When Norman Mailer and photographer Jon Naar investigated NYC’s graff scene in 1973, most of the artists felt the movement was in decline — but that didn’t stop the pair from documenting (and validating) the in-fact nascent art form.
Teen taggers from the Bronx illuminate the life — and perils — of a graffiti artist to Mailer, who uses the book to connect the burgeoning form to works within MoMA and the Met. This new edition of The Faith of Graffiti contains more than 30 additional photos, and comes at a time when the now-mainstream nature of graffiti affords a whole new perspective.
Watch a book trailer of sorts, buy a copy of your own
Enter to win! We have two copies of the new edition of The Faith of Graffiti to give away to a pair of lucky readers. For a shot at one, tell us what your graffiti name is (or would be) and why in the comments below. We’ll pick our favorites and notify the winners via email.
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65 Responses
Lady Macdeath – w/ accompanying red handprint. Baddest cat in literary memory.
apocalista — end of times, i be bringin’ it –
JARGON [jahr-guh n, -gon]
–noun
1. the language, esp. the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group: medical jargon.
2. unintelligible or meaningless talk or writing; gibberish.
3. any talk or writing that one does not understand.
4. language that is characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning.
Holden MacLeod — There can be only rye.
Because my days of roaming the night with the invisible people have passed into oblivion, because the id-inspired heartbeat of a name sleeps beneath my newfound fatherhood, because the harsh realities of an apocalyptic era crave kindness and medicine, and because I have a thousand things to rep at dusk, I would paint the bricks with the ghoulish moniker of:
DADDY POPPINS
Kali – The goddess of time and change. A metaphorical homage to of the art of grafitti – that which constantly grows and flourishes with the changes of time.
My Graffiti name is (was) “CoZ” illustrated with a crown over the ‘O’ because at some point I thought I was Cozmic. It also worked as a double entendre on the word “cause”. Maybe I still am those things. But I don’t tag anymore ;-)
Katya Pop – queen of da city. Homage to Warhol, Basquiat – NY rules!!
applemuse–surreal, promises of change, can be called on by anyone, anywhere, i.e. “apple’ muse”, approachable and accessible.
Etouffee.
My tag name is XE.cute.
Reasons:
1) It’s badass.
2) My real initials are KR, which is XE in the simple code I Iearned as a kid, where all letters are substituted for letters half the alphabet away.
And, 3) I’m super cute.
Thus, XE.cute!
My Graffiti name was ‘Smiley’ — It was the mid 80′s, and I was between 8 – 10. My babysitters gave me the name & I would ‘tag’ along with them when they went out.
Cyres – because there ain’t but 60,000 cops in whole damn city.
Gully Rajah – translates to king of the street (or lane). Spelled so for the grunge-anglo quality. Grunge for street art and Anglo in reverence to Banksy and King Robbo.
Alphabet Porridge – combination of literary prowess and my Asian cultural heritage.
My graffiti name would be “SHOGIRL OF HARLEM.” My name is Shoshanna and Shogirl has always been a nickname. That coupled with my extended nickname of the Shogun of Harlem (“Last Dragon” reference”) makes me the Shogirl of Harlem.
werd!
PiVoTaL…..
Which means: of critical importance
me+we
My name would be “SpRy”. It means active, energetic, and lively. Anyone who knows me knows I’m always into something. I just can’t sit still when there’s so much to experience out there!
Stank – because I’d be shitting my pants trying to tag without being caught.
EcoNick – because we are now simultaneously screwing up the economy and the ecology it depends on.
syNeRGy >> would be my graffiti moniker because my whole self is greater than my parts (my real initials are included) and I work hard to close divides in order to come up with innovative solutions to old problems.
Pink Sunflowers: The work would definitely have an element of re-inserting nature into the cityscape. A little bit like guerrilla gardening, but through tagging. Perhaps it could get a few people to smile at a name that is so girly!
“impermanent” because it comments on the nature of graffiti and all things.
meditating on the impermanent nature of all phenomenon brings you into the present moment. aka, mprmnnt
HAHAHA ETC.
jdit – because my initials are JD and dit in french means say or speak.
WeaponG – It’s an old nickname my friends gave me that I like.
JEW – three letters, for quick and easy tagging. high shock value. second choice would be MLK, for the same reasons.
Janka – my name in Hungarian, my alter ego
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gwontulei-myra : a remixed version of the Cuban song title “Guantanamera”, adapted from the poem “Simple Verses” by José Martí. Letters and vowels were changed and added to enhance graphic and typographic diversity for my tag name.
“I am an honest [wo]man
From where the palm tree grows
And before dying I want
To share the verses of my soul”
[Tenoli] (te-no-lee) – It’s a word I once made up to mean “cute” that quickly became my trademark, nickname, and the only word that could sum up all the random qualities that make me who I am.
Someone unique. An anomaly. Random. A melting pot’s creation.
ZuZu
my daughter’s nickname and also the daughter of james stewart in the film “it’s a wonderful life” where he was a man who loved his family and his city.
Coincidentally also now the number one children’s toy–the ZhuZhu pets.
“nizer”
from a kirk varnedoe quote where he states that the goal of modern art is to ‘colonize the borderland around the opening onto nothingness’ in the book ‘pictures of nothing.’ academia meets street–just like it already has.
