Editing Graffiti (section)

== History ==
[[File:Rufus est caricature villa misteri Pompeii.jpg|thumb|right|Ancient [[Pompeii]] graffito [[caricature]] of a politician. [[Villa of the Mysteries]].]] 
[[File:Graffitti, Castellania, Malta.jpeg|thumb|right|Figure graffito, similar to a relief, at [[Castellania (Valletta)|the Castellania, in Valletta]]]]

=== Prehistoric ===
{{See also|Megalithic graffiti symbols}}
Most [[petroglyph]]s and [[geoglyph]]s date between 40,000 and 10,000 years old, the oldest being [[cave paintings]] in Australia.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=McDonald |first=Fiona |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZnGCDwAAQBAJ |title=The Popular History of Graffiti: From the Ancient World to the Present |date=2013-06-13 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-62636-291-8 |language=en}}</ref> Paintings in the [[Chauvet Cave]] were made 35,000 years ago, but little is known about who made them or why.<ref name=":2" /> Early artists created [[stencil graffiti]] of their hands with paint blown through a tube. These stencils may have functioned similarly to a modern-day [[Tag (graffiti)|tag]].<ref name=":2" />

=== Ancient ===
{{See also|Roman graffiti}}
The oldest written graffiti was found in [[Ancient Rome]] around 2500 years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Griggs |first2=Mary Beth |title=Archaeologists in Greece Find Some of the World's Oldest Erotic Graffiti |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/erotic-graffiti-found-greece-180951979/ |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> Most graffiti from the time was boasts about sexual experiences,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Helena |date=2014-07-06 |title=2,500-year-old erotic graffiti found in unlikely setting on Aegean island |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/06/worlds-earliest-erotic-graffiti-astypalaia-classical-greece |access-date=2023-09-03 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> but also includes word games such as the [[Sator Square]], "I was here" type markings, and comments on gladiators.<ref name=":2" /> Graffiti in Ancient Rome was a form of communication, and was generally not considered vandalism.<ref name=":2" /> Certain graffiti was seen as blasphemous and was removed, such as the [[Alexamenos graffito]], which may contain one of the earliest depictions of [[Jesus]]. The graffito features a human with the head of a donkey on a cross with the text "Alexamenos worships [his] god."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexamenos and pagan perceptions of Christians |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/graffito.html |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

=== Medieval ===
The only known source of the [[Safaitic]] language, an [[Old Arabic|ancient form of Arabic]], is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern [[Syria]], eastern [[Jordan]] and northern [[Saudi Arabia]]. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.<ref>{{Cite web |last=dan |title=Ancient Arabia: Languages and Cultures—Safaitic Database Online |url=http://krc2.orient.ox.ac.uk/aalc/index.php/en/safaitic-database-online |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033117/http://krc2.orient.ox.ac.uk/aalc/index.php/en/safaitic-database-online |archive-date=20 February 2018 |access-date=19 February 2018 |website=krc2.orient.ox.ac.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=dan |title=The Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia—Safaitic |url=http://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/index.php/safaitic |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033208/http://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/index.php/safaitic |archive-date=20 February 2018 |access-date=19 February 2018 |website=krc.orient.ox.ac.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref>

Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel at [[Sigiriya]] in Sri Lanka write their names and commentary over the "mirror wall", adding up to over 1800 individual graffiti produced there between the 6th and 18th centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kljun |first1=Matjaž |last2=Pucihar |first2=Klen Čopič |title=Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2015 |chapter="I Was Here": Enabling Tourists to Leave Digital Graffiti or Marks on Historic Landmarks |date=2015 |editor-last=Abascal |editor-first=Julio |editor2-last=Barbosa |editor2-first=Simone |editor3-last=Fetter |editor3-first=Mirko |editor4-last=Gross |editor4-first=Tom |editor5-last=Palanque |editor5-first=Philippe |editor6-last=Winckler |editor6-first=Marco |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-22723-8_45 |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |volume=9299 |language=en |location=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=490–494 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-22723-8_45 |isbn=978-3-319-22723-8 |issn = 0302-9743 }}</ref> Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there.

Among the ancient political graffiti examples were [[Arab]] satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, an [[Umayyad]] Arab and [[Persian language|Persian]] poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls between [[Sistan|Sajistan]] and [[Basra]], manifesting a strong hatred towards the [[Umayyad]] regime and its ''[[wali]]s'', and people used to read and circulate them very widely.<ref>Hussein Mroueh (1986) حسين مروّة، '''تراثنا كيف نعرفه'''، مؤسسة الأبحاث العربية، بيروت، [Our Heritage, How Do We Know It], ''Arab Research Foundation'', Beirut</ref>

Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls.<ref name=green>{{cite web|url=http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/builders_marks.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810164425/http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/builders_marks.pdf |archive-date=2007-08-10 |url-status=live |title=Tacherons on Romanesque churches}}</ref> When [[Renaissance]] artists such as [[Pinturicchio]], [[Raphael]], [[Michelangelo]], [[Domenico Ghirlandaio|Ghirlandaio]], or [[Filippino Lippi]] descended into the ruins of Nero's [[Domus Aurea]], they carved or painted their names and returned to initiate the ''[[Grotesque|grottesche]]'' style of decoration.<ref name="archeology">British Archaeology, June 1999</ref><ref name="atlantic">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97apr/rome.htm |title=Underground Rome |magazine=[[The Atlantic Monthly]] |date=April 1997}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Ancient graffiti">
File:Graffiti 4.JPG|Graffiti from the {{ill|Museum of Ancient Graffiti|fr|Maison du graffiti ancien}}, France
File:Jesus graffito.jpg|Satirical [[Alexamenos graffito]], possibly the earliest known [[Depiction of Jesus|representation of Jesus]]
File:AncientgrafS.jpg|Graffiti, [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], [[Jerusalem]]
File:Hagia-sofia-viking.jpg|[[Vikings|Viking]] mercenary graffiti at the [[Hagia Sophia]] in [[Istanbul]], Turkey
File:Sigiriya-graffiti.jpg|Graffiti on the [[Sigiriya#Mirror wall|Mirror Wall]], [[Sigiriya]], [[Sri Lanka]]
</gallery>

=== Contemporary ===
In the 1790s, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic [[French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1798|campaign of Egypt]].<ref name=JinxArtCrimes>{{Cite news|title=Art Crimes |publisher=Jinx Magazine |url=http://www.jinxmagazine.com/art_crimes.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014194314/http://www.jinxmagazine.com/art_crimes.html/ |archive-date=14 October 2014 }}</ref>{{Dead link|date=April 2025}} [[Lord Byron]]'s survives on one of the columns of the Temple of [[Poseidon]] at [[Cape Sounion]] in [[Attica]], Greece.<ref name=shanks>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/classicalarchaeo00shan|url-access=limited|title=Classical Archaeology of Greece: Experiences of the Discipline |first=Michael |last=Shanks |year=1996 |publisher=London, New York: Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-08521-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/classicalarchaeo00shan/page/n87 76]}}</ref>

The oldest known example of [[Moniker (graffiti)|graffiti monikers]] were found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker [[Bill Daniel (filmmaker)|Bill Daniel]] in his 2005 film, ''Who is Bozo Texino?''.<ref name="bozo-texino-walker">{{cite web |last=Daniel |first=Bill |date=22 July 2010 |title=Who Is Bozo Texino? |url=https://walkerart.org/calendar/2010/who-is-bozo-texino |access-date=23 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="bozo-texino-film">{{cite web |last=Daniel |first=Bill |date=2005 |title=Who Is Bozo Texino? |url=http://www.billdaniel.net/who-is-bozo-texino/ |access-date=23 August 2018 |work=Who Is Bozo Texino? The Secret History of Hobo Graffiti}}</ref>

Contemporary graffiti has been seen on landmarks in the US, such as [[Independence Rock]], a national landmark along the [[Oregon Trail]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Independence Rock—California National Historic Trail (National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/cali/planyourvisit/site5.htm |access-date=18 January 2018 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

In [[World War II]], an inscription on a wall at the fortress of [[Verdun]] was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:<ref name=reagan>{{cite book |title=Military Anecdotes (1992) |first=Geoffrey |last=Reagan |year=1992 |publisher=Guinness Publishing |isbn=978-0-85112-519-0 |page=33 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/14/opinion/words-from-a-war.html|title=Words From a War|date=14 August 1985|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=2 January 2017}}</ref>

{{poemquote|
Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1918
Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1945
This is the last time I want to write my name here.}}

During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "[[Kilroy was here]]" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of [[Charlie Parker]] (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".<ref name=russel>{{cite book |title=Bird Lives!: The High Life And Hard Times Of Charlie (yardbird) Parker |first=Ross |last=Russell |publisher=Da Capo Press}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="World War II graffiti">
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-309-0816-20A, Italien, Soldat zeichnend.jpg|Soldier with tropical fantasy graffiti (1943–1944)
Graffiti inside the ruins of the German Reichstag building.jpg|Soviet Army graffiti in the ruins of the [[Reichstag building|Reichstag]], in [[Berlin]] (1945)
The D-Day Wall, Southampton, 10 June 2024.jpg|The D-Day Wall in Western Esplanade, [[Southampton]]
Kilroy Was Here - Washington DC WWII Memorial - Jason Coyne.jpg|Permanent engraving of [[Kilroy was here|Kilroy]] on the [[World War II Memorial]], in [[Washington, D.C.]]
</gallery><gallery mode="packed" caption="Early spray-painted graffiti">
NYC R36 1 subway car.png|[[New York City Subway]] train covered in graffiti (1973)
GRAFFITI ON A WALL IN CHICAGO. SUCH WRITING HAS ADVANCED AND BECOME AN ART FORM, PARTICULARLY IN METROPOLITAN AREAS.... - NARA - 556232.jpg|Graffiti in [[Chicago]] (1973)
</gallery>

