Graffiti Questions and Answers

• ANONYMOUS BLAMING writers: from 2500 newspaper articles I read ca. 1700 have been done anonymous. This"argument"is propaganda.

• VANDALISM this phrase has been invented to denounce persons/institutions that are unwanted. It is a category of ideology and no correct term.

• ART AND GRAFFITI whole visual concept of 20th century has been changed by graffiti. They DEFINITELY are part of the art.

• GRAFFITI AND BUSINESS For whatever reasons, most writers do not sell and even are persecuted. Whereas in commercial sector specialists are making billions by and with graffiti. Here world literally being turned upside down.

• FAME It is some RELATIONAL matter. Some just cannot stand anyone being in some field above them, They would never be able to recognize any fame by anyone. In many cases identical people that "argue" AGAINST graffiti, once some writer should have had commercial success (Haring, e.g.) state "it is not the real thing any more". Here we see envy distorting all vision.

• VALUE OF GRAFFITI archaeology has been salvaging graffiti from last 5000 years for hundreds of millions in all currencies. So you know they ARE of value.

• MODERN ones different? Todays graffiti touch POLITICS as they touch PROPERTY=walls. So, any academic career would be finished if you really would dare to look at these (political) matters.

• OUTSIDE WALLS BEING SPECIAL? They are some FORCED ARCHITECTURAL MATRIX we have to move in. You cannot evade them in populated areas. Whereas INSIDE wall of your apartment you may do as you wish outside is different. There is need to re-consider these facts as any owner may put up any billboard and me having to tolerate, without being asked.

• HELP FOR KASSEL-GRAFFITI-ARCHIVE? Any documents, with place of issue, page, year etc. is welcome for our 4. edition of GRAFFITI-BIBLIOGRAPHY which is going to hold 10,000 autopsied sources.

• BUT WHAT ABOUT PICTURES? I introduced PICTURE-FUNDUS because in many publications we find graffiti without any comment and these documents also belong to our visual landscape.

• PERMUTATIVE VALUE Societies are ambivalenced regarding graffiti. We see some undulating policy. Hailing writers and damning them. Again and agin. Meanwhile all date concerning graffiti are some PERMUTATION of their messages. So any attempt to stop them publicly is making them stronger.

• WHAT IS REAL CAUSE FOR GRAFFITI Man's inborn drive to expression. No way around, you cannot NOT communicate. ANY POLITICAL INFLUENCES: We know from history that graffiti show us aspects of life "normal" history-writers do not think important. So here we have some "history from below". A very valuable source for research and "plain speaking".

• ANY SPECIFIC MOTIVES Unconscious drives play a role, as always in life. We never know full extent of what we do at moment we do it. We know from art-therapy that to be able to air what is bugging you is keeping you in life.

• GRAFFITI-REPRESSION Mostly costing a lot and NOT EFFECTIVE. There is only ONE way to keep 'em off: PLANTS GROWING ON WALLS. Anything else did not work. We even had at Mr. Hitler's headquarters at Berlin small graffiti telling "he also will be dead some day". This caused some irritation even though being just plain fact.

• THEN WHY REPRESSION AT ALL? Making money (1.) not allowing discussion on property (2.) and following identical course like with drugs (3.) One side "losers" and rest becoming well-to-do. Some justice . . .

• HOW COULD WRITERS HELP THEMSELVES? If any become affluent start some FOUNDATION to help in legal cases rest of groups. Coordinate, communicate and do not be "social idiot" keeping all the goodies for yourself.

• HOW DOES REPRESSION WORK? By ideological manipulation. Divide "good" and "bad" writers, first naming "artists", latter"vandals"so they start fighting each other. This strategy you find in any handbook on counter-insurgency. So, in the end, your value-system gets confused and you lose orientation. Then you've had it. It is that simple but working since beginning of mankind. This IS art of ruling. . .

• PREHISTORY - ANY INFLUENCES TODAY Certainly, many signs and symbols being still used connect us with these times. We even know first words of basic (single) ROOT-language of mankind: BA-KALL-ACQ-TAL and so on.

