Graffiti writers find walls to paint on every day. Some people view graffiti writers’ painting as just meaningless scribbles. However, they try to convey various messages through paintings and bring out the liveliness on the walls. Graffiti writers’ works are admitted as a genre of modern art beyond just scribbles. CBT met members of the Korean graffiti team, ‘Mad Victor’, and inquired about graffiti art. The main members of ‘Mad Victor’ are Xeva and Semi, and they won the championship of Wall-Lords, which is a graffiti art competition.
 
 
Graffiti art means painting by using spray paints and scratching. Graffiti art can be classified according to its forms. The most basic forms are ‘Tagging’ and ‘Bombing’ styles which are used to write names or signatures. ‘Old style’ is a developed form of tagging, and people also can recognize it easily. ‘Wild style’ is most frequently used by graffiti writers, and it has a unique graffiti font and various colors. In addition, other forms are ‘3D style’, ‘Decoration’ and ‘Hyper-realism’. Semi said, “In the past, graffiti writers have painted simple taggings. Today, however, they are trying new styles, and many new forms of graffiti are increasing.”
 


Graffiti is representative of hip-hop culture with DJs, rap music and break dancing. People who enjoy hip-hop paint on walls. In the past, rebellious teenagers usually painted antisocial graffiti which spoiled public buildings. They scribbled everywhere, so it was a social problem.

Recently, graffiti, which is a headache of major cities, has attracted the attention of the modern art world. In the past, graffiti writers painted antisocial graffiti or their names meaninglessly. Now, however, many graffiti writers introduce meaningful works which try to convey various messages such as antidiscrimination and eradicating AIDS. Xeva, the other member of Mad Victor, said, “Today, the themes of graffiti have become more various, and those qualities are not inferior by comparison with other works of art. Many graffiti writers exhibit their works and inform people about their works. They have made efforts to be admitted as art.”


 
Nowadays, graffiti can easily be seen all over the world. People can see the graffiti in Apgoojung-dong, in streets near Hong-ik University and in Sinchon, and those places can be seen in movies or music videos. Graffiti-print clothes and accessories have become popular. For example, Louis Vuitton, which is a world-famous business, has released new bags printed with graffiti, and KT&G has released graffiti-printed packages of cigarettes as a special edition. Semi said, “Many companies apply graffiti into products because people think graffiti is a unique and interesting culture.”
 
 


The Graffiti of the past symbolized the culture from back streets, but, nowadays, graffiti has become a culture that people can enjoy together. Recently, graffiti writers have showed graffiti performances in open places. People can watch the process of painting for themselves, and then they can take some pictures in front of the wall after the painting is finished. Graffiti lectures are also popular with university students.

As graffiti has become popular, the perception of people is gradually changing. Members of ‘Mad Victor’ said that graffiti is a recreation culture. Semi said, “Many people are interested in graffiti, but they hesitate to start because it is an unfamiliar culture. Graffiti is recreation. I hope that people just enjoy making works without hesitation.”