Peter Stelzig – Running The High Line

„The idea of style and competing for the best style is the key to all forms of rockin‘.“ – Style Wars, 1983.

Are subcultures, like graffiti, floating free in their own space, or are they connected to the rest of society? In Forms of Rockin’, graffiti styles for the first time are connected to graphic design and other popular culture expressions such as music, fashion, photography, industrial design and movies. Anssi Arte analyses some of the most powerful visual symbols of the 1970s, 80s and 90s and compares design, display typefaces and graffiti styles. The visual styles of James Brown, Blade Runner, the Memphis group and grunge music all appear together with classic fonts and graffiti writers.
The clear yet analytical narrative and carefully crafted visualizations make it appealing to both graphic design aficionados as well as graffiti enthusiasts. But Forms of Rockin’ is more than that. This is a must for everybody interested in contemporary popular culture and design history.

Forms of Rockin‘ traces and defines the stylistic conventions in graffiti letterforms that have become iconic and globally acknowledged ideals. From the early New York tags to the mid-1990s ugly-fresh styles of Scandinavia, Forms of Rockin’ tells the story of how popular culture and graffiti styles influences each other.

Anssi Arte (b. 1981) is a Helsinki-based graphic designer specialized in visual identities and brand architecture. He has a formal (MA) education in graphic design from the Aalto University of Arts, Design and Architecture.
Besides graphic design he is a graffiti enthusiast since childhood, specialized in studying and practising the traditional European and Scandinavian letterforms and aesthetics.

DETAILS

Size: 22,5 x 21,5 x 1,8 cm
Cover: Hardcover
Pages: 125
Language: English
Year: 2015
Publisher: Dokument Press
Author: Anssi Arte
ISBN/EAN: 9789185639748

The inside story of the crew that has kept graffiti alive in New York City for the past 20 years!

After being out of print for years – ROCKIN’ IT SUCKERS is back in a limited 10th Anniversary Edition!

A classic graffiti book is once agin available – with additional text and original cover.

Some call it art others vandalism. For the members of the infamous RIS crew the label doesn’t matter. ROCKIN’ IT SUCKERS is the story of New York City’s infamous RIS crew in their heyday.

New York in the late 80s: A city tormented by crack and violent crime. At the same time the golden age of hip hop was in full bloom, and despite the violence some found room for creativity.
At this time a group of kids got together to taste the last of the city’s painted subway trains, just in time to experience a new era in New York’s graffiti history — The authorities decided to clean up the city and a zero-tolerance policy towards graffiti was instituted. While many of the city’s graffiti writers quit, the RIS crew was determined to keep the trains colorful and decided to wage their own war with the city. As a result, they took over New York with style, and along the way influenced graffiti writers long way outside the five boroughs.
The crack down from the authorities didn’t only trigger the RIS crew to write more, it also made them come up with faster techniques and develop their styles, all done with the crews’ characteristic arrogance and humorous touch. Soon they became one of the world’s most important and influential graffiti crews.

DETAILS

Size: 19 x 25 x 2 cm
Cover: Hardcover
Pages: 128
Language: English
Year: 2020
Publisher: Dokument Press
Author: Alain KET Maridueña, Cousin Frank, Museum of Graffiti
ISBN/EAN: 9789188369406