• WRITING COMING FROM THERE AND THEN Primordial man was TRACKER, he had to read body-language of fellow men. Next reading tracks in nature. Watching RAINBOW gave first root that grew into some "idea" that men also could do alike. Next, tracks in mud being taken to REPRESENT animals. Hand and foot-imprints in caves being one way to say: I EXIST. Like we all have different fingertips then their hands all were not alike but similar. Further: Hand and feet: vertical position, manlike, not animal. We know a lot about these times.

• WHY SO FEW WOMEN Thematic content is mostly on women, directly and / or hidden. Graffiti deal with PROCREATIVE function: how to live and survive. This always has been some FEMALE-theme. So women are always present, invisible, and they know / feel it and leave matters to males.

• PROCREATIVE FUNCTION Matters of survival. For first time in history of mankind survival is NOT SECURE ANY MORE (no future) . Future is Latin (colloquial) meaning sexual intercourse. Since man invented ATOMIC energy extinction is possible. Mankind always has been IMMORTAL via children=future=next generation. This may come to some end. So graffiti deal with very basic and fundamental matters. This also is cause they are so agitating so many people. Somehow this is being "felt" but not (yet) understood.

• GRAFFITI AND INTERNET This has useful aspects, but also is showing we work in some infrastructure once being invented by military-industrial complex because you only may really use it to full extent if you have all time and money. You -- as some single and private person -- may never really use all 11 million websites. Not even come close to them. And forget about printouts, would take a lifetime. So you have to SELECT, you must find out what you want. Quite difficult . . . There is still place for PRINTED matters.

• QUESTIONS OF LEGALITY Graffiti forbidden, today, in most (modern) countries. In history we have had times when populace has been invited to air their opinions. in classical Chinese literature doing graffiti is part of normal state of being. But most people do not know even if I know we have-some suggestion-ca. 1 000 000 articles etc. (counting all print-media) and more pictures. None may say we do not have enough data. . . . So you see things have changed and will again.

• WHY A MATTER FOR YOUNG GENERATION There is some documentable shortening of "free places" to roam about, play etc. Most places you want to get into you have to pay, be member, look orderly etc. So what to do for kids having no place to go? They went into realm of imagination . . graffiti. So we have such beautiful pieces, tags (reborn calligraphy), stencils and what not. And no forgetting: one needs to express in order to stay alive.

• SOCIAL MOTIVATION Next generation always only having 3 possibilities to get into social system called state:

  1. Find your place (positive identification)

  2. Fight system (rebelling)

  3. Destroy (most dangerous) . Since we do not need all people any more there is some invisible PSYCHOLOGICAL ABORTION going on. Graffiti are one way to say HERE I AM and I intend to stay here and also trying to cope with society. Here we need content-analysis, what are BASIC themes in graffiti. There you find "plain speaking" and it is on survival, one way or another.

• ANYTHING ABOUT AXEL THIEL 51 years, divorced, living with child (13, girl) having been coal-miner, truck driver, metal-worker, hospital attendant (intensive care) soldier. Night school, studied: geology, social work, supervision, criminology. Self employee, most of time almost broke. Publishing since 30 years. Taught psychology, psychiatry, sociology, pedagogics for 10 years. Specialized in high-ability and creativity research, also epilepsy (psycho-somatolytic approach) . Trip (cycle) to Africa. love gardening and "dreaming" to be able to understand what is moving me and helps to decide what style if life I want. Identification with weaker persons (damaged knee) and hating repression. Some of my masochistic qualities (grew up with 4 females as only male child) I use to make some income. Doing NON-university research and like to have good laughs and make fun. Think graffiti being most challenging matter of 20th century being really some democratic matter: just going ahead and doing what needs be done.

• WHAT IF GRAFFITI STOP? Then civil and / or open war has mostly come: Northern Ireland, South Africa (before Mandela) , Russia (revolution) and Germany (around 3. Reich) , Even Mr. Hitler had his graffiti telling HE ALSO WILL BE DEAD SOME DAY. That was some uproar . . but it was correct. He, as all, would die. They are some EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.

• PROOF US-army using some graffiti-squad to read toilet walls in order to detect racial conflicts in advance. Here you see how valuable they are, but always in public telling opposite: terrible matters. . . propaganda.

• MENETEKEL - FUNCTION In Bible there was famous MENE TEKEL U PHARSIN warning some king not to think himself being sacrosanct and it needed some specialist to translate WARNING. Did not help this ruler, just having been total "social idiot". Had to learn "the hard way".

