Watching Paint Dry #9: “To tag or not to tag”

Hey doodlers.

“To tag or not to tag, that is the question”

I trust you are all surviving this “cold snap” and ploughing on through this freezing February. Get your fingerless gloves on, get out there and write your name on something. But if you’re going to do that – practice first, on anything but the street.

The “Tag” simultaneously loved and hated by the masses (mainly hated by the general public!) is an essential part of the graffiti process. Many writers would say tagging is at the core, the very heart of this culture. It is to write ones name, leave ones mark – again and again and again – until the world knows it. Getting your name up, letting everyone know who you are. But is it really as simple as that? There are thousands, if not millions of tags across London; and let’s be honest the majority are ugly, badly positioned and make the place look a mess. Yet despite this, I love the tag. It just has to be done correctly, in the right place, in the right manner. It’s all about where and how you put it up (hardcore writers may disagree and say write on anything, but personally I think people’s property, houses, churches and the like should be left alone. Hit the bus stops, the green boxes, the public walls. (They’re everyone’s after all.)

If you want to start painting graffiti the tag is where you start. It has to be! It’s your name, your moniker, your fundamental weapon in this game. The very first thing you must master. The only problem is it’s not as easy as it looks. Try writing your name is such a way whereby it will look nice. You are projecting a personality via the tag. There is an art to this and the art is within what we call the “handstyle”. The flow of the letters. the shape, the size of the letters. The spacing, the kerning and the overall feel of the tag. This is what makes it work. Some would say these hand styles have been lost over recent years but I would beg to differ. All around the world writers are still bombing their respective names and styles up on anything in sight. Styles from around the world differ massively too. For example Brazilian styled tags are usually long, tall letters with the detail at the top or the bottom and tags from San Fran. are often flamboyant with flaring big points at the tip of the letters. In London (and pretty much the rest of the UK) hand styles vary considerably. There is no specific style as such; but there is a lot of flavour.

As the young writers run about splattering ink on things and making a general mess it’s easy for us to say the tag is awful. However if you keep those eyes peeled you can find some amazing stuff out there. Don’t just write off this medium as a dirty attempt at graffiti art. It’s not the art part. It’s the “pissing on your territory” part and inside it lies bags of style. You just have to look harder. On every wall smashed with a ton of tags there will be a beauty in there, I guarantee you. Look for the flow…
Here’s a few examples of what I mean. Look at the SICKBOY tag for example. Isn’t it just interesting to the eye?

Also it’s worth me mentioning it doesn’t have to be a word or letters at all. A tag can be a symbol, a little character, a tag can be anything. It’s just about repeating it, again and again and again. Until the whole world knows your name. It’s a manifestation of everything you stand for!
See ya next week….and remember before you go write on the street and make a mess, practice!

Stay up!

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