Pieces Of Me
Pieces Of Me: SIE
Published by SIE Copyright SIE 2007 Printed in the woods of Mongolia.
Created & Designed By SIE
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy or storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Please note that this book does not represent all the vandalism SIE has committed.
SIE does not promote the use of spray paint for anything other than grafÀti.
For my kids, Krystina & Isaac. I love you both with all my heart!!
Dedicated to my Pops & GodFather. R.I.P.
Brooklyn New York, Circa 1993
Bronx New York, Circa 1996
Graffiti: Art or Vandalism?
GrafÌti
Term applied to an arrangement of institutionally illicit marks in which there has been an attempt to establish some sort of coherent composition: such marks are made by an individual or individuals (not generally professional artists) upon a wall or other surface that is usually visually accessible to the public. The term “grafÌti” derives from the Greek graphein (“to write”). GrafÌti (s. grafÌto), meaning a drawing or scribbling on a Íat surface, originally referred to those marks found on ancient Roman architecture. Although examples of grafÌti have been found at such sites as Pompeii, the Domus Aurea of Emperor Nero (AD 54-68) in Rome, Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli and the Maya site of Tikal in Mesoamerica, they are usually associated with 20thcentury urban environments. GrafÌti range from simple marks to complex and colorful compositions. Motives for the production of such marks may include a desire for recognition that is public in nature, and/or the need to appropriate public space or someone else’s private space for group or individual purposes. Illegitimate counterparts to the paid, legal advertisements on billboards or signs, grafÌti utilize the wall of garages, public rest rooms, and jail cells for their clandestine messages. This illegal expression constitutes vandalism to the larger society. Because of the illicit nature of grafÌti, a can of paint and a brush are impractical while spatial considerations may make a pen or pencil ineffective. To accomodate the need for size, visibility, speed, and convenience, the ideal vehicle is the sray-can, which combines medium and applicator into one relatively small parcel that is easily concealed, transportable, easy to use; spray-paint may be applied to most surfaces. Different sized nozzles are used to achieve various effects, for example, a thin line as opposed to a wide band of paint. Where spray paint is not used or available, almost anything may serve as substitute: the aforementioned pen, pencil, paint and brush, as well as chisels, knives, felt-tip markers, blood, or even a Ìnger on a dirty wall or window. Most media used for etching, sketching, painting, marking or writing can be adapted to such a purpose. Because it is impossible to limit or regulate the resources that are available, grafÌti as an art form and expressive medium is expandable, Íexible, and difÌcult to control. The grafÌti medium constitutes an open channel for its users to manipulate and mould to suit their needs. It represents a type of discontinuous communicative strategy through which people can engage in a visual dialogue which does not rely on face-to-face interaction or necessary knowledge of the writers’ identities. Individualized or popular grafÌti include bathroom wall marking (latrinalia), signatures, proclamations of love, witty comments in response to advertisements, and any number of individual, political, or social commentary (folk epigraphy). In general these grafÌti have no afÌliation beyond the scope of the individual. It is close to impossible to locate their source. Communities that produce grafÌti (as opposed to the individual “scribbler”) may target cryptic messages toward their own closed community, producing a seemingly confusing and unreadable product. The writers may not sign their real names; they instead employ the use of nicknames, codes, and symbols within stylized aesthetic systems. This type of grafÌti is geared toward people who already understand the messages and may act to enhance group solidarity. Such grafÌti can easily be elevated to the category of “art form” because the symbolic codes, generalized content, and aesthetic features of community-based grafÌti usually outlast the duration of an individual’s membership within the community. If a community’s ideological focus is geared toward the larger society or the politics of the larger state, grafÌti messages usually lack cryptic symbolism, make use of the national language, and retain a more straightforward aesthetic style. An example of this cross-culturally prevalent genre of grafÌti, political grafÌti may combine with other artistic and expressive forms, such as poster and comic book production, mural painting, newspaper and pamphlet production, and political art exhibitions. The marks may represent the work of unrecognized or underground political groups, radical student movements, or simply dissatisÌed individuals. Political grafÌti may also arise from sudden emergency situations (e.g. riots) or in response to concurrent political legislation and party politics. Although concerned with state politics, the groups that produce this type of grafÌti generally comprise some”subcultural” elements