Abstract
‘Real’ graffiti is a visual form of the hip hop subculture; young people who feel
marginalised use it to express themselves by spray-painting on public surfaces. They
do so to oppose mainstream society, from which they feel alienated and excluded; in
the process they display a resistance identity. The original form of graffiti is illegal in
many countries and is thus associated with danger and street culture. Graffiti writers
who partake in illegal spray-painting feel a sense of solidarity within their group,
especially when spray-painting to resist mainstream society. However, in
contemporary society, using the visual style of graffiti has become popular in
mainstream society – especially in music videos, advertising and merchandise – and
in this way the subculture became mainstreamed. Commercial graffiti writers have
been criticised for having forsaken the cause of graffiti, as they partake in the very
mainstream society that graffiti is opposing.
This study investigates how commercial graffiti writers in Johannesburg make sense
of the perceived contradiction between ‘real’ and commercial graffiti. Through indepth
interviews with Johannesburg commercial graffiti writers, it was found that they
are acutely aware of the seemingly oppositional understanding of ‘real’ and
commercial graffiti. However, they have very different ways of interpreting the
tension between these two genres of graffiti. Even though some are graphic artists,
most are engaged in commercial work part-time, often to support their studies or
simply to supplement their income. One way of making sense of commercial graffiti
work is to see the present commercial phase as a temporary phase in the lifetime of
graffiti, which would not change the real essence of graffiti, because it is simply used
to extract wealth from the very mainstream society which graffiti opposes. Some
graffiti writers’ natural styles lend themselves to being simplified and adapted for
consumption by the general public, and this ability is the envy of many other graffiti
writers. Some graffiti writers said that they gained artistic skills by doing graffiti work.
Although the study provides an insight into and understanding of the seemingly
opposing worlds of ‘real’ and commercial graffiti, the findings cannot be generalised
to a larger population of graffiti writers and are therefore only specific in the
Johannesburg context. It is recommended that these ideas are explored in further
research by enlarging the sample size, in order to elicit a potentially wider range of...
M.A. (Fundamental Communication)