Type: Non-fiction book

Title: The History of American Graffiti

Authors: Roger Gastman & Caleb Neelon
The History of American Graffiti is a comprehensive overview of the evolution of street art in the
United States. Taking root in the artistic expressions of soldiers during WWII, graffiti has grown from a
simplistic way for an individual to mark where theyve been to a tool used to inspire social and political
change. New York has served as a central hub for the growth of the art form since its conception.
This book is artistically inspiring as well as emotionally captivating. Graffiti is an incredibly
under-appreciated and misunderstood form of expression. The book is full of photographs of art pieces,
many of which no longer exist. The decades-long war on street art has caused the destruction of thousands
of one-of-a-kind pieces. On a personal level, I appreciate street art as a magnificent form of selfexpression, and deeply respect those who commit their lives to becoming great at it. Many people refuse
to see past the illegality of the act and thus miss the true goals of graffiti. Graffiti is used to bring
communities together, and give a voice to those who may not be strong enough to stand up and fight for it
themselves. The photographs on the pages of this book serve as a reminder of the sacrifice that artists
sometimes have to make for their craft, and make me feel truly connected to the art pieces that line the
streets instead of the walls of a gallery. The firsthand interviews with ex-graffiti artists allow me, as the
reader, to deeply engage in the emotional motivations of tagging. I particularly engaged with an artist
called LSD OM because his ideas were so insightful and so clearly defined the motivation of writing:
Writing was a way of saying, Dont make a decision without consulting us. Look at this wall with all
these lives here. You may not see these people standing on the platform of the train, but all of these names
you see are people with lives and meaning.
My concern with this book is the bias of the two authors. Roger Gastman is a former graffiti
writer himself, and now owns several successful art magazines. Caleb Neelon is an artist and has
immersed himself in urban history and contemporary culture for much of his adult life. Naturally, a
former street artist is not going to publish a book that emphasizes the illegality of the practice. Instead, he
will seek to clarify the art form, and shed light on to the motivations of this more clandestine form of selfexpression. Neelons bias could be shown in his long history studying urban lifestyles. In order to devote
your life to something, it must be fairly important. Clearly, Neelon sees beauty in the urban lifestyle,
including graffiti. To appreciate the beauty of something is to sometimes ignore its flaws. My only
concern with this book would be that the perspectives of the authority figures are not adequately
represented. I can see how the authors would avoid this type of perspective, as this very authority was
considered a personal enemy for years, so to acknowledge their correctness is to admit wrongdoing on
your own part.
Many of the questions that arose when I read this book were centralized around the idea that
graffiti is a tool that can be bent to fit the desires of the artist. Some art pieces seek to challenge the
accepted ideas of morality, while some street art is meant to warn rival gangs of a boundary to the enemy
territory. I would like to know more about the relationship between those who were perpetrators of gangrelated graffiti, and those who were more driven by a desire to inspire change or personal fulfillment. Did
the traditional writers have a problem with their art form being used to generate fear amongst civilians?
Or did the two groups understand that they had a similar interest with two very different goals?
While I was reading this book and also beginning to learn about the aftereffects of 9/11, I was
even more captivated by Banksys artistic stint in New York City. Even today, Banksy is somewhat of a
criminal amongst certain groups, and a caped crusader to others. Banksys understated piece of the
silhouetted twin towers on the wall of a building in New York, with an orange chrysanthemum illustrating
the devastation of that day were reminiscent of the roots of my interest in graffiti in the first place. Banksy

uses his street art to spread awareness of social issues, and incite the desire to change what needs to be
changed.