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The Graffitti Gallery - The Basics
Tags and Psychedelic Coleslaw
This is railcar grafitti. In its most basic form, it's just a word or symbol spraypainted on a railcar or locomotive. Fast, easy to apply, and easy on the spraypaint budget.
The more artistically inclined make the lettering a little more elaborate. "Fat Albert" style lettering or shapes seem to be popular.
This one is different, only because the painter used a roller brush instead of the usual spray can.....
This one is NOT graffitti. These chalk labels are scribbled by railroad workers to keep track of their work....the rain washes them off in no time. Alas, not many taggers dabble in watercolours.
Next, we get the basic Gansta Tag....a cryptic symbol that means lots to the tagger and their crew, but next to nothing to the rest of us. I can think of some fairly derogatory things to say about this low-brain form of urban art. But you don't want to diss a tagger, he might be a Gangsta !
Painters seem to be obsessed with these 3-D letter styles that resemble jewelry or ironwork. I call it Psychedelic Coleslaw. Some of it is colourful, but it pretty much all looks alike to me.
Eventually, some sort of artistic talent emerges. That's where I stop muttering about vandalism and take note. This is creative stuff. Too bad it will all go to the scrapyard - or the paint shop - some day.
Here's how things get interesting for the viewer, but problemmatic for the railroad. This ambitious artist has obliterated much of the important data which is stencilled onto the side of each car. The black rectangle at the lower right of the car, containing the "Plate data" - important information about the railcar's dimensions and maintenance history - has had to be restencilled - it's visible immediately above the axle truck at the lower right of the picture. Some taggers carefully paint around the plate data and car numbers, thinking this makes their efforts more honorable. You decide.
Now, this is classic. Some artists simply try to put their trademark on as many railcars as they can, patiently repeating their work for years on end. Under the last coat of paint, an earlier "Smokin' Joe" tag, number 10,428, is reappearing as the paint fades. And another tagger has signed their number 1,018. These things stick with the car for the rest of its life....adding a little heritage to an otherwise anonymous piece of rail equipment.
Some of these guys are legends. They may be rail employees, or workers in companies that load and unload shipments. Some started this out of boredom, or to see where their signs end up. Others make forays into rail yards just to do this stuff.
Here are two classic Smokin' Joe tags. Man, this guy has been at it a long time!
Well, that's the primer. Now enjoy the rest of the Gallery!
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Revised - July 3, 2005
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