WorldBench Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 I know alot of Toy ass writers who watch "Stylewars" on this thread think that "Racking paint" is the cool and only way to get paint. And bitch about people who buy paint because "theyre rich kids" I want to know why everyone thinks this? Yea I'll rack paint from Construction Sites and easy places like that or Restoration Sites, but racking spray-paint in many places is just not possible, pretty stupid or pointless. For instance, only way I can rack Montana here is if while the dude at the shop was getting me more paint from the back, and I already have like 30 cans, I run and jump out the 2nd story window and land in the middle of a busy Market Area. If I was going to rack Krylon or Rusto here, I'd have to run out the doors past about 100 Soldiers, make it to my car, and then continue to drive over 10 sets of spike strips and road blocks while getting shot at by Security Guards and MP's. Now I suppose I could rack plenty of shit-off-brand paint from the local hardware store, so my nice throwies I do stay up for 2 weeks during the rainy season and then chip off. And if racking that paint is "cool" and "how it should be" then maybe the people who think that shouldn't write. I'm far from being rich anymore, I make less then 40,000$ a year and living in Europe, which is hardly any money at all. Seeing how it's .50 euro to take a piss in a public bathroom and a big & tasty meal costs about 8.50 euro. I still manage to buy enough montana every paycheck and still have money to club/party/go out, and travel europe. So Why Is Racking Paint how it should be? Why are people who buy paint whack as fuck? I think only kids and toys are the ones who think this. I mean, if you're poor and you can manage to rack paint, go for it. But not everyone lives in areas where you can rack quality paint. And I read all the time kids saying they rack montana, belton, molotow.. on this site. i want to know how they do seeing how most shops keep it in the back and get it for you, it's not like "quality of life" where they go in the local hardware shop and montana's lined up.. if there's places like that, shit let me know, maybe I'm mislead. Okay enough bitching on here, just showing my side of the story to kids who think Racking Paint is the ONLY WAY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRUM Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Personally I agree with you. This way of thinking isn't good. I rack things regularly and I'm not saying I think its wrong but I make myself buy all my paint. I just think that it gives graffiti writers a bad name to do this and it ultimately keeps us down as a culture. We already have to deal with the fact that people say we destroy everything and there is usually no good to it. It's easy to say I'm a hypocrite for doing this seeing as how racking and painting public places are both illegal acts. But I know having some morals and respecting actual people is the only way the general public will give us any respect in the long run. It's like biting the hand that feeds you you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintstainz Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 allright i understand both of your points and i respect both of them but graffiti is not about the public liking what we do. graffiti is an illegal act and an act that we do to say to other people that they cant control us. my point on the racking issue is that we should do it not because its cool but simply the fact that is the essence of graffiti and thats how people used to do it back in the day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldBench Posted February 24, 2007 Author Share Posted February 24, 2007 I'm basically sick of people talking shit with no valid points, making up shit and lying just to be cool and hardcore. I mean when I lived in the states, we racked alot of paint. But we also bought tons of paint too. We'd max out OUR Credit cards at age 18 just to get paint when we couldn't steal it. You can only rack so much Paint before Legal Authorties put 1 and 1 together and start cracking down and getting involved. Ontop of that, how come buying Caps online is okay and Buying Markers is okay and not whack as fuck? and to Krum, I guess that's like how everyone can think Mobsters are cool but Street Gangs are retarded. Alot of public knows Graffiti is bad but still like some of it, but think racking is completley retarded. I don't know if that's a good analogy, but whatever fuck it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Popularity Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 back in the day is gone now, times are changing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldBench Posted February 24, 2007 Author Share Posted February 24, 2007 allright i understand both of your points and i respect both of them but graffiti is not about the public liking what we do. graffiti is an illegal act and an act that we do to say to other people that they cant control us. my point on the racking issue is that we should do it not because its cool but simply the fact that is the essence of graffiti and thats how people used to do it back in the day I see where you are coming from, and I don't want to argue with you but here's my view: This can go into the argument tho of also how "using montana is whack and not true to graffiti" because "back in the day they didnt use montana they used red-devil and shit" it's evolution man, just because people used to beat their wives, does that mean we should do it now cause that's how it was back in the days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintstainz Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 