and may make wide use of symbols to further internally relevant quests for power and solidarity. A second genre of grafÌti, gang grafÌti are used as markers by gangs usually active in urban areas. The content and form of their grafÌti consist of cryptic codes and initials rigidly styled with specialized calligraphies. Gang members use grafÌti to indicate group membership, to distinguish enemies and allies and, most generally, to mark boundaries which are both territorial and ideological. In this case, grafÌti may merge with other art forms, like tattoo and clothing styles, to create a bounded system the concerns of which may incorporate illegitimate economic and social practices that branch far beyond the reaches of the actual grafÌti. A third genre of grafÌti, grafÌti art, is commonly called “hip-hop” or “New York style” grafÌti and derives from a tradition of subway grafÌti that originated in New York during the 1970’s. This type of grafÌti has spread to large urban centers around the USA and the rest of the world, especially in Europe. Where subway cars like those in New York are unavailable, walls, rocks, road signs, billboards, train carriages, and even motor vehicles are considered suitable canvases. GrafÌti artists may or may not belong to “crews,” which are groups of artists at differing levels of proÌciency. Their work ranges from simple monochrome “tags” (the artist’s “name tag,” often represented in an exaggerated cursive style) to elaborate, multicoloured works called “pieces” (derived from the word “masterpiece”) which are considered in some circles to be of museum quality (see Ìg.). As grafÌti has begun to Ìnd its way from its original urban locations to the walls of galleries and museums, the question of vandalism and grafÌti as an art form has provoked endless controversy, raising such questions as whether vandalism can be considered art or whether grafÌti can be considered grafÌti if they are made legally. The simpliÌed imagery of grafÌti has also become attractive to certain professional Ìne artists -- the work of the late Keith Haring in particular became “legitimized” as it moved from New York’s subway walls to the walls of galleries and private collectors in the USA. It is in part the rapid movement hip-hop grafÌti art and its concomitant controversies which has spurred the development of scholarly interest surrounding people’s use of grafÌti in all its aspects. GrafÌti are cross-cultural phenomena common to every literate society. Within the variable contexts of their production, grafÌti personalize de-personalized space, construct landscapes of identity, make public space into private space, and act as promoters of ethnic unity as well as diversity. GrafÌti can be understood as concrete manifestations of personal and communal ideologies which are visually striking, insistent, and provokative; as such, they are worthy of the continued attention of art historians, social scientists, and policy makers alike.
If shaken well before use...
Some of the most common styles of grafÌti have their own names. A “tag” is the most basic writing of an artist’s name in either spray paint or marker. A grafÌti writer’s tag is his or her personalized signature. “Tagging” is often the example given when opponents of grafÌti refer to vandalism, as they use it to label all acts of grafÌti writing (it is by far the most common form of grafÌti). Another form is the “throw-up,” also known as a “Ìll-in,” which is normally painted very quickly with two or three colors, sacriÌcing aesthetics for speed. Throw-ups can also be outlined on a surface with one color. A “piece” is a more elaborate representation of the artist’s name, incorporating more stylized “block” or “bubble” letters, using three or more colors. This of course is done at the expense of timeliness and increases the likelihood of the artist getting caught. A “blockbuster” is a large piece done with a roller that consists of two contrasting colours. A more complex style is “wildstyle”, a form of grafÌti involving interlocking letters, arrows, and connecting points. These pieces are often harder to read by non-grafÌti artists as the letters merge into one another in an often undecipherable manner. A “Roller” is a “Ìll-in” that intentionally takes up an entire wall, sometimes with the whole purpose of blocking other “taggers” from painting on the same wall. Some artists also use stickers as a quick way to “get-up”. While its critics consider this as lazy and a form of cheating, others Ìnd that 5 to 10 minutes spent on a detailed sticker is in no way lazy, especially when used with other methods. Sticker tags are commonly done on blank postage stickers, or really anything with an adhesive side to it. “Stencils” are made by drawing an image onto a piece of cardboard or tougher versions of paper, then cut with a razor blade. What is left is then just simply sprayed-over, and if done correctly, a perfect image is left. Many grafÌti artists believe that doing blockbusters or even complex wildstyles are a waste of time. Doing wildstyle can take (depending on experience) 8 hours to 2 days. Another grafÌti artist can go over that time consuming piece in a matter of minutes with a bubble Ìll-in that would look just as good as a wildstyle piece.
...Vandalism may occur.
