Essay on Understanding SOL: Graffiti Genre Creative Writing on Public Space

Introduction

Scribbled scratches on public space have over the years being referred to as illicitly part of the back street and gang communication. Yet, the genre is an ancient form of writing or drawing that communicate on humorous, political, or indirect rudeness represented in different public spaces like the street was, passage tunnels, public service vehicles among others. This form of writing genre dates back to the Ancient Roman Empire, Greece, and Egyptians among other early literature forms that were scribbled on walls as writings or drawings (Bates 570). Other controversies surrounding the graffiti genre draw relationship of this genre with the wrong side of law enforcement but the application of the different graffiti genre categories like SOL appreciate artistic creativity if the types and styles of graffiti. This journal article presents the new understanding and development of antecedent knowledge of the nature of graffiti genre.

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Image by Thach Brenda (2016)

Identification with the Sings of Life (SOL) crew basically demarcates the boundaries of a category of social members or political divide that understand the meaning on incised initials or graphical calligraphic presentation of motifs of their communication forum In the modern age, SOL is displayed all over in every possible public space that would offer to communicate platform for gang graffiti writers. Spray painting is a fast and presentable way of communicating the writer's mind to share his point of view with his wide public audience. At times the composition of the artistic writing is peculiar to the writer and a category of his target group who understand his intentions. However, the understanding insightful message contained in SOL dates back to the ancient age when early man lived in caves. They used to incise their mind on cave walls and rocks to pass their historical data to generations to come. Therefore, although this literacy activity is associated with gang life, it has deep roots in ancient Greece, Egypt, and Roman Emperies. This activity of literacy was used in early times to beautify the living and public spaces to enhance communication and preservation of cultural heritage.

The contemporary graffiti is done on walls and other public spaces using spray paint or marker pens to express underlying social and political communication as a genre of artistic expression commonly in hip-hop culture. Although, graffiti expands beyond the hip-hop culture to gang use especially in territory marking or coded communication on public and private space without the owners' permission (Nave 95). Later with the emergence and evolution of hip-hop culture graffiti writing and creativity grew with the style of life that attributed to this culture. In hip-hop culture, it has been used to mark territories with a careful variety of interactive and complex discourse system to reflect on the nature of social structures and specified sub-cultures. This category of writing genre can be used to communicate individual or group feelings and perceptions due to its high personalized aesthetic form of artistic knowledge that is antagonistic in nature (Nave 92).

Describing and mapping of the construction of the graffiti genre requires the employment of textual analysis and interrogation of the syntax or semantics in the artworks presented in public space. Understanding the text and graphic elements constituent of SOL attribute to the common characteristics, location sets, attitudes, characterization, as well as shots to give the graffiti genre semiotic properties in literature. The constructive relationship between the undesignated and holder elements depict the syntactic organization of the graphical presentation of writing genre. Nevertheless, the unprecedented emphasis on the fundamental foundation of the graffiti genre that focuses on the structural properties of the writing and artistic skills. Conceivably, the aesthetic features of SOL portray mass-media motifs and the traditional letter-based semantic in the discourse creating taxonomical subjectivity of personal creativity and expression. The robust and adaptive illumination of street arts and graffiti genre is coherent to flexible aesthetic gestures on public space and alternative construction using digitalized platforms to widen the target audience coverage. Understanding the category of writing skills applied in SOL requires abstract knowledge on creativity and integrative display of artistic skills by identifying the target audience requirements and association with the genre production. Writing a complex representation of graphical and multicolor display does not justify the properties of the genre but, appreciate the outdoor artistic gear of visual styles of writing and communication (Johns 2013). Nevertheless, the artistic talent required in street art and graffiti genre has to be vibrant especially by the utilization of wall scrawl in public space in writing or drawing highlighted attention for social ideologies and political positions perspectives. The use of SOL ultimately widens the scope and catchment of the target audience reached by the inventive features previously targeting a specific audience. More people are exposed to the attractiveness and diverse skills applied in spray painting to convey important messages to the masses (DeNotto 2014). Therefore, it's important to use street art to increase the number of people who appreciate this artistic venture in a larger public space.

