Wallbangin': Graffiti and Gangs in L.A.

By Susan A. Phillips

Book Overview

Graffiti is as ubiquitous as telephone poles in America's cities; it is as old as the earliest civilizations. The most public medium in the country today, graffiti can signal territory, love, or liberation. Ironically, graffiti is understood by only a fraction of those who encounter it. Usually read as a sign of urban decay and as a loss of control over the physical environment, graffiti has become one of the most potent cultural languages of our age. Wallbangin' is an unprecedented, in-depth look at this phenomenon as it is embodied in the neighborhoods of one of its epicenters, Los Angeles.

Anthropologist Susan Phillips enters the lives of the African-American and Chicano gang members to write a comprehensive guide to their symbolic and visual expression. She not only decodes the graffiti--explaining how, for instance, gang boundaries are visually delimited and how "memorial" graffiti functions--but she also places it in the context of the changing urban landscapes within the city. Graffiti, she argues, is inextricably linked to political change, to race, and to art, and she demonstrates how those connections are played out in contemporary L.A. Wallbangin' is, on this level, an iconography of street imagery. But it is also a very personal narrative about entering the world of L.A. street gangs--a world of pride, enemies, affirmation, and humanity where gang members use graffiti to redefine their social and political position in society.

To many outsiders, graffiti is cryptic, senseless scribbling. But Phillips explains it as an ingenious and creative solution to the disenfranchisement felt by those who produce it. With personal narratives, provocative photography, and contemporary voices, Wallbangin' unlocks the mysteries behind street-level ideologies and their visual manifestations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226667723
• ISBN13: 9780226667720
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 414 Pages
• Weight: 2.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Wallbangin': Graffiti and Gangs in L.A.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The author's research approach and theory are both novel and intriguing. It is a book that will make one think again about the social construct of gangs as well as the political message of graffiti. The negative reviews of this book seem to be based in the notion that the book should demonize the informants as well as gangs in general. If one is looking for tired rhetoric regarding gangs and graffiti, this is not the book for you. Rather, the author's work expands the parameters of the dialogue regarding gangs.

This Book is a MUST READ!

Beautiful book, highly informative! I really love this book. Susan's style of writing flows like the grafitti she describes - hardcore! Great photos, history... This book is a must for anyone who wishes to explore the world of graffitti. Let this book guide you!David Spero

Phillips' breaks down the walls of misunderstanding

The reader from San Diego obviously did not read the book. Not only does Phillips separate taggers and gangbangers into different chapters, she delineates the underlying similarities in the reasoning and the form of the graffiti of both taggers and gangsters. She shows functional and material sociological reasons for the graffiti of these little-understood populations, while at the same time allowing us to clearly see her own views on the subject. She does not try to create a false objectivity. Additionally, the book makes a good read--and especially interesting for anyone living in Southern California.

This is unique and outstanding work on fascinating subject.

Seven years in the researching and writing, Wallbangin' is a most fascinating read. A must for anyone concerned with the meanings behind gang and hip hop grafitti, with emphasis on the ubiquitous phenomenon in the Los Angeles area.