Pistol Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 I was just thinking about this the other day. I visited a site and in the FAQS it said that the kid had been writing for two(2) weeks and "loves" graffiti so much that he wanted to start a site on graffiti. I can't remember the site. I visited the one I thought had wrote that but it wasn't there anymore. He had redesigned his whole site after jacking another sites layout. I just think it kinda wrong, well maybe not wrong but not right to start of a graffiti website considering your still so new to it. I mean it's cool i guess that the kids is so into it or whatever but... I mean I've been writing for over 10 years and just think it's kinda weird for a kid to already start a site dedicated to graff. At this stage in his young graffiti career he should be killing streets and raising hell rather than spend hours designing and building a graffiti site. I notice alot more of these types of sites springing up where someone has been writing for a year or 2 and felt the urge to start a site even if they probably never got out of North Dakota. Maybe you feel that anyone should be able to start a graffiti site or whatever, writer or not. I mean I don't think anyone will trip if Chalfant started one considering what he has done for graffiti art. Try to keep it friendly in this thread. *edited for some minor errors that made no fucking sense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retard Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 well... I started writing about two years ago and i still feel very new i learn every time i paint. I've changed my name about ten times due to either beef or that I just didn't feel the name too much but for the past few months I've been with the same one and I'am creating my niche...going through this process has made me understand that I truly love this hysteria that is graff... because of this feeling me and a few friends decided to start a site for the tri state called www.the-organized-crime.com we wanted to start it for a few reasons number one being that we feel that there isn't thorough coverage of these areas on the net ( set aside certain sites like paint my face which documents nyc prodos well) but even sites like that have out of date bombing flicks and we know it will be nearly impossible but we wanted to bring bi weekly updates of bombing to the forefront for everybody...(we will need support of somekind but we can make friends...) the second reason is we love graff... I know for a fact I won't stop innovating and recreating my style I don't care that I've only done it for two years or that I don't always do a perfect job on my stuff I know I will continue to put in work out of self enjoyment and work on the site out of respect to my fellow writers.... retard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retard Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 one more thing.... we are actually planning a store as well.... it will most likely be in NJ... thats all I can say for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alkaline Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 I see what you are saying, Pistol, but you also have to think about the people who have an intense respect for graffiti but don't write for various reasons (there are a couple of people on this board that are this way). While Joe Schmuck may not feel he is creative/ambitious enough to write, he may feel very strongly about documenting graffiti. Take for example Susan Farrell & Brett Webb, of Art Crimes. As far as I know (and I may very well be misinformed on this) they were never "writers," but they are still respected in the graffiti community for the work they have done on the web. The one thing I do have to say to anybody thinking about starting a graffiti website or zine is to keep it original. We don't need more of the same stuff. If you're going to do it, bring something new and exciting to the public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alkaline Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 Cashing in on a trend is a whole other story though. I really hate it when people do something just to get on the bandwagon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIBS Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 i totally see were your all comming from. it is strange to know there are people out there that have only just begun to write, and who may not fully understand everything that comes along with grafitti (ie: unspoken rules of conduct, respect, community, good work ethic as in putting in the work due, etc etc.) or who may not be committed in the long run. i can also see the committed documetors of grafitti, suzan farrel, bret web, henry chalfont etc. and i can understand they're position as well. i think what this all accumulates into is how the "web" has changed grafitti. the web has given people access to grafitti that would not normally know what it was(south dakota) it also has given people the oppurtunity to take grafitti out of the nieghborhood setting it would normally be in and allows them to get recognized solely on internet merit. it has taught alot of young up and commers that they dont nessesarily need to put in the work in thery're community that people from an older generation would recognize as the respectful way to acquire a name for your self, and allows them to become known simply from posting thier work on the web. in a way i think we are at a generational gap in grafitti, people like myself or others who have been writting for close to a decade or even more deeply rooted elders, we remember the days when there was no grafitti on the internet, when you met other writters through your older grafitti friends/mentors or through traveling to other cities, trading flics in the mail. and now its very easy to meet and trade thoughts and work with other writters through the net and we have a young generation of writters who have learned all they know about grafitti through the web and this is how they have come to understand how grafitti works. i dont think the web will ever totally replace the soul of grafitti and the respect won through hard work on the streets or the trains, but as long as the web exists and people learn that they can win others respect with it, we will continue to have newbies who do a couple walls, claim to king their town, and post it on the web for all to see. maybe the world really has become smaller with the use of the web, maybe the community has become bigger. i dont know. it poses alot of good questions though. damn, thats the coffee talking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTsystem Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 I have a graffiti website, and here's my story: I was a writer for about 7 years. Before that, I had thought of myself as an artist (which I continued to do while I was a writer). Eventually, mostly due to positive experiences with established sculptors, I came to think of myself primarily as a sculptor. This is where I am today. My interest in doing graffiti started to diminish as I became more and more interested in making sculpture and as I realized that I wasn't an especially talented graffiti writer, but I maintained an interest in graffiti. I