with chalk paint. This is often
used for indoor projects.

6. Organisation 2
MBN Arts
• https://www.mbnarts.co.uk
• MBN Arts is a street art company that does
workshops for a variety of people to do spray paint
art. For example, they do workshops for people in
education, at festivals for both beginners and artists.
• “Our focus is always on encouraging creativity and
making art and design exciting and fun. Our coaches
tailor the workshops to you and your group,
meaning you get exactly what you want from the
benefit personally too.”

7. Organisation 3
Anti Graffiti Association
• http://network.keepbritaintidy.org/aga/1495
• The Anti Graffiti Group (AGA) is a group of
manufacturers, contractors, transport
providers and other organisations which can
give advice on anti-graffiti issues
• This includes graffiti removal, anti-graffiti
coatings and similar technical issues. See
below for a full list of AGA members and how
they can help.

8. Articles• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37410164
•
• Title:Banksy artwork removed from Liverpool Street to enter street art museum
• Author: BBC
• Date: 19th September 2016
• Summary: This article talks about how one of Banksy’s street art pieces was being put into a gallery. “Sam Fishwick, a graffiti artist from
Liverpool, dismissed the idea of a street art gallery. "It's not street art any more if it's hung up in a museum," he told the BBC.” This shows that
street art can be seen as vandalism but that idea is dismissed when people such as Banksy create a piece.
• Impact: This influenced me as it made me want to portray both sides of street art and how some street art, such as tags, are vandalism but
things like murals are not vandalism and should be seen as art. This encouraged me to want to film my documentary to get rid of the stigma
behind spray paint
•
• https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/uk-now/read-uk/graffiti-art-or-vandalism
•
• Title: Graffiti: Art or Vandalism
• Author: Learn English Teens
• Date: Updated 2016
• Summary: This article talks about graffiti and Banksy. It talks about how Banksy’s work is viewed as art and not graffiti and how graffiti is an
excepted art form in his home area of Bristol.
• Impact: This has affected my idea as it made me want to talk about the different views towards street art and how people see it differently.
•
• http://www.neighbourhoodjustice.vic.gov.au/home/news+and+resources/news/fightingvandalism
•
• Title: Fighting Vandalism with Spray Paint? It Works!
• Author:Neighbourhood Justice
• Date: 12/7/16
• Summary: ‘“We work with young kids who have been in trouble with the law for vandalising property, and it’s fair to say some of them are
heading towards more serious trouble. As our kids admire the artistry behind street art we steer them away from vandalism towards skilled art
practices. The kids learn how to draft up work, work with clients and in teams, and we give them purpose in life.”’
• Impact: This showed me how street art can influence people in my target audience. This influenced me as I can use it to help me make my
documentary engaging to this target audience.

9. •
• http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall07/sanchez/art.html
•
• Title: Graffiti as Art
• Author: Noel Sanchez
• Date:
• Summary: ”Although many consider the spray-painted pieces a nuisance, graffiti has been gaining recognition from the art world more and more as a
legitimate form of art”
• Impact: This influenced me to want to include the opinions of people who view graffiti as art rather than just looking at it as vandalism. I wanted to use
this article to look at different pieces of graffiti art and how they’re seen as more accepted now.
• https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/art-crime/0/steps/11888
•
• Title: Art or vandalism: the street art debate
• Author: University of Glasgow
• Date:
• Summary: This article is from a free online course. It looks at two different street art artists and how the community and local authorities view them
differently.
• Impact: This influenced me to want to talk about the different views on street art and whether it is considered art or vandalism and how this view differs
and why.
• http://decodedpast.com/graffiti-tags-history-vandalism-popular-art-form/4850
•
• Title:Graffiti ‘Tags’ Through History: Vandalism or Popular Art Form?
• Author: Emily-Jane Hills Orford
• Date:January 21, 2014
• Summary: This article covered a series of key historical events to look into whether graffiti should be seen as art or vandalism.
• Impact: This impacted me as it made me know which points I should add and look at if I want to create a documentary with a balanced argument and
look at both the positives and negatives of whether graffiti is art or vandalism.

10. • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tomas-olesen/more-than-just-scrawl_b_3155340.html
•
• Title:Tagging: It’s More Than Just Scrawl
• Author: Tomas Olesen
• Date:June 26, 2013
• Summary: ”Even those with a professed appreciation for the art form will invariably say something along the lines of: “I like it when it’s
proper pieces but I hate tagging.””
• ”Graffiti, and its trendier little brother ‘street art’, are by nature a hijacking of public space. It seems, therefore, immediately aggressive in
the same way that advertising billboards are: It’s like someone shouting at you. This is in part graffiti’s power but also its downfall in
terms of acceptance.” The article discusses how graffiti should be considered art as it is a way of expression through an art medium.
• Impact: The impact of this was that it made me want to explore the idea of tagging more in depth. For example, tagging is often seen as
just pointless vandalism but the tags can often mean something to the artists themselves. Therefore, I want to talk to the artists that I
interview on whether they do tagging and if it means anything to them.
•
• http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/graffiti-street-art-ndash-or-crime-868736.html
•
• Title: Graffiti: Street art - or crime?
• Author: Arifa Akbar
• Date: Tuesday 15 July 2008
• Summary: ”A group of south London graffiti artists were jailed last week for up to two years for defacing public property. Yet as they
begin their sentences, their work is to be championed by a New York gallery.”
• “By contrast, just down the road, the riverside facade of Tate Modern had been covered in giant murals by six urban artists with
international reputations, including Blu from Bologna, Faile from New York, and Sixeart from Barcelona, in the first display of street art at
a major museum.”
• This article talks about the juxtaposition involved with contrasting opinions of street art. It talks about how art is often defined by the
opinion people have of the artists intent, which is often not the actual intent of the artist. This is why street art is often considered
vandalism.
• Impact: This made me want to interview people who create street art to gain a better understanding of the art from their view and why
they do it, even though people refer to it as vandalism.

11. Facts, figures, statistics and graphs
• The maximum penalty for 12-17 year olds is 24 months of detention. However, for adults, they can be
sentenced up to 10 years in prison.
• It costs Network Rail an estimate of at least £5 million per year to clean up graffiti.
• London underground says it would cost them about £38 million to replace all of the graffiti covered
windows and carriages on each tube train.
• In 2012/2013 the number of graffiti related offences reported to the British Transport Police was as 7%
less than the year before.
• Laws related to graffiti include:
• Criminal Damage Act of 1971, where if someone is caught applying graffiti without permission of the
owner of the canvas used, they can be arrested and fined or imprisoned.
• The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, a person caught applying graffiti without permission can be given a
fixed penalty of £75.
• According to the Crime Survey of England and Wales, in 2013, there was a reduction in vandalism
incidents per 1,000 households by 37% since March 2007.
• Vandalism began to fall sharply in 2006/2007, at about the same time as smartphone sales took off in
the UK
• An estimate of £1 billion is spent by UK to clean up graffiti a year.
• TURN INTO GRAPHS AND FIGURES ETC

12. Facts, figures, statistics and graphs
• Some of the richest street artists include:
 Retna – Worth $5 million
 Mr Brainwash – Worth $10 million
 Shepard Fairey – Worth $15 Million
 Banksy – Worth $20 Million
 David Choe – Worth $200 million
• If recorded separately, the number of recorded graffiti removal requests for the financial years 2011 to 2015:
2011/12- 3086
2012/13- 1536
2013/14- 1661
2014/15- 1790
• Research by Ofcom in 2012 found that 7% of teenagers spent less time socialising with friends since
they got a smartphone. This could affect the amount of teens out on the street likely to graffiti.

13. Facts and Figures
• Acts of criminal damage has
dramatically decreased.
Even though criminal
damage covers a variety of
offences, a lot of these
offences are graffiti based.
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1,400,000
2006/07 2011/12
Acts of Criminal Damage
Acts of Criminal Damage
2006/07
Acts of Criminal Damage
2011/12

14. • Sales of spray cans
• Turner prize – spray paint used?
• Books on graffiti