Graffiti - Why and how?

Pardon me if this has been discussed before, I did do a search.

I've always been puzzled at the vast amount of effort and money spent doing graffiti on rail cars. If you stop and think about it, a LOT of time and money is spent painting graffiti on rail cars. You also see the same large graffiti on a large number of rail cars.

WHY?

Even though I don't condone it, I could see someone getting an "artistic" impulse and graffiting one or two rail cars, but some people are painting many square yards of rail car surface. It's got to take hours and many dollars worth of paint.

I know much graffiti is gang related, but why tag something that's going to be dragged off to other parts of the country? Hardly seems to have much value in marking "your" territory?

Do they use spray cans? Seems like it would take a LOT of dollars worth of spray cans? Do they show up with battery operated spray painters? Wagner power painters and a gasoline generator?

 

Some is gang related, some is done by several persons at a time, I've been told some of the more elaborate tags are done by commercial artists trying to vent their creativity. It's illegal, but I think a well-done graffiti job looks better than a piece of rolling stock covered with rust and filth. Do I put graffiti on my models? No. Will I buy models that have had graffiti added? Not if I notice it. I bought a model SD80, and only noticed when I got it home that one side had graffiti decals. I soaked and rubbed them off.

 

Well without grafiti there would be no "Grafitti Express":tb-biggrin:

 

Russell brought up alot of good points about your typical tagger. I had quite a few friends back in high school that loved to tag anything. A railroad car is the best canvas because it travels around the country. While we all have our "hobbies", tagging is theirs. So the "time and effort" part is just like us with our model trains. Also, they don't buy the paint, they steal it. Quite a few stores around here put their spray paint behind some fencing/cages so you have to get a store clerk to open it up. There are about the same number of spray nozzels that there are colors of paint, just depends on what you need sprayed.
Of all the "tagging" thread I have read over the years, I find that most younger people don't mind it and most older people completely despise it. It's just a sign of the times, like the Beatles with thier long hair or Elvis with his (gasp) rock and roll.


-Mike

 

I'm younger, and I completely despise it. It's not a sign of the times because it was being done 40 years ago.

Your comparison is faulted, as well. Elvis and the Beatles changed a style of music by legally singing and producing records. They were legitimate. They didn't trespass into the studio and record on someone else's tapes.

If you don't own it, don't mess with it. Common sense the paint sniffers don't have.

 

Graffiti is vandalism

Graffiti is vandalism and is no different then stealing highway signs, painting highway signs, shoot insulators on power poles, keying your car, or egging your house. How would you feel if one morning as you backed out of your drive and found that the front of your house was now covered with a new graphic? It is not the sign of the times. The people that are painting the rail cars have not respect for other people’s property and are just vandals. If the painters are want-a-be artists then they need to find a legitimate canvas. But as said in another post that they are presumably stealing the paint so they would have to steal the canvas also.

Gary[FONT=&quot]
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And it all started a long time ago....cavemen painting on walls, Romans chipping on rocks & think about how many pocket knifes cut into wood both dead & living! They all left their marks good or bad.

 

I know people that love to photograph good graffiti.

I once had an idea to get some artists to stop with the 1:1 scale railcars and combine their talent with our hobby. I would open up a business hiring these guys to do custom graffiti jobs on model trains. Customers could get genuine custom graffiti jobs on their rolling stock models by real graffiti artists. Part of the employment agreement would be that they no longer paint the real trains.

 

Considering the level of paint maintenance some railroads give their rolling stock these days, graffiti may be the only thing keeping some of the cars from rusting away entirely.

 

I remember hearing a story about someone tagging a sign along an LA freeway and a passing motorist shot them. I didn't have much sympathy for the tagger. Oh well. You commit a crime - you take your chances!

 

Although I disagree with rail cars being used as a canvas, some graffiti tags are true works of art. That being said, I do model it because I try to replicate what I see in every day life and it makes for interesting modeling . Look at any train and you'll find tags on almost EVERY car.

 

Some twenty or so years ago the New York City subway system was overwhelmed by graffiti, both inside and outside the cars. Such that one could not look out a window because they were covered with paint. Most of it was 'tagging' but some was rather good decorative art.

An analysis was made as to where the vandalism took place. Traveling cars and storage yards were the two focus areas. The first thing done was to paint one complete train a 'white knight'. These cars were inspected every run (could be two to three hours) and any damage to the white was painted over. There then was no incentive for anyone to paint because their 'work' could not be seen. Gradually all the cars in the system were cleaned up and inspected often with paint damages removed.