still have friends who do graffiti (though not so much anymore), and I still look at graffiti. After quitting graffiti, I started a website for my own sculptures and drawings. It is not graf-related. I never had (and still don't have) a very large collection of flicks. However, since I already had web space which I was paying for, and my friends had some flix, I decided to put a graffiti website on a section of my own website. I'm not really trying to justify myself, but I think that this a perfectly acceptable situation for starting a graffiti website. Basically it is just a free catalog of flicks. If you don't like it or don't think I have a right to put it online as a non-writer, than don't go to the site. Otherwise, feel free to browse, steal (be sure to give credit), and contribute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTsystem Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 by the way, I don't make a single dime (despite the advertisements that never get clicked on) off of my website...and about 90% of the flicks on the site are courtesy of Onetime.KCW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retard Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 kast... I just wanted to tell you I think the layout of your site is sharp and I like the things your doing with your art.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted January 9, 2002 Author Share Posted January 9, 2002 Yeah I think people were misunderstanding me. I don't have a problem with non-writers such as the Farrells or Chalfants that start sites or whatnot. I don't have a problem with retired writers making sites or whatever, I mean I don't even write hardley at all anymore. But I just found it amusing that I found a site that was started by someone that had been writing for two weeks. I'm trying to picture myself 2 weeks into my graffiti 'career' and starting up a site for thousands across the world to see. I think in the FAQ of this site it stated he was like 15. I mean I doubt this kid has that much to offer other than flicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AREANKAY Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 usually graffiti writters are to retrded to work a computer let alone know multiple programing languages to make a website as well as the graphic end witch seems to be flash so its jsut ends up being the kids that may not have been writting for years or be the best but got the skill to make a hot site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_b0b Posted January 10, 2002 Share Posted January 10, 2002 Don't want to sound too militant, but it should be by writers, for writers if there is money involved. Non-writers profitting off graffiti is shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTsystem Posted January 10, 2002 Share Posted January 10, 2002 Originally posted by crazeeb0b Don't want to sound too militant, but it should be by writers, for writers if there is money involved. Non-writers profitting off graffiti is shit. so what is your opinion on me having a site? i'm not a writer, but i was, and i said it before but i'll say it again: if you don't like the fact that i made a graffiti site, then don't go to it. i'm not profiting at all...actually it costs me a little bit of money every year. also, as i grow more and more tired with the graffiti i see and the attitudes of a lot of writers (i'm not talking about anyone specifically) i've been considering removing the graffiti section from kastsystem.com. After all, why should I give these guys more free exposure than they already get on their own? What do you guys think...should I yank the graffiti section off of my website? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_b0b Posted January 10, 2002 Share Posted January 10, 2002 Kastsystem Your website is fine, I was thinking of a stiuation in the UK; Graphotism magazine is run by a non-writer and has had various old school writers as editors. The publisher was the first person to import Montana paint and got an exclusive dealer contract. Then he started selling cans at 3.10 each (about 5 dollars) when he was getting them at about a dollar fifty. Soon we see him driving around in his Mercedes, all off the backs of writers. That is shit. Also I see "artists" doing canvasses where they have one a montage of works they have seen around their area, they sell those canvassess for about 750 dollars, none of which goes to the writers which the "artist" has blatantly just copied. They are sold to non-writers who think it is cool to have a graffiti canvas, but will moan about the "scribble" everywhere. THese people have no idea. A writer (or ex-writer) has claims on it, and often it starts out as a way to make a little pocket money and do what you love. It should always be by writers for writers (or ex-writers!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTsystem Posted January 10, 2002 Share Posted January 10, 2002 damn, i never knew about that Graphotism/Montana paint shit...kind f'd up...but that's capitalism i guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alkaline Posted January 10, 2002 Share Posted January 10, 2002 I agree with you, crazeeb0b, but the is also something to be said for the people like Susan and Brett, who just want to give writers the exposure that they want/need/deserve. They are not trying to "cash in." They are not exploiting graffiti in any way, shape or form. I think that is very admirable, and I gladly support their site and their cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remote Posted January 11, 2002 Share Posted January 11, 2002 necessaties for mag/site... graphic design experience, sales experience (getting people to advertise in your mag/site), money, and time/passion for your work store... business/accounting experience, money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_b0b Posted January 11, 2002 Share Posted January 11, 2002 Originally posted by alkaline I agree with you, crazeeb0b, but the is also something to be said for the people like Susan and Brett, who just want to give writers the exposure that they want/need/deserve. They are not trying to "cash in." They are not exploiting graffiti in any way, shape or form. I think that is very admirable, and I gladly support their site and their cause. Agree totally with you, they seem to have the passion that writers have and when that passion is missing it stinks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_b0b Posted January 11, 2002 Share Posted January 11, 2002 Originally posted by KASTsystem damn, i never knew about that Graphotism/Montana paint shit...kind f'd up...but that's capitalism i guess. Also it is the laziness of the UK writers, who could have worked out other ways of getting cheap paint if they wanted to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alkaline Posted January 11, 2002 Share Posted January 11, 2002 Originally posted by crazeeb0b when that passion is missing it stinks... Exactly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_Bonillas Posted January 12, 2002 Share Posted January 12, 2002 the guys from sanjosegraff used to say graffiti was gay in their faq. no respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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