[Joe J]

I love and appreciate stencil art!

Back in the late 80's to early 90's I grew up running with some of the best Aussie writers around. We used to hit paint to steel, thrash our tags all around the suburbs and generally just cause destruction armed with cans, artlines and solids. We used to piece the lines and wait early in the mornings at the stations so we could snap a few flicks of the bombed trains limping out of the yards.

I'm not sure if I'd put 'Stencilling' under the banner of 'Graffiti' though.
Maybe in a sense it could be classed as 'Graffiti' however it has no real connection in terms of 'Classic Graffiti' where elements such as letter structure, cut backs, style flow and colour schemes come into play.
'Stencilling' I'd put under the banner of 'Street Art' or 'Urban Art'... recently I heard someone call it 'Culture Jam'... Whatever the fuck that means, its like the term 'Viral' used in advertising now I suppose.

Anyway, I posed this question to some of my old school Graff mates.
'Stencils' VS 'Graffiti', are they the same?

Most of my mates turned their noses up at Stencils... They see Stencilling as a safe format to get a cheap thrill. They don't see how you could compare the two.
They feel Graff is all about standing on train lines in the pitch black at 2am throwing up outlines with 3 or 4 colour fills and shit.
When to them, Stencilling is limp-wristed naff soft-cock shit, casually standing in a back alley, holding up a piece of cardboard, quickly spraying the fuck out of it and 'presto', there's your character with an all to clever catch phrase.

Train yards brings the heat, stencils don't...
Block busters, throw ups, blazing wild styles VS Paste ups and Stencils.
Can cantroled cut backs VS Cradboard cutouts.
They just don't get it.

I differ in my opinion to my mates. I think there is a lot more thought and prep that goes into stencilling resulting often with a clever dope catchy message.
I really like the works that manipulate ads resulting in a message that makes you stop and think. (Thanks Banksy)

Graff is about bucking the system, chasing the adrenaline rush and leaving a your tag. What else??? Sticking to my old school roots I still love Graff, but I need to be creatively tickled now... I don't get this out of Graff. Graff’s become eye candy to me.

Then again for me, good art is good art, bad art is bad art, it doesn't really matter what the medium for putting your mark out there is, as long as its dope!

Has Banksy ever hit any trains... 'Stencils on Steel' there's a rhyming thought.
Graff is another element of Hip Hop, is Stencil?

Talent, that’s what comes down to... art is so bloody subjective.
Each to their own!

Stencil VS Graffiti are they the same...? The end result is...
Blank walls made to look more beautiful.


Peace.

[corblimeylimey]

Interesting read joej, in my mind the stencil work is all in the preparation whereas the old skool graf you're talking about all the work is skill in the final outside execution.

IMO I prefer the Stencil work, it's more varied, whereas the graf, to me, begins to look samey.

But don't get me wrong, I like to see both if well executed on the streets, ans can appreciate the skills and danger/risk that goes into both.

Just to add, lets not forget about paste ups too, very valid too IMO.

[jam]

I like straight 'Graffiti' in some cases, but I prefer 'Stencils' overall. I like the fact the artist can put much more time and to me, more depth of meaning into the work as they have unlimited time to prepare and consider the image. I like the 'Paste Ups' for the same reason.

[Joe J]

corblimeylimey said:

Interesting read joej, in my mind the stencil work is all in the preparation whereas the old skool graf you're talking about all the work is skill in the final outside execution.

Thanks corblimeylimey for the compliment.

I agree with you, Graff is beginning to look the same... Visual eye candy...
I love a completely thrashed wall with tags, it's all textured layers to me.
I love seeing rocking battle scars in train carriages too.

Still the time and effort that goes into prep for a stencil/paste up etc completely out ways the quick thoughtless scrawl of a tag and as Jam said too, the depth and meaning in the end result of the work.

I'd love to see someone try a hang out of a train carriage downing a stencil though... crikey cobber. That’s when tagins and throw ups are the way to go.

All of these styles have elements of risks and a rush.

[BK83]

Great points JoeJ -- I think what needs to be clarified here is that the best street artists out there are incorporating all facets of urban artwar -- wheat pastes, stencils, urban installation and old school mural lettering throwups, fillins etc. Banksy has incorporated all of these elements in his work -- he's a fucking magician.