• HOW DO GRAFFITI WORK Using projection screen (wall) to place some message. Then being able to step back. From DISTANCE anew looking at matters being able to detect NEW aspects to OLD questions.

• PROJECTION To put OUTSIDE what is coming from INSIDE and making PUBLIC. So matters becoming COLLECTIVE and being shared.

• GRAFFITI - MURAL RELATION When done by experts graffiti may almost turn into murals and you may look at many good pieces etc. as murals. Only matters of definition.

• RELATION GRAFFITI - YOUTH Adolescents always needed some transitional games (rites du passage) and here graffiti are optimal way doing so: it is some challenge (danger-aspect), you become new name (as Indians) you get qualified. And this is being part of man's biological setup. No way without transitional matters.

• OTHER ASPECTS Any society being not longer able to offer "opportunities" to next generation (machines taking jobs. . . ) is asking children to find out today they might to have to live less affluent. Instead of passively waiting to turn mad adolescents actively try do their best.

• NOTHING BUT. . . VANDALISM (argument) Any sentence using "nothing but" is by using this NOTHING BUT method of self-fulfilling prophecy and negative projection forwarning that things are absolutely of NO VALUE. So you spare any analysis and from research I know that this is some PLACE-MARKER that should draw your attention to exactly this point. Here "treasures" wait unearthing. . for those who dare.

• TECHNOLOGY OF REPRESSION Monitoring, miniature cameras, special coatings and undulated (pebbles) surfaces, spray-control, death-penalty (3. Reich: political context but you were invite to denounce Jews . . ) extreme high fines (killing any future of any kid . . ) indoctrination in schools by comics (NGIN etc.) and what not, but most important is method of IDEOLOGICAL "infection" of "pro-contra" methods that not only divide nations but also writers so they are busied with themselves and any attention drawn from what is going on is some success here. And it is working fine if I look at status of "discussion" also in internet. Stone Age discussion standards . . . ridiculous.

• PROFESSIONALISATION As societies do no provide enough jobs graffiti created new ones. Here definitely something totally new is coming up and some may make a living. Many try, more would like to but repress their desires. Fame? Yes, but rather stay poor . . . . Nonsense. Cant't buy spray any more? Steal? Get caught? Some masochistic trait . . but if you really wish?!. . .

• FANZINES High professional magazines, some not, on the decline, but those living in many cases being only place where pictures might survive and they are very important. I hope some day there might be some PUBLIC ARCHIVES where you may look at what has been produced by younger generation and how elders treated them. This is really some very specific story that needs further inquiry because here we look right into DESTRUCTIVE realm of "modern" states.

• FREE WALLS Any writer showing up and making himself known doing his job here might run -- if he also does spraying elsewhere -- into danger being identified via his style. This is part of technology of REPRESSIVE TOLERANCE, acting "as if" and suddenly you are "trapped". Some mean method but you can find out.

• NGIN (national graffiti information network) I tried to contact them and invite cooperation as to come to some better understanding what might be going on via graffiti. I looked at some of their material. What struck me most was total ignorance of basic facts and information as if we did not know that graffiti are important (archeology, e.g.) but what can you do? There definitely is some basic right to stay as disinformed as can be but still be highly professional. There is no force that might move you to understand -- here we are helpless.

• LEGAL ILLEGALITY AND ILLEGAL LEGALITY Modern societies produce laws and regulations in huge quantities. This is reason lawyers exist. But, at same time, each citizen is expected to obey them all. This is some societal DOUBLE BIND, on one side knowing only experts may handle matters (lawyers) on the other hand claiming "responsibility" of citizens. This is a TRAP. So, by construction of legal system -- each new regulation automatically producing some "crime" when you disobey -- ILLEGALITY is being socially constructed. This providing some income to some specialists and socializing costs to general populace. So, if you want to live some decent life you are always halfway breaking some law / rule and this is creating some (invisible) atmosphere of fear and insecurity and this is one reason most people just keep their mouths shut. This state of being is a "social crime" we do not even have a system to classify into. And most do not understand. Perfect manipulation. looking like some huge "neurotic system" on national level. Pressure thus generated is being distributed in populace among themselves and this is one factor of crime. Also inducing SPLITTING processes "I am good and you are a bad boy". Good writers and others, specialists and straights and so on.

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