TAKI 183: An Analysis

This primary source is an article from the New York Times newspaper and was published on July 21, 1971. The article talks about a graffiti writer known as TAKI 183 and gives some info on graffiti and the effects it has. This article was the first time graffiti was brought into the mainstream’s view through a major media source.

The name TAKI 183 was popping up on buildings and bus stops all throughout New York City, and to the average person walking by they made no sense. The article says that “He said he had no idea how many times he had written his name”. He had obviously written his name enough different times in enough different places, to the point where it caught the attention of many people, including the New York Times. The author of the article, who is not named, wanted to find who was responsible for these taggings and why they did it.

TAKI 183 was not the first person in the United States to write graffiti but was the first graffiti writer who was introduced to the world. This was the first real time that graffiti was brought to light and introduced to people who were not in the subculture of graffiti. Regular people were introduced to this foreign subculture because of this article. People who bought a copy of the that

day’s newspaper would flip through it, see the article and then understand what the taggings on the street were meant to convey.
The author of this article does not show a bias towards or against graffiti.

It includes quotes and viewpoints from both sides of the graffiti argument. It has TAKI 183, and other graffiti writers talk about what they do and then has Floyd Holoway, a transit authority patrolman in New York City, talk a little bit about graffiti and how it affects the city and the transit system. In the article, the author neither condones or condemns graffiti. It may be because graffiti was just starting to become a thing, and many people did not have an opinion on it. Graffiti was nowhere as prevalent back then as it is today, so it is quite possible the author had no opinion on the subject and therefore did not inject any personal bias into the

article.
The idea of graffiti back in the 60’s and 70’s was different than what it is today. Back then the fines and punishments for it were not that bad. In the article Floyd Holoway says, “It's not a major crime,” and “Most of the time they don't try to talk their way out if they're caught”. In the current day, graffiti is considered to be much more of a nuisance and the punishments for it are much more serious. People's ideas and thoughts on graffiti have changed a lot since this article was published. When it was not as prevalent in its early stages many people probably ignored it. But as it became a bigger thing with more and more people doing graffiti and doing it on more high profile things such as subway cars, bridges, and other public property, it became harder to ignore and opinions about it began to form.
This article helps answer the question of how graffiti has evolved throughout the years in the United States. It is the beginning point of the history of modern graffiti and shows the moment it entered the mainstream thanks to a major news publication.