3/31 Style Wars

The title of the film itself, "Style Wars" accurately describes the juxtaposition of views on graffiti from both sides. The graffiti artists show such passion and purpose in what others view as destructive vandalism. For the graffiti artists, they are not out to destroy the city and subways, but as an interviewee said, "it's a matter of knowing I can do it, it's for me, and knowing we can read it". The art of 'bombing" is writing one name over and over again, essentially seeing how big you can make this name. By choosing the subways as their canvas, these graffitis are carried all over the city day and night repetitively. The graffiti thus is significant in the way they take the artist's name, and bring it to the eyes of many to be recognized. It serves as an occupation of space following the subway lines. One graffiti artist spoke of "bombing" at least one train on every line. 

The spatial occupation of the graffiti does not merely follow the trajectory of the subway itself, but because it is a visual tool, it links anybody who catches sight of the graffiti. Furthermore, the language of graffiti is only legible and beautiful in the eyes of another graffiti artist. Taking the graffiti throughout the city connects different artists, in a sense their "intertwined paths give their shape spaces. They weave places together" as suggested by De Certeau (97). The graffiti provides a connection between spaces. Instead of just a subway travelling on its course, the subway is transformed into a tool with the purpose to occupy and mark out space.