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467 BCE
Ancient Graffiti
The old Romans once carved a form of graffiti on stone walls and statues. It was usually Latin curses, magic spells, political slogan and declaration of love. -
Jan 25, 800
Elite ancient graffiti artists
From the 8th century to the 16th century, Ancient Tourists from around the world visited the Sigiriya stone fortress to carve or paint graffiti. It was only royalties, officials, and rich people who traveled and made graffiti. -
Tagging
The first form of graffiti in New York was known as tagging. In the late 1960s, graffiti artists like Taki 183 started writing their names on the train, on doors, and other public places. Soon their names were everywhere. In 1971, Taki 183 was on the New York Times and became the first famous graffiti artist in the city. -
New Styles
From 1971 to 1974, writers started using spray cans and making throw ups. Throw ups are quickly done bubble letters or very simple pieces using only two colors. The next thing was called scale. Writers began to write their tags on a larger scale. Writers also began to compete on skill, and many new styles were born. In the late 70s, murals began to appear around the city. -
The buff
In 1972, the mayor of New York City declared war on graffiti. The New York authorities started what is known as "the buff" - a major effort to clean the city of graffiti. -
Writers organize
Writers organized in crews, and by the summer of 1980, competition between crews had reached fever pitch. You had to be down with printing a whole subway car or married couples in order to become king. -
Tough Times
The years 1980 to 1985 stands out as a particularly tough time for writers. The buff had made it harder to find a location to write and the laws against graffiti became tougher. On top of that new writers - toys - started destroying other writer's work to make room for their own writing. Crews got tighter and tougher trying to protect their work. -
Control efforts
In an effort to control the writers, the New York authorities offer legal walls called spraying galleries like 5 Pointz in Queens. However, writers also find new ways of getting around the buff in public places. On Staten Island, lamp posts are being plastered with preprinted stickers. In another part of the city, windows are being tagged with an acid-based cream that etches itself into the glass. -
Graffiti
Graffiti has been around since the beginning of time. And I don't think there is any kind of chemical that can buff a history that deep.