graffiti addiction

[pintobeanero]

This thread isn't as completely retarded as I thought it would be... haha

a lot of shit that any true graff head can relate to but you don't think about frequently.

how nifty

[breakemDAHN]

it just makes me happy

and im not happy so much

so i do graffiti

then

im happy

[1nSight]

Yeah I think about it a ton , why I do it?Its kinda like an alter ego type thing that i love and i love to see friends say ayy i seen ur shit up on the wall....I find myself up late as hell writing n on the forums haha, aint shit else to DO

[Miley Cyrus]

you're all faggots haha

[RUNINE]

when i see a bare wall with a halfway flat surface i get that feeling of i should hit that up i look for cameras houses with big windows street lights that sort of shit i love graf

[redeyedanimal]

or just cover up and go for it...

[pedoe]

this thread right here...this thread right here...

[CakedAndBaked]

I've never suffered from graffiti withdrawals. I think people addicted to actual drugs would :lol: at this thread.

[Toiletseat]

gimme your drugs

[Tcost]

I DO IT BECAUSE I AM A MANIC DEPRESSIVE HEADCASE, I AM A RECREATIONAL DRUG ABUSER (hence the screaming text) AND I HATE PEOPLE..................Get the fuck outta here with this psychobabble, piggie. Don't judge or draw conclusions unless you have participated in the act yourself. Graff is the most personal, yet isolated, form of communication within modern society.

 

:five-o: :five-o: :chicken: :heartbeat:

 

fuckin oath

[lawnmower420]

your post kinda made me feel depressed...well idk its just fuked up how some of us have it bad and no that they have nothing else to look foward thats why they they turn to graff

[snifyoner]

"It's not really an addiction, it's more of a sickness" - ENEM

[Foil Fiend]

its addiction, just like heroin, a long time without either I get withdrawls and they become my only thought till I go out and get my fill!

[Nove..]

graf is just another addiction to add to the list for me

[RiSE-DvS]

I've never suffered from graffiti withdrawals. I think people addicted to actual drugs would :lol: at this thread.

Exactly. Anyone who has never actually been addicted to opiates has NO IDEA what they're talking about when it comes to addiction. I have experience with oxycontin addiction, and I switched to methadone so that I could work. Only thing none of the doctors told me? METHADONE IS WAY MORE ADDICTIVE THAN OXYCONTIN.

 

And right now I've been about 44 hours without my methadone (missed a dose) so I'm going through crazy withdrawls. If I wasn't in so much pain, I'd be laughing.

[OriginalMischief]

These are just some rough thoughts on the addiction side to the game… I’ll hopefully be updating this in a timely fashion...

 

Many get into graffiti at a time of their life when they aren't fully "matured" yet, you know teenage issues... hate the world, hate your environment, self whatever. You might be very insecure about yourself, not sure "who you are". You may feel isolated, lonely, weak... (When you are getting up you sure as hell don't feel that way, at least I don't. You feel like you have control over the whole fucking world for however long it takes for you to catch that tag or do a throwup. It's like "BAM" what you gonna do!??!) So when you start writing, all those things sort of dissappear, at least when you do it. It's like "man there I am!! That's my shit!!! Fuck you world!!!" it gives you sort of an answer to your cries in the dark. You ARE somebody, cuz there's your ill shit on the wall. And the RUSH! Shit, am I gonna get caught?? Is a cop gonna roll up? Are there undercovers hiding somewhere? Camera I didn't scope out??? Is a crazy hero gonna get all in your face?? All the things going through your head. The sounds of the cans, the smell of that fresh wet rusto... All these little sensory things add to the adrenaline, hell this may even be an addicition in and of itself-before you never experienced a 'rush' so intense and real as this... no sex, drug, sport can really give it to you(or so i've heard. I sure as hell haven't experiened anything quite like bombing)so hell maybe it isn’t entirely out of the question that you can get addicted to just the ‘rush’ or ‘high’.

