UN GLOSSARIO “STREET”: ALCUNE ESPRESSIONI USATE NEL GRAFFITI WRITING (2022)

A “STREET” GLOSSARY: SOME EXPRESSIONS USED IN GRAFFITI WRITING (2022)

Have you ever seen a graffiti and not understood either the letters or the style?

It is very common: the language of writers is very complex and deliberately cryptic, but there are definitions that allow us to identify the type of graffiti. Below you will have a "glossary of writing", which will allow you to identify the style and characteristics of a piece, even looking around the city where you live. If instead you want to know what are the differences between Graffiti Writing and Street Art, click here ! 

SILVER : a silver, or "silver", is a piece made with well-defined contours, filled with silver paint. They are often found on city walls, but in Italy they had a greater concentration in Rome and neighboring cities.

ASTROFAT or FAT : it is a small cap for the spray can which produces a very wide stroke, over 12 centimetres. There are different types of can caps, and each of these differs based on the color cast it produces. Both writers and street artists have their own caps that they always carry with them. 

BACKJUMP : the backjump is a fast piece, usually done during a short stop of the train in the station.

BLACK BOOK , SKETCH BOOK or PIECE BOOK : this term refers to the notebook used by writers for the drafts of their pieces.

WHITE : it is a large piece filled with white with tempera and roller or brush.

BLOCKBUSTER or BLOCKLETTER : large square letters, often painted in two colors. It is said  were invented by the New York writers Blade and Comet .

BOMBER : By "bomber" we mean someone who does not make "pieces" but, like a vandal, disfigures cities and subways with his tag.

BOMBING or BOMBARDARE : derives from "to bomb", which means "to write or paint illegally". It consists in the act of papering the walls of the city with the tag, with the intention of claiming and reaffirming one's identity.

BUBBLE STYLE , BUBBLE LETTERS or SOFTIE : it is a specific style which consists in the use of rounded letters. This trend was invented by the American writer PhaseII . It is one of the oldest and most used styles for throw-ups due to its speed of execution.

BUFF : it is a treatment for the removal of graffiti.

CREW : group of writers, usually identified by an acronym or an acronym.

CROSSING OVER : paint, as a scar, on the piece of another writer or street artist.

END TO END : "piece" or sequence of "pieces" that completely cover a railway carriage.

FANZINE : in fact derives from "fanatic magazine", a periodical produced at low cost and in limited edition, intended for enthusiasts of a sector.

FREESTYLE : Expression widely used in rap , since the eighties. It consists in developing concepts without following a precise scheme (in the case of a song an intro, a melody, a refrain and an outro), but giving free rein to one's creativity within a rigorous, albeit personal metric and scheme.

HALL OF FAME or WALL OF FAME: it is a space where you can read the history of graffiti of a particular city. In concrete terms, they are walls used for graffiti, attributed to the crews by local administrations. The pieces made in the Halls of Fame are "legal", "institutional", and tell the story of a crew's growth or technical training.

MASTERPIECE : a particularly successful masterpiece.

PIECE : is the work created by a writer, written in multiple colors.

PUPPET : figurative element that enriches a written piece. 

SCRACTH TAG : it is a tag engraved on glass.

TAG : signature made quickly and with a single color.

THROW-UP or FLOP : written quickly in one or two colours.

WILDSTYLE : complicated structure of interlocking letters enriched with arrows, bars and ornamental elements.

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