Errol Donald, director of Mindspray, organised the only UK screening of this new film at Central Saint Martin’s last week. The audience was diverse – students, politicians, business people, families and graffiti artists of all ages and backgrounds. He acknowledged at the outset that while some revile graffiti it has much value for others. And it is a global phenomenon.
He introduced the film and talked about his time as a wall-writer graffiti artist (with the tag PRIDE) as part of the highly respected crew, ‘The Chrome Angelz’ which developed a distinct style in London 30 years ago. Errol explained how graffiti helped him on his journey as one of the first British-born generation of Jamaican immigrants to find his way to art school and into a successful career in the corporate world and now various charity roles with young people.
The film focusses on the working-class kid pioneers of wall writing graffiti (letter based form that’s not to be confused with recent street art which involves images) in New York City (Washington Heights) and Philadelphia during the 1960s.
Some of the stories were funny. Some were touching. Some were very sad. Early on, they used shoe polish and marker pens before moving onto spray paint. One of the first prolific wall writers was Taki 183 (tags usually combined a name and a street number) and he explained that he made his mark – mostly on lamp posts – as he did his job as a walking courier.
There were fascinating stories of people such as Snake 1, BARBARA 62, PHIL T GREEK and CORNBREAD. Whilst most of the graffiti was on walls, the transport system – trains and buses – also featured.
Simple letters evolved into script with flourishes, and then icons such as crowns and stars were added. The early movement ended when 20 leading graffiti artistswriters were recruited by United Graffiti Artists (UGA) and so the commercial exploitation began. And graffiti lost its innocence.
What I found particularly inspiring was that the early pioneers where from Greek, Jewish, black and white communities and girls played as big a role in the scene as boys. It seemed to transcend racial and sexual divides. And that must be something that we can learn from today.
Guests on the panel included newly elected Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement, Matthew Ryder QC and straight-off-a-plane from New York Mike 171.
Mike features in the film – having suffered traumatic abuse as a child – and he explained that he went on to become a New York Police Officer and was caught in the Twin Towers disaster. Mike, now 60 years of age, talked eloquently, frankly and passionately about his time as a wall-writer.
There were interesting themes about the links between graffiti and gangs, youth-led cultural movements, the need for young people to identify and express themselves, the link between graffiti and hip-hop and community and environmental art.
It was a thought provoking film and discussion. And no doubt the idea of graffiti as vandalism remains contentious. But the value of graffiti in helping young people to express themselves, find a way into art and out of trouble was clear. I couldn’t help but wonder about the impact of social media on future generations of graffiti and community artists – while it may be legal and the viral reach may be greater, it lacks the very personal connection between young people, their friendships in real life and their physical communities.
http://wallwritersthemovie.com/
Future screenings http://wallwritersthemovie.com/screenings/
Events at CSM http://www.arts.ac.uk/csm/whats-on-at-csm/
Photo credit: Nixon – Wall in the Bronx featuring Nixon posters and a CHARMIN 65 tag. ©Jon Naar 1973, 2015
