Graffito

By Michael Walsh

The graffiti phenomenon taking place in urban America has erupted into a full scale war. The main weapons: aerosol spray paint versus hundreds of taxpayer-funded abatements programs. To the graffiti... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556432313
• ISBN13: 9781556432316
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.9" x 0.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Knocked me out!

Wow! This book is a graphic and photographic bonanza. It gets down to what the writers think and feel and there's also comments and quotes from the law. Even though the text is difficult to read in a few places it fits in with the rawness of the subject matter. The interview quotes are great. Walsh takes this subject and puts his take on it from both an artistic and journalistic point of view. His dynamic interpretation with great black and whites and graphics make this book sing and a real collector's item for anyone who appreciates experimental book design. Walsh is definitely on to something with his new exciting brand of photojournalism. Reliable sources tell me that he's been working in Taiwan for a few years and now putting together a documentary photography book on Taiwanese culture. I'll be waiting for it.

Check out what all the fuss is about!

Get this book to check out the real low down on what's going on in the Bay Area scene. Walsh goes deep and interviews graf writers and the establishment. The interview quotes are revealing and direct. Great book design and photographs! The black and white photographs especially capture the mood and isolation of the graf artist. I hope Walsh continues his work with portraying the graf scene.

digging it in LA

This is one helluva book. Big on graphics...great black and white photographs...an excellent show of San Francisco Bay graffiti by someone on the outside who takes the objective viewpoint. It's the only graffiti book I'm aware of that includes quotes from the abatement side of the issue...this makes it more accessible and interesting than other graffiti books that show mostly color photos with little content. I also like the way the author approaches the graffit issue as a cultural phenomenom that is widely misunderstood. The author is most intererested in why this phenomenon keeps growing and why these kids are compelled to put their art in public places...it's also refreshing that Walsh in his introduction explores the idea that both sides of the issue(the graffiti writers vs. the abatement organizations)actually need each other and fuel each others causes. The graphics are powerful and fresh. The rough, chaotic style that Walsh used to design the book really mirrors its subject...and the black and whites really give the book an added dimension. If you appreciate art and want an objective view on this very interesting and misunderstood subject buy this book.

A good introduction

I bought this book on the recomendation of a friend, who like me knew nothing about the graffiti subculture or the people who do it. I see graffiti everyday in San Francisco and wanted to know what motivated these people. Some of it I can appreciate but much of it appears to be childish vandalism. Through quotes and pictures from both sides of this issue Walsh does an excellent job by bringing this very closed subculture to normal everyday people like me who see it all the time and want some kind of understanding. I find the black and white photographs especially compelling in their starkness. What he gives is a little view or insight of a much larger picture that no one understands except the people who do it. Buy this book if you want an objective view from someone outside the subculture. Finally, I've browsed through the other reviews presented here and find most of the ones by graffiti writers themselves hilarious in their arrogance and their lack of understanding on how their actions effect people in their community. Give me a break. These kids are starving for attention and causing millions of dollars of damage to public and private property and they can't handle it when an 'outsider' such as Walsh does a piece on them. When art is brought out into the public domain it's fair game. These kids have been screaming for attention by putting their art and tags in public and now they get some attention and moan about it. Wake up.

In-Your-Face

GRAFFITO is not to be taken lightly. It paints graffiti artists and the hip-hop subculture in an informative raw light. Looking at both sides of the graffiti phenomenon, Walsh shows how the heroes/criminals of graffiti feel about their misunderstood art and how the public interprets it . I was very happy with the myriad of quotes from interviews with actual established writers who live, breath, and sleep graffiti. Although a little profane at times, this book does not cut any corners or leave any of the truthfulness surrounding graffiti out. Graffiti has and always will be revered by its participants and despised by it's enemies. I'm glad that Michael Walsh took the time to hear and voice the thoughts of those so immersed in it. A definite for any graffiti enthusiast. Good pictures too.