Opinion

Japanese Graffiti

By DAVID ZOPPETTI

Lately, my attention has been drawn by police notices in the Setagaya Line station I usually use. According to these, more and more "wall-painting" incidents are occurring along the line. People, presumably youngsters, are entering by the tracks at night and spray painting both public walls and private houses. Anyone witnessing this kind of activity is to report it to the nearest police station immediately, the posters say.

In other words, witch hunting for graffiti delinquents has started in this quiet neighborhood as it has in so many other places of the world.

Graffiti, or wall paintings, originated in the early '70s in New York as one aspect of the new hip-hop culture, which — if you are not familiar with it — revolves around rap music, break dancing, DJ-ing — and graffiti.

Traveling to any city in Europe or the United States, it is impossible not to notice spray painting on walls practically everywhere. Graffiti ranges from simple and unattractive scribbling to funny-shaped letters, but also to rather elaborate and skillful drawings.

When I run into it, I usually have a hard time deciding whether I am contemplating some new authentic form of art or simply a degenerate act of vandalism. I do think, however, that obviously ugly and meaningless writings covering the facade of a historical monument or the walls of a nice building definitely belong to the latter group!

The hip-hop movement reached Japan about 10 years ago. But the Mecca of wall painting here has been the 1.5-kilometer-long wall under Sakuragicho Station in Yokohama for close to 30 years now. Until recently, passersby usually had positive comments, but the recent appearance of more aggressive graffiti is causing reactions of rejection similar to those encountered elsewhere.

The common denominator for most graffiti adepts is the thrill of entering a forbidden area and completing a painting without getting caught. Behind this lies a fascination for the provocative and rebellious aspects of perpetrating an illegal act — and usually results in little more than hasty scribbling on the wall.

But on the other hand, there are artists who have a genuine, positive desire to produce deli cate visual works of art that can be enjoyed by many in public places. And some of them are really talented. I have seen wall paintings in cities around the world that were both elaborate and spectacular: reproductions of famous paintings, highly original and imaginative landscapes, aerial views of futuristic cities.

So how should we deal with this new trend, with its underlying duality of good and evil, destructiveness and creativity?

One solution might be to provide more "official" space for graffiti artists, for instance temporary architectural structures, or those huge insipid protection fences surrounding major construction sites could be used.

Of course, making things like this official probably goes against the spirit of graffiti expression, and certainly removes most of its thrill, but it would certainly protect public and private property more efficiently than simply trying to arrest offenders.

Who knows? What we now see as ugly scribbling on the wall might one day be valued by archaeologists as remarkable and valuable frescoes representing the spirit and essence of our era.

Shukan ST: May 12, 2000

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