Hamster-
All for the sandwich.
“Cal”–
It is the name of the “bad” brother in John Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’ (portrayed in the movie adaptation by James Dean). Also, I’m from California, and it’s a short & simple name.
Bambi, a cute name for a woman who was on the run from the law for killing her cop husband. The sentiment of the locals was hand painted on walls everywhere “RUN BAMBI RUN”.
Grandmaster Spank
nogus57
back in the day, i was known as the funky fresh SHATTER…
“…As I walk the street, I leave fossils and dents,…
My trademark was left throughout the projects…” (“In The Ghetto- Rakim).
CYBERIA – coz I live way up in the mountains and am into technology and art.
Irradiated Apples – if you’ve seen 28 days later, there was a scene, when they walk into a grocery store and all the produce is spoiled but the bright, oiled/waxed up (irriadiated) apples. The ones which normally people wont buy, are the ones which survived. Like graffiti on the walls even after we all dissapear
specs! because of my glasses.
That scumbag Norman Mailer, picking up some loose change to bullshit about something he didn’t know anything about or care anything about in order to continue living his charmed and extravagant lifestyle. Toxic egoist. Imagine Norman Mailer in the Subway. I lived in The Bronx and had to suffer in dark cattle cars while swells could blather on about how creative the virile young artists were and we know what that was about. Later it was made obvious by Keith Haring. I think the book was originally called “Watching My Name Go By” or something like that which further emphasises the egoistic and anti-social nature of the work and the opportunists who promoted it and still do.
Apropos – cuz it’s appropriate
to max VonMeyerling,
i hear ya on mailer’s egoism. that his reputation (so far as i was concerned) preceded him as i went into this book at first did make it a little weird, if not wholly a challenge. i guess i have less of a problem with an “outsider” celebrating something foreign to him. as for the name, mailer actually addresses this in the book. “watching my name go by” was the title chosen by his editors or publishers, and he refused it *precisely* because he knew what it would look like if anyone of his journalistic status — but *especially* “norman mailer” put out a book with that title. the proposed title actually came from one of the taggers; but i don’t believe “the faith” has ever been published under a different name.
LOTUS212
My long time moniker. It is my state of mind and my area code of reference most of the time.
dis, as in:
disguise
disbelief
disposable
Dogz Pawz
because Dogs do better graffiti with a ‘z’
Mine would be Platypus cause i’m mixed with all sorts of ethncities, some weird and some ancient. I’m cute but dangerous. You either love me or hate me. Don’t care cause i’ve been doing what I do since way back, and guess what…imma keep doing it!
eatyourchildren, because its what I do. eats for short.
“Ⓡevo” + with the “R” reversed.
As in revolution.
Kron, with a line over the vowel (o)
because i am one, and we are powerful and many and want to get up and get known.
g1yph
-a symbolic figure or a character (as in the Mayan system of writing) usually incised or carved in relief
-a symbol (as a curved arrow on a road sign) that conveys information nonverbally
[...] Norman Mailer’s 1973 book on graffiti. [...]
Basura – that’s what my street handle would be.
Cause in Spanish it means, well, trash.
And really, graffitti does trash the surface on which it appears.
Rising Sin-Cause like the Phoenix I too rise from the ashes to destroy & deface
My tag would be すみません (sumimasen)which means sorry in Japanese. If I get up on your building, its an apology in advance.
i sign spaces with FRANK KAFKA WAS HERE in memory of Kafka.
OBEE – My nickname growing up. Nothing to do with Star Wars.
Lipstick. In a partial pictogram, drawn lips and STICK maybe? Short, sweet, quick. Perhaps the current make up fiend Lippie. Shorter. Time is important when sneaking around making Art in the Dark.
Why? LOL, women have been tagging cocktail glasses, cars, mirrors, Men In General, and whatever else strikes their fancy since it was invented almost a century ago. Might be the Original Bad Girl tagging tool. It’s an urban object, comes in pretty colors, and all the girls have one on them. Wouldn’t put it on a building but I’ve used it on plenty else… As have those who’ve come before me. Seems just right.
“Sally Mander”
Because I slither in the shadows of the freshly dampened streets leaving secretions on surfaces to be seen by sunlit suckers and other surly slapstick savants.
i write Dasone because i wear nothing but adiDAS and in german das means “that”.
I like the way “thatone” sounds but love the way dasone looks. thanx for another dope look into the world of graff. can’t wait to see your guys movie.
peace,
dasone
My tag is 4OUR. My analysis of graffiti tags reveals that four-letter tags are the most prominent; enough letters to allow for stylish embellishments, but not so many that the piece can’t be completed quickly. The allusion to four-letter words also introduces ideas about graffiti and profanity. As an added plus, the beginning “4″ and ending “R” create a wonderful, reflected symmetry.
femi9. graffiti is all about taking what you want by earning respect. lots of chicks artists are cute, but most are toys. more krews are boyz, but when a woman rocks it, she gets mad props. my palate is decidedly feminine so i thought i’d go with the literal and bring some divine femi9 to the cock rockin. don’t get me wrong, there are a handful of stellar lady writers: pink, hera… and i’m all about continuing to bring the femi9 wiles onto the scene.