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Description

THE PATHETICALLY SHORT-LIVED "Don't Say the G Word movement".

Believe it or not, there was quite a few crews and writers in Chicago's mid-1990s that refused to call their work graffiti and preferred to term their stuff "Aerosol Art".

I am NOT going to say who they were, simply because both they AND we know who they were.

But more so, I'm going to explain WHY they wanted to drop the "G-Word".

This had to do with them being influenced by other art factions, which embedded in them a desire to be recognized as credible "legit artists".

They often stated that the term graffiti was simply "too ghetto" for them, as they had aspirations to use their art to gain entry into the gallery world.

Although they are embarrassed about their stance to drop the word graffiti today, there is ample evidence to prove just how adament they once embarked in that philosophy.

Yes, for the Chicago graffiti culture, it IS an embarrassment, however it is a part of our history, good or bad.

More so, it marks the time when some writers lost respect for fame earned via street credit, mainly doing illegal graff, for a new goal, which was to get fame and fortune, not from the street or trains, but from canvases and art shows that attempted to tame graffiti.

During this time, I was Icepack crew, and due to this foolish trend, we doubled down with our illegal graffiti, our work being shown in illegal spots like the walls of Sin, Hall of Fame, and the Austin walls, where we often wrote "FUCK AEROSOL ART!" -This was a direct rejection of that once popular philosophy.

-- Dark Riddle

Description

THE PATHETICALLY SHORT-LIVED "Don't Say the G Word movement".

Believe it or not, there was quite a few crews and writers in Chicago's mid-1990s that refused to call their work graffiti and preferred to term their stuff "Aerosol Art".

I am NOT going to say who they were, simply because both they AND we know who they were.

But more so, I'm going to explain WHY they wanted to drop the "G-Word".

This had to do with them being influenced by other art factions, which embedded in them a desire to be recognized as credible "legit artists".

They often stated that the term graffiti was simply "too ghetto" for them, as they had aspirations to use their art to gain entry into the gallery world.

Although they are embarrassed about their stance to drop the word graffiti today, there is ample evidence to prove just how adament they once embarked in that philosophy.

Yes, for the Chicago graffiti culture, it IS an embarrassment, however it is a part of our history, good or bad.

More so, it marks the time when some writers lost respect for fame earned via street credit, mainly doing illegal graff, for a new goal, which was to get fame and fortune, not from the street or trains, but from canvases and art shows that attempted to tame graffiti.

During this time, I was Icepack crew, and due to this foolish trend, we doubled down with our illegal graffiti, our work being shown in illegal spots like the walls of Sin, Hall of Fame, and the Austin walls, where we often wrote "FUCK AEROSOL ART!" -This was a direct rejection of that once popular philosophy.

-- Dark Riddle