Graffititt safe walls

“Unable to escape the idea of political protest while the shouts from Occupy Wall Street can be heard from my apartment in lower Manhattan, I have recently started thinking about other forms of activism beyond camping out in Zuccotti Park, particularly artistic protest. After happening on several graffiti statements by the writer FADE, I realized that graffiti may be one of the most long-lasting artistic and political protests. Occupying public space and asserting the power of the individual, every tag, throw-up, piece, statement or other form of graffiti is a true demonstration of individual expression (Landy, 351-356).

An anarchic expression, the politics of graffiti art is important, particularly given our situation where much of the regulations in our society are being questioned. Often the messages out in the streets speak to what is happening in society. With more graffiti in New York now than in last couple years, protest, anger and rage is not just in Zuccotti Park but in the streets (Landy, 351-356).

Uninterested in the politics of graffiti, aka whether graffiti is art or vandalism, I want to focus on how graffiti, which is normally outright rejected and commercialized, can express a true political power.

My interest in graffiti and politics started with spotting a sentence in Soho written by the graffiti writer FADE, a part of the AA,” WF and TFO crews with legendary members such as MUTZ, JUST, 9 VOLT, TRES and TYKE. Reading “You Will FADE, Look To You,” the statement screamed from the wall to support yourself because everything, including you, will one day disappear. Recalling some of the statements by SAMO, the graffiti collective associated with and mostly attributed to renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, the sentence reads as a forceful and powerful call for self-empowerment.

With some Flickr research, I learned FADE, who I recognized from ...