Furthermore, street art paintings help increase value-added understanding on the social, cultural or political phenomenon in a viral presence in public space. Previously, hidden communication to a certain characteristic of audience opens to inclusivity of subjects. In that case, whenever one makes use of street art through responsible permission from the relevant authority on public spaces ensures responsibility on displayed content (Johns 2013). The tradition of spraying on walls and other public spaces done by irresponsible artists is prohibited when the local authorities like the municipality have to license and regulate street art. Thus more responsible content will be displayed for social appreciation of art. The integration of artistic talent and evaluative understanding of the target audience requires the ethical consideration on logical and social presentation of contents. The artist understands the social needs in artistic appreciation within a certain target group. Therefore, whenever the audience for any street artwork visually appreciates the color themes and other integrative aspects used to display any artwork in public space, their respective needs are addressed through quantitative and qualitative values of their responses. The artist of street art requires very sensitive to the expectations and outward perception brought about by the potential understanding and appreciation of street art theories and practices (Goat and Wang 2013).

The legality concerns of graffiti and street art genre receive fuses form law enforcement because of the essence perception associated with gangster and backstreet livelihood to these categories of writing. The environmental concerns on the ratification of public space with unacceptable language and media places this form of the genre on the wrong side of the law. Many states globally have over the years considered this form of artistic writing illegal because of the misuse it has received from the personalized aesthetic features in presenting one's thoughts. The invasion of private and public spaces to present the author's thoughts in the bid to target the audience from a wider scope eventually causes a violation of owner's rights and vandalism (Sheets 377). Many council authorities perceive street arts and graffiti genre presentation as public space diminishing with unacceptable writings and drawings making it unauthorized to maintain cleanliness in the various public spaces that are commonly targeted by writers. The element of SOL as a battle of knowledge and passion against social understanding and political affiliation places the composition in contrast with the law. The majority of street artists utilize the available public spaces to outreach and communicate with their respective target audience making the interpretation of the literary activities multidimensional depending on the audience's understanding of the author's intention. Many times the hidden meaning of any genre is custom made to the tagged essence to the recognition of a particular group thus, the rest of the audience perceive the use of public space of graffiti as chaotic or proliferous of public utilities and spaces.

Additionally, graffiti genres are commonly associated with hip-hop culture but in recent age, they have taken a cross-cultural phenomenon available in almost all literate societies. The contextual elements of producing graffiti form of writing genre increase the manifestation of personal and communal ideologies within the historical, social and political representation of thinking perceptions. Graffiti genre presumes illicit nature in the need to create space, convincing, speed and spray pain are of paramount importance to accommodate the different sizes of the etching, marking, writing or painting to communicate to the general public with unique elements identifiable by a particular target group. Individuals who produce graffiti are commonly known to target some cryptic information or messages with codes and symbolism that are stylistic in the aesthetic systems. Beginners of utilizing this category of writing system require developing their antecedent knowledge to widen in the field of public communication. The complexity of the productions is at certain times attributed to hiding the in-text meaning of the message being communicated (Ferro 2014). Although graffiti and street art genre is regarded to be hard to comprehend on the in-depth message, their wide coverage does not signify complexity as the production principles. Graffiti genres can be produced with simple graphics and symbolic representation of the personalized ideologies without necessarily making them hectic for the general population to understand or interpret the hidden meaning of the message. This graphical complexity causes the unsuspecting audience to find these forms of writing techniques to be unready acceptable. Therefore, producing this wring of genre presentation of literature activities does not necessarily require the artistic expertise of training, all it requires is creativity in expressing individualized ideologies and perceptions of social or political ideologies and thinking to produce expression forms of literature.

In addition, the genres of graffiti are active in urban areas and markers of gangs active in the specified region. They consist of cryptic codes, initials, and other hidden rigid styles of calligraphies and initials. The gang graffiti exceeds the literary activity boundaries and merges with other forms of writing and artistic styles like clothing and tattooing styles that incorporates illegitimate bound and practices branching beyond the actual graffiti genre. Another category of graffiti includes the New York style derived from the traditional hip-hop genre of the late 1970s originating from New York subway. The original writings and artistic presentations were done on subway vehicles, rocks, road signs, billboards, walls, train carriages, and any other canvas surfaces. Like gang graffiti, the New York graffiti genre belonged to categorical crews oriented through artistic proficiency levels. They displayed tags, pieces, and museum quality figures in an artistic and expressive medium that is difficult to control because of the independence and individualized expansion and flexibility of their presentation. They off...