Upload
jessica-thomas
View
805
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Seeka666’s Graffiti ThesaurusUCLA – Information Studies – Summer- 2009 -
BacaJessica Thomas
Gra-fi-to \gre\’fe-(,)to\ n., pl. –ti \(,)tc\ [It., a scribbling; graffio, a scratch], an inscription or drawing scratched on pillars, building, etc., as in ancient Rome.
-Webster’s New World Dictionary
Graffiti (g) n., pl. Crude drawings or inscriptions on a wall, fence, etc. 1851, ancient drawings or writing scratched on walls, as those of Pompeii and Rome; borrowing of Italian graffiti, plural of graffito, a scribbling, from graffio a scratch or scribble, from graffiare to scribble, ultimately from Greek graphein draw, writing; see CARVE. The transferred meaning, applied to recently made crude drawings or scribblings, is first recorded in English in 1877. -Barnhard Dictionary of Etymology
Oedipa headed for the ladies room. She looked idly around for the symbol she’d seen the other night in The Scope, but all the walls, surprisingly, were blank. She could not say why, exactly, but felt threatened by this absence of even the marginal try at communication latrines are known for. -Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
Topic
Purpose Audience
Graffiti Thesaurus (Rhetorical Construct)
Topic – graffiti, broadly speaking. I’ve intentionally left out references to gang-related graffiti because 1. its inclusion would make the thesaurus too big, and 2. I’m not a huge fan of it, especially considering the gang graffiti in my neighborhood on my favorite corner liquor store.
Purpose – To function as a knowledge base and indexing reference. Lots of graffiti terminology is slang, and thus is, as its objects, ephemeral – it is difficult to create an objective authority on something that is constantly changing. Additionally, slang is insular and difficult to learn outside of its geo-spatial boundaries.
Audience – Gallery kids, graffiti newbies, academic anthropologists, indexers.
(Rhetorical Triangle)
The Graffiti Thesaurus – (a work in progress)1. Information gathering2. Facets3. Descriptor/record
creation4. Problems & worries
Information gathering
Libraries – These ended up being a good source for academic literature about graffiti, but turned up no glossaries, dictionaries, or authoritative reference sources. The indexes of library sources were generally more useful than the actual texts. Additionally, the recent publication years of these sources, as well as the lack of linguistic uniformity in their indexes are good arguments for the creation of a controlled vocabulary for graffiti.
Bookstores – While I thought I’d have better luck finding a graffiti glossary or graffiti vocabulary-oriented materials, I was just condescended to by the clerk, who did not have reference desk customer service. I ended up buying one book, which has served as an important vocabulary resource, but the quality of writing in the book is marginal.
The internet – The most useful source, for not only are there a number of (half-formed) graffiti glossaries published on the web, but there are usenet groups and web forums dedicated to the craft. People who frequent these groups and forums are generally members of the graffiti culture, and use graffiti slang frequently and naturally. However, the literacy levels of some of the contributors are marginal, and translation is sometimesnecessary. Additionally, a lot of material is plagiarized.
Ag
en
ts Mate
rials
Tech
niq
ues
& P
ractic
es
Vis
ual
Work
s
Facets
Agents facet
record view: crews
Materials facet
children of Materials facet
Materials descriptors
record view: German Montana
Techniques & Practices facet
Techniques &Practices
Descriptors
Record view: battles
Visual Works facet Visual Works Descriptors
record view: blockbusters
Problems and worries … Page 1
My questions are language-based and hierarchy-based:
1.Language: a. Are there better terms for the categories like “graffiti tools specific to spray paint,” “brands of spray paint common to graffiti culture”? Suggestions?
b. lettering/letters Should the descriptors be
i. bamboo lettering or
bamboo letters? ii. wildstyle
or wildstyling?
2. Hierarchy questions (aka categories and concepts I’m having trouble organizing)
a. lettering/letters/fonts Does this concept belong under Techniques &
Practices, or Visual Works?b. characters Does this concept belong under Techniques &
Practices, or Visual Works?c. paint sticks Under the Materials facet, does this term
belong arranged under paint or markers?
d. graffiti styles Does this concept belong under Techniques &
Practices, or Visual Works?3.Final Question –
Do I include scope notes for categories/descriptors like
“paper-based visual works”?
Problems and Worries… Page 2
1. Complete Materials records (inks, markers, paint sticks)
2. Complete scope notes3. Correct grammar and
hierarchical structure4. Link records to flickr
images (for web presentation)
Thanks for your time and help!
Evaluative Remarks
The EndThanks
everyonefor your time and help!!!
Jessica Thomas, 2009