The Rise of Legal Graffiti Writing in New York and Beyond

165 Pages·2017·9.715 MB·English

by  Ronald Kramer (auth.)

fi
The Rise of Legal Graf ti Writing
in New York and Beyond
RonaldKramer
The Rise of Legal
fi
Graf ti Writing
in New York
and Beyond
RonaldKramer
SociologyandCriminology
UniversityofAuckland
Auckland,NewZealand
ISBN978-981-10-2799-4 ISBN978-981-10-2800-7(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-981-10-2800-7
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016955178
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s)2017
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For Neera,and Doris, Lee, Sharon, andGlen;and all the straycats
ofBrooklyn
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Durkheim suggested that the religious categories of “good” and “evil”
representthepowerofsocietytogivelife,buttoalsotakeitaway.Anodd
example perhaps, the production of a book would seem to verify this
sociological insight. One gets to the end of the road and cannot avoid
the realization that nothing interesting in life happens without a vast,
albeitoftentimesinvisible,network ofsocialsupport.
First and foremost, I would like to thank all the people at Palgrave
Macmillan that I have been fortunate enough to work with over the last
few months. Special thanks go to Sara Crowley Vigneau for her editorial
support. Connie Li and Manoj Mishra, who have worked diligently on
countless aspectsof thisbook, alsodeserve manythanks.
My academic trajectory would not have been possible without the
followingpeople:BerylLanger,whomademerealizethatbeinga“stran-
ger in paradise” isn’t so bad, Johann Arnason, Joel Kahn, Peter Beilharz,
Trevor Hogan, and Rowan Ireland. I also owe an incredible debt to
Ronald Eyerman, Rachel Sherman, Jeffrey Alexander, Ivan Szelenyi,
Philip Gorski, and Paul Gilroy, who created a supportive environment as
a graduate student at Yale University. Also from Yale, Philip Smith has
been an ongoing source of support and a well of practical advice that has
always been “on point.” My colleagues at the University of Auckland—
too many to list, but you might be able to find them menus deep on the
University of Auckland Web site—have also been supportive since my
arrival in 2013. Colleagues with a shared interest in graffiti and street art
have been, and remain, incredibly helpful. Along these lines, I owe many
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
thanks to Gregory Snyder, Jeffrey Ian Ross, Joe Austin, Lachlan
MacDowall, Pedro SoaresNeves, andDanielaSimões.
Many have provided practical forms of support during the research
process that went into this book. I am indebted to Paul C. Perkus at the
CityHallLibraryandLeonoraGidlundattheMunicipalArchivesinNew
YorkCity.WithouttheirhelpitisunlikelythatIwouldhavebeenableto
find many of the documents upon which much of the analysis came to
depend.
IamincrediblygratefulforNewYorkCity’s“graffitiworld,”especially
the writers and “crews” that have welcomed me into their lives over the
years. Special thanks go to “Nic One,” “Meres,” “Demer,” “Fargo,”
“Been3,” “Sonic,” “Part,” “Ema,” “Bisc,” “MadC,” “Cern,” “Juse
One,” “Enz,” “Lady Pink,” “Too Fly,” “Slope MUL,” “Cey,” “Col,”
“Break,” “Ezo,” “Sye,” “Veng,” “Jean13,” “Ree MTA,” “Cope2,”
“Indie184,” “Abby,” “Riff,” “DJ Charm,” “Sue,” “Bader,” “Dezo,”
“Wane,”and“Skore”—thelistjustgoesonandon.Alsofromthegraffiti
world, a special “shout out” goes to “Pase,” “Jew,” “Abe,” and all the
otherBronxTeamwriters.The“BTLab”wascertainlyahighlightoflife
in NewYork.
Those who spend countless hours documenting graffiti deserve special
mention.Itisgreattoseeallthegraffitienthusiastswhohaveenteredthe
pictureinrecenttimes.Iknowtherearequiteafew,butIwouldespecially
like to thank “Luna Park” and Roman Akkerman (AKA “Photograffiti
by Roman”).
Italmostgoeswithoutsaying,butIowemanythankstomyimmediate
family, Doris,Lee, Sharon,andGlen.
Finally, a very special thank you goes out to Neera Jain. A state-sanc-
tioned “partner in crime” since 2008, she somehow puts up with my
raccoon-like and aspergian ways. One day we will have five cats that
determineall ofour interior designdecisions.
PERMISSIONS PAGE
Chapters3,5,and6incorporatesomematerialfromthefollowingjournal
articles:
Kramer,R.“PoliticalElites,‘BrokenWindows,’andtheCommodification
ofUrban Space.”CriticalCriminology 20, no. 3 (2012):229–248.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
Kramer,R.“PaintingwithPermission:LegalGraffitiinNewYorkCity.”
Ethnography 11, no. 2 (2010): 235–253.
Kramer,R.“MoralPanicsandUrbanGrowthMachines:OfficialReactions
to Graffiti in New York City, 1990–2005.” Qualitative Sociology 33,
no.3(2010):297–311.
The respective copyright holders have graciously allowed that portions
of thesearticles be republishedhere.
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
2 TheExtractionofSubwayGraffiti:TheLate1960sto1989 9
3 The“CleanTrain”Era:Creatinga Space for the Legal
ProductionofGraffiti 35
4 Respondingtothe New Graffiti WritingCulture:
BroaderPublics, Art Worlds,andthe Sphere
ofCommodity Exchange 61
5 TheMoral Panicover Graffiti in NewYorkCity:Political
Elites andthe MassPrintMedia 83
6 EngenderingDesire for NeoliberalPenalityand the Logic
ofGrowth Machines 103
7 Conclusion 127
Appendix 133
Bibliography 141
Index 155
xi
L F
IST OF IGURES
Fig.2.1 Anexampleofanearlytagby“Cornbread.”PhotobyRamon
Been3Vasquez 13
Fig.2.2 Anexampleofa“straightletter”pieceby“Wane,”which
incorporatesthe“castshadow”effect 14
Fig.2.3 Anexampleofa“wildstyle”pieceby“Logek.”Notethe“flat
3D”effect 15
Fig.2.4 Fourtypesofdesignfeatureswithinletters 16
Fig.2.5 Apieceby“Kezam”thatembodiesthe“real3D”letterform 17
Fig.2.6 Paintedby“Nme,”apiecewithcloud/background 18
Fig.2.7 A“throw-up”by“Baby168” 18
Fig.2.8 “Scratchiti”and“etch”bombing 28
Fig.3.1 A“rolliepiece”paintedby“Smells”and“Cash4”froma
buildingrooftop 45
Fig.3.2 Anexampleofa“production”featuringworkby“Tone,”
“Hef,”“KA,”and“Yes1” 50
Fig.3.3 Asecondexampleofa“production”paintedby“Pase,”
“Welin,”and“Me3” 50
xiii