I see where you are coming from, and I don't want to argue with you but here's my view: This can go into the argument tho of also how "using montana is whack and not true to graffiti" because "back in the day they didnt use montana they used red-devil and shit" it's evolution man, just because people used to beat their wives, does that mean we should do it now cause that's how it was back in the days? ya i guess you got a point there man. im not saying that its wack to buy shit either i know alot of really good writers who do it. all in all it really doesnt matter i suppose in the end just get out there and paint and do your thing. everybody has different views on this issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRUM Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 How does Graffiti today have anything to do with back then other than what your art actually looks like. The only part of graffiti that we should remember from back then is the style of art. Not the way we did it. It's a whack kind of Amish mentality if you ask me. I don't think racking paint has anything to do with graff really. I don't think it ever did. Can someone please explain to me how the two are related? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldBench Posted February 24, 2007 Author Share Posted February 24, 2007 "I just like to wirte my name" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o.O Almost Free Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Where i live. there are two shops that Sell good paint(Montana, Moltow ect.) And both of which are to be respected. If we rack from there they will go broke or stop selling it. I'll rack shit like delux and other shitty cheap paint. but Racking the paint that we have a limited supply to is wack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iLoveRamen Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 racking is a fundamental element of this writing/aerosol art culture. how are you going to bomb if all you do is buy your paint? your shits going to either get buffed, dissed, gone over, or fade away anyway. we're like the indians.. take only what we need from the land and give it back in a sense. if writing was a game, and to lots it's considered an artistic sport. then buying your paint would be considered cheating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iLoveRamen Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 How does Graffiti today have anything to do with back then other than what your art actually looks like. The only part of graffiti that we should remember from back then is the style of art. Not the way we did it. It's a whack kind of Amish mentality if you ask me. I don't think racking paint has anything to do with graff really. I don't think it ever did. Can someone please explain to me how the two are related? what does graffiti today have to do with anything back in the days you ask? if it weren't for the writers back then making this artform what it is NOW, nurturing it, developing it, putting their lives on the line, then you wouldn't be doing what it is you do in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunt double Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 i really dont care, if someone works for their money, then spends it on paint i dont think any less of them than someone who racks, both require a degree of dedication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLIK$ Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 hahaha you pay for paint? HAHAHAHA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldBench Posted February 25, 2007 Author Share Posted February 25, 2007 hahaha you pay for paint? HAHAHAHA this is not unexpected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tango 24 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 i make it a mixture of racking and buying i buy 2 cans, one black and one white, then is stash cans of the same colour around the stoore and walk out with them 2 at a time. ive racked before but im pretty over it now, i dont want to get busted for racking any more than i want to be arrested again for actual graffiti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushawn wuan Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 ya niggas crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeMySelf Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 thou shall not steal... thats my moral conflict.. i do rack but i dont rack enough to be hardcore.. and im not rich by any means.. i make less then 20,000 a year.. i just cant bring myself morally to do so.. so much.. oh well to each there own i say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLIK$ Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 the fact that youre going to spend $4 for a can of paint that youre going to use to do illegal graffiti is pretty fucking hilarious if you ask me. i also probably came up in a very different environment than you and the writes i know/am down with probably are in very different mindsets. racking is more a way of life than just a means to obtain a graffiti supply to us. its pretty funny that you find only younger/toys feel its stupid to rack paint or whatever. I happen to find only toys/younger kids are the only people paying for paint at all. But hey dude I guess thats the difference between actually needing/using 8 cases of paint in a month as opposed to 5 cans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Clothesoff Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 u guys do graffiti? