‘Tagging is Calligraphy’

16 May 2024

Photo: Karsten Helmholz

Seeing the written artworks in urban landscapes with different eyes: on 13 and 14 May, the internationally renowned graffiti researcher Javier Abarca gave a workshop on the theory and practice of contemporary tagging at the CSMC.

City dwellers see them every day, but hardly anyone notices them: we encounter tags all the time at bus stops, on walls, on electricity boxes. ‘Tagging’ refers to writing one’s name – or an alias – in public spaces. It is supposedly the simplest form of graffiti art: instead of the colourful, large-scale pieces that are also widespread, tags are usually plain, monochrome scribbles. Although usually recognisable as writing, they are often illegible at first glance.

Tags are so prevalent that most people view them with indifference in everyday life. If they evoke any stronger reactions at all, it is mainly disapproval of the ‘defacement’ of public space. The idea that they are a form of calligraphy has probably never occurred to most outsiders to the scene. But that is exactly what they are, says Javier Abarca, who was part to the first generation of Spanish graffiti artists and who is now a researcher, teacher, and critic of street art and tagging in particular. In fact, he goes even further: tagging is not only a serious form of calligraphy, but the most technically demanding form. While all the other forms can be learnt under stable conditions – sitting comfortably in a closed room, always using the same writing materials – the art of tagging has to be mastered on an almost infinite variety of surfaces in all possible postures, often in a rush and in the dark. Whether on the narrow surface of a door frame or across an entire garage door, a writer’s tag should always look the same: it must maintain its style to be recognisable.

How do you give your letters a ‘graphic identity’?

On 13 and 14 May, Abarca taught a workshop on this probably most underrated form of calligraphy at the CSMC. Over two afternoons, he took the twelve participants on a tour of the theory and practice of tagging. After an introduction to the historical background and cultural significance of this practice, the participants got to design their own tagging aliases on paper. What is a good name? How do you give your letters a ‘graphic identity’? What aesthetic criteria are used within the scene to judge the quality of tags?

The second day began with a detailed survey of the materials used by writers. In the city, writable surfaces differ fundamentally in terms of their colour, friction, and so on. Writing material must adapt to these changing requirements. Abarca showed the participants the ingenuity and skill with which the graffiti scene works with all kinds of writing tools, from Sharpies to fire extinguishers. The final highlight of the event was the practical part of the second day, when the participants were invited to practise tagging in ‘real’ conditions, using the glass façade of the workshop room.

‘My wish is that the participants leave this workshop with their senses sharpened,’ says Abarca. ‘I want them to better understand and appreciate what surrounds them every day in the city. Anyone who engages with the techniques of contemporary tagging will look at this cultural technique with completely different eyes and see it for what it is – the most widespread form of calligraphy in history.’