=== Modern ===
Modern graffiti style has been heavily influenced by [[hip hop culture]]<ref name="genius-paul-edwards-hiphopbook">{{cite web |last=Edwards |first=Paul |date=10 February 2015 |title=Is Graffiti Really An Element Of Hip-Hop? (book excerpt) |url=https://genius.com/Paul-edwards-is-graffiti-really-an-element-of-hip-hop-book-excerpt-annotated |access-date=23 August 2018 |work=The Concise Guide to Hip-Hop Music}}</ref> and started with young people in 1960s and 70s in [[New York City]] and [[Philadelphia]]. [[Tag (graffiti)|Tags]] were the first form of stylised contemporary graffiti, starting with artists like [[TAKI 183]] and [[Cornbread (graffiti artist)|Cornbread]]. Later, artists began to paint throw-ups and [[Piece (graffiti)|pieces]] on trains on the sides of subway trains.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tate |title=Graffiti art |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/g/graffiti-art |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=Tate |language=en-GB}}</ref> and eventually moved into the city after the NYC metro began to buy new trains and paint over graffiti.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Snyder |first=Gregory J. |date=2006-04-01 |title=Graffiti media and the perpetuation of an illegal subculture |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1741659006061716 |journal=Crime, Media, Culture|language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=93–101 |doi=10.1177/1741659006061716 |s2cid=144911784 |issn=1741-6590}}</ref>

While the art had many advocates and appreciators—including the cultural critic [[Norman Mailer]]—others, including New York City mayor [[Ed Koch]], considered it to be defacement of public property, and saw it as a form of public blight.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=The history of graffiti |url=https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/b2-reading/history-graffiti |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org |language=en}}</ref> While those who did early modern graffiti called it "writing",  [[The Faith of Graffiti|the 1974 essay "The Faith of Graffiti"]] referred to it using the term "graffiti", which stuck.<ref name=":02"/>

An early graffito outside of New York or Philadelphia was the inscription in London reading "[[Clapton is God]]" in reference to the guitarist [[Eric Clapton]]. Creating the cult of the guitar hero, the phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in [[Islington]], north London, in the autumn of 1967.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hann |first1=Michael |date=12 June 2011 |title=Eric Clapton creates the cult of the guitar hero |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/eric-clapton |url-status=live |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311172627/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/eric-clapton |archive-date=11 March 2017}}</ref> The graffito was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is [[Urine marking#Canidae|urinating on the wall]].<ref>{{cite news |last=McCormick |first=Neil |date=24 July 2015 |title=Just how good is Eric Clapton? |work=The Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11501274/Just-how-good-is-Eric-Clapton.html |url-status=live |access-date=3 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124071909/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11501274/Just-how-good-is-Eric-Clapton.html |archive-date=24 November 2017}}</ref>

Films like [[Style Wars]] in the 80s depicting famous writers such as Skeme, [[DONDI|Dondi]], MinOne, and [[Zephyr (artist)|ZEPHYR]] reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip-hop culture. Although many officers of the New York City Police Department found this film to be controversial, Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s.<ref name=labonte>Labonte, Paul. All City: The book about taking space. Toronto. ECW Press. 2003</ref> Fab{{nbsp}}5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983.<ref name=hershk>David Hershkovits, "London Rocks, Paris Burns and the B-Boys Break a Leg", ''Sunday News Magazine'', 3 April 1983.</ref>

=== Commercialization and pop culture ===
{{Main|Commercial graffiti}}
With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant [[IBM]] launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a [[peace symbol]], a [[Heart (symbol)|heart]], and [[Tux (mascot)|Tux]] (Linux [[penguin]] mascot), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." IBM paid Chicago and San Francisco collectively {{US$|120,000}} for punitive damages and clean-up costs.<ref name=guerilla>{{cite news|publisher=CNN |title=IBM's graffiti ads run afoul of city officials |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/04/19/ibm.guerilla.idg/index.html |date=19 April 2001 |access-date=11 October 2006 |first=James |last=Niccolai |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004173008/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/04/19/ibm.guerilla.idg/index.html |archive-date=4 October 2006 }}</ref><ref name=wired>{{Cite magazine|title = Sony Draws Ire With PSP Graffiti|magazine = Wired|url = https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69741|date = 5 December 2005|access-date = 8 April 2008}}</ref>

In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by [[Sony]] and executed by its advertising agency in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, to market its handheld [[PlayStation Portable|PSP]] gaming system. In [[PlayStation Portable#Controversial advertising campaigns|this campaign]], taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle, or a rocking horse".<ref name=wired/>