89-90
SIE Webster Handball Court The Bronx
SIE My Building Roof Bronx
SIE P.S. 85 Bronx
SIE (CINE in pic) Bronx
91-92
SIE, LOUIE 167 189th & Webster Ave The Bronx
SIE West Farms The Bronx
SIE 189th & Webster Ave The Bronx
MANTECA P.S. 85 Webster Ave The Bronx
SIE, TRAB Westside Highway
SIE, TRAB Webster Projects The Bronx
ELSE, SIE Manhattan
TRAB, SIE 183rd & Webster Ave The Bronx
LOUIE 167, SIE, TRAB Metro North The Bronx
TRAB, LOUIE, SIE Out To Bomb!!
SIE, TRAB, LOUIE 167 Metro North/Westside Highway
SIE Metro North/Westside Highway
LOUIE 167 SIE, SE
Webster Projects The Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Manhattan
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
93-94
SIE, TRAB, TABE Amtrak The Bronx
VET, TRAB, SIE Metro North Riverdale
SIE, TRAB Webster Handball Court The Bronx
DMAND, SIE P.S. 85 The Bronx
PHIL By TRAB
SIE, TRAB Metro North Manhattan
SIE, TRAB The Bronx
SIE, SIEN 5, SEB Manhattan
TRAB, SIE Roosevelt Field The Bronx
SIE, TRAB (in pic) Amtrak The Bronx
SIE 180th & Webster Ave The Bronx
Before
After After
TED, SIE, TYKE The Bronx TRAB Character by RUSH
RANKS, SIE Amtrak The Bronx
SIE, TRAB Amtrak The Bronx
Skull By TED
SIE, TRAB The Bronx
KING BEE
SIE, TRAB J.H.S. 147 The Bronx
TRAB, SIE, RUEL J.H.S. 147 The Bronx
SIE, MC The Bronx
TRAB
SIE, TRAB Roosevelt High School The Bronx
TABE, SIE, TRAB Bronx Hall Of Fame
Before
After
TABE, SIE TRAB Mapes Pool The Bronx
After it got dissed...
Before it got dissed...
SIE, TRAB, JEW 163rd Street & Park Ave Metro North The Bronx
SIE Amtrak The Bronx
Characters by TED & HENRY
SIE, SCM, CYCLE Brooklyn
GAZE, EURO (DMAND)
SIE, SELF, SCM Amtrak The Bronx
TRAB, SIE Webster Ave The Bronx
SIE, TRAB, LORE P.S. 85 The Bronx
SIE, TRAB Metro North Manhattan
SIE Rooftop Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
TRAB, SIE Bronx
SIE Amtrak
LOUIE 167, TRAB
SIE Jerome Ave The Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Brooklyn
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
TRAB, SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
SIE Bronx
TRAB
SIE
SIE Painting in Paterson NJ @ The Graffitiathon
SIE Roosevelt Field The Bronx
LOUIE 167, PHAME, SIE The Bronx
Before
After
SIE, COPE 2, LOUIE 167 Webster Projects The Bronx
Characters by TED, RICH NASA & KAWS
SIE Roosevelt Field The Bronx
TRAB, SIE The Bronx
SIE, TRAB Roosevelt High School The Bronx
SIE, TRAB P.S. 85 The Bronx
SIE The Bronx
Dissed by PIKE
After
Before
SIE The Bronx
1995
SIE & TED at work...
...With the .50 cent sodas...
HIP HOP VERNACULAR by SIE & TED 180th & Webster Ave The Bronx
SIE, GET 180th & Webster Ave The Bronx
GREG RIP by SIE & RASH 170th & Elliott Ave The Bronx
Character by Unknown
97-07
SIE The Bronx
Before
After
SIE Dissed by PIKE Roosevelt Field The Bronx
NEV, SIE Webster Handball Court NEV SIE Webster Handball Court Bronx The Bronx
SIE, ELSE Allentown PA
SIE, ELSE Allentown PA
ELSE, SIE 5 Pointz Queens
Louie 167 Action Shot
SKE
Louie 167 5 Pointz Queens
SIE, SKE 5 Pointz Queens
Masta Ace Slaughter House Album
June 1993
Crazy Kings Magazine, Circa 1995
On The Go Magazine, Circa 1994
Interview with Louie 167, Crazy Kings Magazine, Circa 1995
On The Go Magazine, Circa 1995
Style: Writing from the Underground 1998
Cope 2: True Legend 2005
As featured in.... “Party Girl” 1995
As featured in.... “Rhyme & Reason” 1997
Daily News, Metro Section, Circa 1996
Daily News, Circa 1997
Daily News, Circa 1997
Dec 2006
Jan 2007 Double Cover Issue