 

The “rush” aspect in and of itself is what does many writers in for good. Before it, they had shit… just some bored kid floating through high school… floating through their dead end job at 7-11… All of a sudden there’s this primal thing you’re given-bombing is a lot like predator/prey, with the writer being the predator.(or are they?) And, bombing is a lot like a dog marking their territory, because that’s what you’re doing. Marking something and saying “this is mine, this is me, I was here”. So I think graffiti plays on a lot of these natural human instincts and triggers and what have you.

 

In my experience, graffiti was this untimate thing that gave me an escape from basically all the shit in my life. Insecurity? Gone-you’re a vandal who “doesn’t give a fuck” now! Ego? Huge. Graffiti is a huge ego-trip no matter how you dress up the art or craft of it… it’s all about YOU. YOUR name, and people seeing it. You putting it wherever you want. And you get off on people seeing it, dealing with it.

 

Even after having some runins with the law, and I tell myself “this is it. I’m done. Can’t keep worrying about cops etc” I still continue to look at walls and think of how I would take the spot, where I would place a tag… Whenever I have some writing utensil handy it’s basically second nature to start writing all over it, messing around with styles until it just becomes a bunch of scribble. This leads me to think that this shit seriously does become a part of you, when you are ‘active’ and when you ‘stop’. When you are active even more so… it sort of dictated my whole outlook on a lot of things and even simple stuff like how I would speak and simple mannerisms. No matter what I seem to tell my mind, it doesn’t fucking go away.

 

Many writers have said things a long the lines of graff being a game, a sport. This is true-it is a game, but nobody wins(not to sound like some mid 90s anti weed ad or some shit), but really no matter how hard you bomb, you will only be on top for so long, and even then who are you on top of? Other miserable people like yourself? Believe it or not, the average joe doesn’t give a shit! You may think having a whole neighborhood covered is a good strategic way to constantly be in the face of joe public, but to what end? So they can say “they gotta take care of that graffiti shit here… I see that tagger DICKERONER all over…”or some yuppie art student takes a pic of your shit because they think it’s rad and edgy and they post it on their livejournal.

 

back to the point though… It’s a one way street. The addiction tricks your mind into thinking those problems are suddenly remedied when you do it, (but you are totally aware they aren’t) because your mind becomes so addicted to it, it will trick itself into believing otherwise so it can still get its fix! Kinda how drug addicts will lie and steal from close family and friends, just to get a quick fix or whatever. It prevents you from really dealing with your problems like a mature adult. Because most writers get addicted when they are young, or at least emotionally and mentally immature-the addiction sort of freezes the state they are in when they start. And I dunno about you, but the vast majority of writers aren’t exactly the happiest people. Why would you waste your time, writing bullshit on walls if everything in your life was A-O-K? Your got problems and graff is a way to deal with them, right? Ok… so maybe it isn’t the WORST thing-but it’s still illegal. And it’s not like weed where you can be like “LEGALIZE IT”, anybody with a brain would realize the implications of ‘legal graffiti’ and it simply would not work, would not fit in with our society.

 

Realize this… a lot of your masters(cops) could give a fuck about some paint on a wall… of course there are plently of exceptions. Unless they are apart of your cities vandal squad though, writers aren’t exactly at the top of their list of “to catch”. Vandal Squads are another story… And to me, the resources used for these operations obviously would suit the greater good of the planet in some other way. Murderers, rapists, etc. Writers have been saying this for years too, obviously.

 

Graffiti didn’t really exist before the 70s and 80s, (ok, it did obviously people carved BOB + JENNIFER into trees and that sort of trite shit) in the way the ‘culture’ exists today, with it being all about your name and these fairly specific ways to do it tags/throws/pieces etc… People started feeling isolated more-especially in the bigger cities, obviously. The economic side of things was a huge factor, but not the deal breaker. There were still “Kids of privilege” who wrote, and even played key roles in the movement. Which confirms the fact that it is largely a psychological “illness.”

 

So what I’m saying is… you should be aware of all these things… especially those of you inclined to basically dedicate your whole life to this.