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iLoveRamen Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 thou shall not steal... thats my moral conflict.. i do rack but i dont rack enough to be hardcore.. and im not rich by any means.. i make less then 20,000 a year.. i just cant bring myself morally to do so.. so much.. oh well to each there own i say I personally understand this law, as well as the statutes and ordinances of man and the morals behind it. however, I personally don't see racking as stealing. I see it as taking only what is needed and giving it back to make these bland stoney walls or steel for communities more exciting. Everything comes from the earth, so I'm speaking in terms of cycles of nature and what not. I'd strictly only rack anything related to writing, and nothing else outside of it. whether it be a simple colorpen for a blackbook to a freakin pound can rustoleum for public surfaces. As far as nessecities like food, shelter, clothing and any other stuff I might want, I'd most definately buy them. this is just from an OUTSIDER's point of view like me. I don't do graffiti. *cough oink cough* And to answer communist, ofcourse racking isn't the only way, u can buy, but then you'd be a sucker. I'm not saying this as if I've never bought cans before, but it's just the incorrect way to go about it. If graph is illegal, then why would you want to spend money on it? just so you can eliminate the risk of getting caught for shoplifting? if you want to do that then have a ball, you just won't have enough paint and the income to support all those expenses if you ever wanted to compete or even stay up. the less paint you have the less likely you'd be out bombing, and a much lesser chance of you being caught, because the risks will always be there, but u must know the chances. i understand that yes, just because you buy paint or rack doesn't make you have any less passion about it either way, but grow some nuts. In my personal opinion I think if you were passionate about this writing culture you'd be racking. if you look back at the kids that made this artform what it is today, lots of them lived in the innercity ghetto, and didn't have jobs. probably weren't even old enough to work in the first place. plus, there was mad competition. writers needed to clean out the racks before any other writers could. how'd you think kids got up in the subway yards? beg mommy and daddy to buy a case of paint every month when they can barely afford the rent? yes, lots of writers today are much older and work, but c'mon quit being a poor-me-baby about it. the older you get the wiser and more mature you become right? then use that developed brain to plan out rackings schemes. duh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeweyVonGumpsteinAndTheWiz Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 "if you buy your paint, a king you aint." -amaze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flecks Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Cant explain it away and candy it up, racking is stealing. period. Most stores have theft built into their prices anyways, their not losing any real money so if you choose to do it and get away with it, more power to you, just some people decide to pay for it, i can respect both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2-Ez Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I am not gonna be a hypocrit. I haven't found a way to rack paint yet ( without the detectors going off ) but I have racked prisma's and black books before and plan on doing it again. But racking too much ( especially in one store ) causes a few things to happen. 1.) Prices go up ( to accomidate loss in profit ) for the people who buy paint. 2.) If prices don't go up ( and maybe even if they do ) the store may stock less or stop stocking the product all together thus screwing people who rack as well as people who buy. My two cents . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeking Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 as far as i know, and i know more than most, you've never painted shit. you didnt do shit when you lived in the states, and im fairly sure you're doing just as little while you're in the army over seas. why are you so concerned? stop parading around the site, fronting like you're some sort of authority on graff. you know nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2-Ez Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Seeking was that directed to me? O.o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonamebrandeggs Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 discussing graffiti is not graffiti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iLoveRamen Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 yo communist, ima also say this, just cus you can't rack in the situation you are now, don't diss writers that strictly rack in their own situations out of your frusteration. cus we dont really give a fuck if you cant rack. more paint for the rest of us that actually do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRUM Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 God I hate arguing about pointless shit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldBench Posted February 25, 2007 Author Share Posted February 25, 2007 yo communist, ima also say this, just cus you can't rack in the situation you are now, don't diss writers that strictly rack in their own situations out of your frusteration. cus we dont really give a fuck if you cant rack. more paint for the rest of us that actually do. read 3 posts down, it's not out of frustration that i cant rack, it's the fact there's so many kids on this board who think racking is what graff is about. you obviously didn't read half the posts in this thread. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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