Graffiti can be used to make a social or political statement, a simple image, or even useless scribbling. The form of graffiti known as “ tagging” is a way for graffiti artists to literally leave their mark, by having a symbol or word that represents them. The purpose of these tags is somewhat controversial, however according to Gross 1997 “the tags used by contemporary graffiti writers distinguish signatures that identify the individuals who write them.”

The curiosity behind these tags is that many of them make it very difficult for the general public to read and understand. According to Gross 1993, “The words both reveal and conceal their identity. They reveal themselves to the insider or initiated but conceal themselves from the uninitiated.” In this case, the insider usually includes other graffiti artists in that geographical area or in some instances gang related groups. It is clear that the purpose of these tags is much different from graffiti art that is meant to display messages or argue viewpoints, in that it does not make the effort to be legible to the majority of the audience. Individual tag graffiti, as seen in the photograph, seems to serve no meaningful  function other than the defacing of public property. It seems that in some cases, such as the one on the dumpster, it starts as one person leaving their mark, followed by others mimicking the action. In my opinion, this sort of mindless tagging of public property has no place on our streets.

By Andrew Ledger

References

Gross, D. Daniel., Barbara Walkosz and Timothy D. Gross. 1997. ” Language Boundaries and Discourse Stability: “Tagging as a Form of Graffiti Spanning International Borders.” Et Cettera. 275-285. 

Gross, D. Daniel, and Timothy D. Gross. 1993. ” Tagging: Changing Visual Patterns and the Rhetorical Implications of a New Form of Graffiti.” Et Cettera. 251-264.