Another order of business was to put more security in the yards.

In another area, stations are inspected often and graffiti removed; no graffiti is permitted to stay there more then a few hours.

Those who knew the system from a couple of decades ago would believe that the graffiti problem is now history ... thank goodness.

Spray paint in New York City, in stores, is in a locked cabinet and can only be purchased by an adult.

Recently some 'artists' found that glass etch was a good way to mark windows permanently. This practice was put a stop to by having the art supply stores keep ID records of all purchases. This graffiti practice was stopped in short order.

 

A couple of things...

I did watch a TV magazine article about graffiti, it is BIG in Europe, and New York. One of the leading "artists" had a showing of his "art" , but it was like a previous poster said, the graffitists treat it as a canvas and they feel that there is nothing wrong in the way they express their artistic talent. Also a true graffitist will ALWAYS steal the paint. That is part and parcel of the "sport".

Secondly, the boxcar "artist" usually cover part or all of the reporting marks on the cars.
As railfans, we are well aware(or at least should be)that the reporting marks are how the railroads can tell where a car is, what is in it,where it came from and where it is destined. It could very well be dangerous if a car in a consist is carrying hazmat and the reporting marks are obscured in transit and an incident occurs. Inability to identify the car quickly could lead to serious consequences. Graffitists dont think of that, only their
own selfish expressions of their "art". It is also an added cost to the railroad in time,labor and material to have maintenance forces do a makeshift repair to the reporting marks until permanent repairs can be made.

Charlie

 

I didn't realize that to be Art, something had to be Legal.

I agree it's a double criminal act to be frowned on and is not something to considered OK, but it is none the less often art.

And given how long graffiti has been going on, I'm offended that anyone would suggest its a sign of the times.

Perhaps the sign of the times is the nature of low income people, where they live and the changing character of railroads that they are less inclined to clean up the graffiti.

 

As someone who grew up (and still lives) in the big city, I'll just chime in.

There are three general types of what is considered "graffiti."

1. Gang Graffiti. Visually, it's monochromatic (one color) and bears the name of the gang and its members. This one is the most dangerous kind, it's meant to mark gang turf and rival gangs re-vandalize other gangs' graffiti by crossing out members they've either killed or want to kill. You see this on walls in cities but never on rolling stock; it doesn't do much use for them to. It's normally assigned by a gang leader to one of the lower/newer members to do. If not done right, or not done at all (i.e. it's painted out fast enough), someone within the gang is getting a beating.

2. Tagging. Visually, it's also monochromatic, which leads most to think this is the same as gang graffiti. This is done primarily by individuals, or tagging crews. They are not street gangs, though a few of them are on the cusp of ganghood. It's a numbers game: taggers have their own tagger name, and a tag, which is their trademark. Their game consists of leaving their mark anywhere and everywhere they deem fit. Rolling stock is particularly attractive to them since their tags can be seen all over the country. They get more street cred the more their tag is seen. Psychologically, they do this to get attention. If they grew up in a higher income bracket, they'd be tabloid celebs or work in advertising.

Tagging is basically a stage. No one is a tagger for life. Some taggers become full on gangmembers, while others become legitimate artists. Some grow up and stop tagging altogether. Depends on their experiences and how others influence them.

3. Graffiti art. Visually this is comprised of several colors, with shading and blending techniques. Many people who do graffiti art, called "pieces," start off as taggers, but learn some artistic skills along the way and are more propelled by other's recognition of their techniques and message rather than their omnipresence. There are different levels and types of graffiti artists - some do their pieces illegally, some do it legally by permission of the property owner, and some are even commissioned as muralists and get paid to do it. Rolling stock is attractive to some of them as it also represents a "rolling canvas." Some pieces I've seen on rolling stock leave the reporting marks intact!

I do model the modern era, so there will be some graffiti elements (though I probably won't have any gang graffiti on there) on my layout. I'm not going totally overboard though and put it on every single piece of rolling stock, but just enough to make it look realistic.

 

Heck, with the advent of RFID tags and electronic tracking, the reporting marks are going to become less and less relevent anyway.

 

When you're the conductor walking the train cuz you have a derailment or hotbox or some other problem with the train, you probably aren't carrying your wheel report with you to verify the position and identity of each and every car. You are going to leave that in the loco cab, out of the weather. Unless you have a portable RFID reader with you, it will be bit difficult to positively identify a graffitied car. I doubt very much that the carriers will
eliminate visual ID's on their rolling stock.

Charlie