 

OK this was retardedly sloppy… Like I said I’ll be cleaning this up a lot. Give me feedback.

i think youre right man, my experience with graff is similar. It is an addiction. it feels good everything about it. because its illegal, because its rebellious, the feeling of a pen or marker touching the surface and that squeek of the nib or the sound of spraycans shaking and spraying, the fact that EVERYONE is going to see your name somewhere and the simple fact that you know you did it and u have been there its just a great high. when i started i was in middle school and havent stopped since and i started because i wasnt happy at my school and i was angry at life but bombin made me happy it was escape outlet rather than gettin fucked up on drugs(although i was chiefin bud at the time). ever since then i cant stop and its something to do i couldnt just walk the hallways at school and not hit up a bathroom stall with cutty ass tags or even in the hallways. I needed to tag or write on something and afer school was the best thing for me because i knew i would be using paint. graffiti is my drug i just cant stop...

[Addict19]

...

[26SidedCube]

I do it mainly to prove ~someone~ had been there (mainly heaven/retarded spots in mind). I actually get more enjoyment when people point out a heaven spot i have locked down and i can say "Yeah yo, that dudes insane" rather than claiming responsibility for the work. Anonymity is a surprisingly empowering feeling. In regards to the rest of the work (tags/ fills and piecing/freights)- Theres something gratifying about watching your name roll away. Tags , hollows, and fills are simply fun because of the rush they provide me. I like the challenge of blending into my surroundings, for example, a group of drunken college kids, after catching a streetside hollow. But Most of all.. I just love those high top fades.

[finEyoungCamel!!!]

Graff's in some people's LUNGS.

[aLBERThOFFMAN]

I can feel it jolting through my veins like a heavy dose of heroin

[injury]

i just happen to get along with other people very badly

[Schnitzel]

I just like painting things.

[Decyferon]

I'm inbetween Schnitzel and Injury

 

I don't like most people but enjoy painting on things, I rarely like to paint with other people other than TDB.

[rack101]

like skuf said on syn i rather be addicted to graff than drugs,

... difference from being a robot and a lame man

in this working class world

[dunno]

Yeah rack,

 

Whoever broke it down into 3 categories. What about explorer?

 

I can do art stuffs, I've always bombed more than anything. To me the real value is in painting in a spot, in a tunnel, at night on tracks with red signal lights, in a yard, its about atmosphere.

 

Graff also opened up stuff like hitchiking, freight hopping, tavelling and staying in squats with amazing open hearted people. it's a ticket to see you can break the rules and get away with it enough times that even if you get arrested it's a balance sheet and worth it over all and you can choose to be FREEE and not be a pussy like 99% of people.

 

Graff isn't addictive it's a reasoned choice to do what is more fun to do with your limited supply of time. Who wants to work in a fucking office as an underling to some jumped up, narrow minded, cowardly fuck, doing whatever is fashionable or acceptable, for the rest of their life, when you could explore a million and one things, do whatever the fuck you want, express yourself with an art form that seems perfectable, anywhere you think looks right.

 

People who don't like graffiti are afraid or jealous of it.

[itsmeyo]

i don't find it as a addiction. i find it a way to get away from my desk job,escape a robot reality & live a life in the shadows of darkness instead of sitting there hours on end listening to customers complain about how they are over everything you can think of. all the while i'm drifting off thinking about the next colour scheme i'm going to use or if 3am is early enough to get up to go to the next spot.i find something peaceful about scoping a spot out, sometimes sitting there for hours to certain things to go your way. unfortunately in my state graffiti is dead. the train lines are painted a deep green as soon as your aerosol is applied. the buff definitely took its toll here.

[rack101]

it took me to hitchiking , hopping fr8s also

knowing that you can survive without

a job only living by reaching your next

graffiti goal. meeting, knowing and being

part of the poor, being humble

about travel, seeing the rich and the poor

of north america .playing my part in

the graffiti game that only last like

15 minutes, waiting to fall off

waiting for the next generation

of kings and toys to take my place.

paying attention more to graff than fam.

losing relationships, jail time, beef with

crazy heros..

[vandalism essay]

Of course graffiti is an art. Many make a very nice graffiti. There are different styles and genres so yeah, it is an art. Sometimes I look at it and it makes me feel like making some myself. Naturally, some practice is required but still, I think just like with any other kind of art.