Style Wars

Style Wars was an interesting movie because of the perspective it provided on the origins and growth of hip-hop culture and graffiti art. It traced the development of the art form and showed us a variety of different artists along with insight into the ongoing fight against authority. It seems troubling to me that authority figures seemed intent on removing the graffiti and stopping the artists, even going to lengths such as using dogs and barbed wire fences, and devoting resources to washing the trains. It may seem like a way to make people feel safer, but it seems like the police should put less time into stopping graffiti artists from putting up art that makes passengers feel unsafe, and instead devote that time and resources to making the subway rides safer. One interesting dynamic that we touched on in conversation after the movie was the racial diversity on display in the groups of graffiti writers. While rappers and break dancers seemed to be solely made out of minority groups, mostly blacks and some Latinos, there were a surprising amount of white graffiti artists. It was cool to see how the artists learned from each other and were able to give a history of the different innovations and when they came, almost like a history of graffiti art. The concept of style was very central to the culture, hence the term “Style Wars”. I think this clearly shown in the way the artists interact with each other. It seems like the worst thing somebody can do is steal from someone else; each person had their own individual style and technique that made them different. Its also interesting to see how much street art has evolved from the days when the movie was shot. The development of graffiti art and the idea of chronicling the different innovations shows just how quickly the art form evolved. This rapid growth and evolution is a product of the nature of the art; when it is on trains, it is seen by a lot of people, and thus ideas seem to spread so quickly.



This movie also brought up the question of crime, and what it really means. The idea of defacing public property seemed to be the reason that people considered graffiti art crime. However, the art did no harm to anyone, and it seems unfair to consider it a crime. The writers didn’t exploit, harass, or hurt anyone; they just wanted to express their feelings in art and let the world see it. On the surface, it seems strange that these writers do what they do; they aren’t paid for it in most cases, run the risk of getting thrown in jail, and don’t get any material gains from graffiti writing. It doesn’t even seem to be about recognition, its more about expressing themselves. I think that graffiti art and hip-hop culture gives a voice to groups of people who often find themselves unable to express their ideas. It gives anyone an ability to express themselves through art, they don’t need permission from anyone else, it is their own work. This dynamic seems to draw people to graffiti writing.