Throw up (graffiti)

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A hollow throw up using the letters SPLEEN. Note the consistency in letter form and height.

Throw ups[a], or throwies, are a form of graffiti that fall between tags and pieces in complexity.[1] The name comes from the way they are designed to be "thrown" onto a surface as quickly as possible. They are almost always done with aerosol paint.[2]

Form[edit]

Throw ups are typically the writer's moniker in large "bubble-letters", with or without a fill. Throw ups without fills are called hollows.[3] Throw ups are sometimes done using only the first two or three letters of the moniker in a throw up to quicken the process, especially if the writer uses a longer name.[4][5] Throw ups are done with fast, pre-planned body movements to enhance speed.[citation needed] This speed means that writers can produce large amounts of throw ups in a short time, especially when compared with pieces.[6]

Defining characteristics of skilled throw up include letter height consistency,[7] letter shape conformity along the top and the bottom,[7] minimal negative space,[8][9] and clean lines. The line between pieces and throw ups is sometimes blurred, but throw ups tend to be faster to paint, have fewer colours, and prioritise speed over aesthetics.[10]

History[edit]

Throw ups originated in the New York City Subway in the 1970s[11][12] and started as larger versions of tags[13] before evolving into their own style.[4][10] Compared to tags and pieces, throw ups have not changed as much since their origins.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ sometimes written hyphenated (throw-ups) or without the space (throwups)
  1. ^ Snyder, Gregory J. (2011-04-15). Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-4046-0.
  2. ^ Graf, Ann M. (2018). "Facets of Graffiti Art and Street Art Documentation Online: A Domain and Content Analysis". University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Digital Commons. S2CID 149842845.
  3. ^ Parks, Michelle (2009). Writing on the walls: Graffiti and civic identity (Thesis thesis). University of Ottawa (Canada). doi:10.20381/ruor-19161.
  4. ^ a b Whitehead, Jessie (2004-11-01). "Graffiti: The Use of the Familiar1". Art Education. 57 (6): 25–32. doi:10.1080/00043125.2004.11653573. ISSN 0004-3125. S2CID 189475620.
  5. ^ Castleman, Craig (1984-04-26). Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York. MIT Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-262-53051-4.
  6. ^ Lasley, James R. (1995-04-01). "New writing on the wall: Exploring the middle‐class graffiti writing subculture". Deviant Behavior. 16 (2): 151–167. doi:10.1080/01639625.1995.9967994. ISSN 0163-9625.
  7. ^ a b Almqvist, Björn; orkel Sjöstrand; Lindblad, Tobias Barenthin (2014-04-04). Graffiti Cookbook: The Complete Do-It-Yourself-guide to Graffiti. SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-91-85639-71-7.
  8. ^ Team, The Drivin' & Vibin' (2022-08-21). "Who is Cope2?". Outside Folk Gallery. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  9. ^ Grim, Jon. "Replace your graffiti throwie with this!". The Artist Block. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  10. ^ a b Navitas, Prananda. "21st Century Graffiti. How authorities should deal with it in city centers". In Bergmann, Alexander (ed.). In book: Music-City. Sports-City. Leisure City. A reader. Publisher: Bauhaus University Weimar. pp. (pp.90-97).
  11. ^ Ross, Jeffrey Ian (2016-03-02). Routledge Handbook of Graffiti and Street Art. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-64586-3.
  12. ^ Ferrell, Jeff (1998-12-01). "Freight train graffiti: Subculture, crime, dislocation". Justice Quarterly. 15 (4): 587–608. doi:10.1080/07418829800093911. ISSN 0741-8825.
  13. ^ Dovey, Kim; Wollan, Simon; Woodcock, Ian (2012-02-02). "Placing Graffiti: Creating and Contesting Character in Inner-city Melbourne". Journal of Urban Design. 17 (1): 21–41. doi:10.1080/13574809.2011.646248. hdl:11343/230654. ISSN 1357-4809. S2CID 110689365.
  14. ^ Snyder, Gregory J. (2011-04-15). Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground. NYU Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-8147-4046-0.
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