[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.80,0:00:09.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Spray-painted subway cars,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.77,0:00:11.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tagged bridges,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.34,0:00:12.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mural-covered walls.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.98,0:00:15.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Graffiti pops up boldly \Nthroughout our cities.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.100,0:00:20.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It can make statements about identity,\Nart, empowerment, and politics,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.78,0:00:24.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while simultaneously being associated\Nwith destruction.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.30,0:00:27.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, it turns out, it's nothing new.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.32,0:00:31.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Graffiti, or the act of writing \Nor scribbling on public property,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.62,0:00:34.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has been around for thousands of years.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.09,0:00:35.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And across that span of time,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.62,0:00:38.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's raised the same questions\Nwe debate now:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.41,0:00:40.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is it art?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.24,0:00:42.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is it vandalism?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.48,0:00:47.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 1st century BCE, Romans regularly\Ninscribed messages on public walls,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.78,0:00:49.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while oceans away,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.28,0:00:53.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mayans were prolifically scratching\Ndrawings onto their surfaces.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.93,0:00:56.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it wasn't always a subversive act.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.65,0:01:01.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Pompeii, ordinary citizens regularly\Nmarked public walls with magic spells,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.07,0:01:03.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,prose about unrequited love,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.41,0:01:05.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,political campaign slogans,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.61,0:01:09.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even messages to champion\Ntheir favorite gladiators.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.56,0:01:13.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some, including the Greek \Nphilosopher Plutarch, pushed back,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.58,0:01:17.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,deeming graffiti ridiculous and pointless.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.32,0:01:19.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it wasn't until the 5th century
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.18,0:01:23.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the roots of the modern concept\Nof vandalism were planted.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.80,0:01:28.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At that time, a barbaric tribe\Nknown as the Vandals swept through Rome,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.47,0:01:31.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pillaging and destroying the city.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.13,0:01:35.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it wasn't until centuries later that\Nthe term vandalism was actually coined
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.12,0:01:39.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in an outcry against the defacing of art\Nduring the French Revolution.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.25,0:01:42.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And as graffiti became \Nincreasingly associated
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.08,0:01:44.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with deliberate rebellion \Nand provocativeness,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.36,0:01:47.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it took on its vandalist label.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.58,0:01:52.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's part of the reason why, today,\Nmany graffiti artists stay underground.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.08,0:01:55.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some assume alternate identities\Nto avoid retribution,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.20,0:01:59.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while others do so to establish\Ncomradery and make claim to territory.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.52,0:02:01.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Beginning with the tags of the 1960s,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.97,0:02:04.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a novel overlap of celebrity and anonymity
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.96,0:02:08.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hit the streets of New York City\Nand Philadelphia.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.03,0:02:11.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Taggers used coded labels to trace\Ntheir movements around cities
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.90,0:02:14.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while often alluding to their origins.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.59,0:02:18.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the very illegality of graffiti-making\Nthat forced it into the shadows
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.58,0:02:22.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also added to its intrigue \Nand growing base of followers.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.64,0:02:26.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The question of space and ownership\Nis central to graffiti's history.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.94,0:02:32.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Its contemporary evolution has gone\Nhand in hand with counterculture scenes.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.25,0:02:35.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While these movements raised their\Nanti-establishment voices,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.38,0:02:40.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,graffiti artists likewise challenged\Nestablished boundaries of public property.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.12,0:02:41.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They reclaimed subway cars,\N
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.75,0:02:42.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,billboards,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.93,0:02:46.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even once went so far as to paint\Nan elephant in the city zoo.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.80,0:02:48.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Political movements, too,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.15,0:02:51.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have used wall writing \Nto visually spread their messages.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.28,0:02:55.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,During World War II, both the Nazi Party\Nand resistance groups
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.32,0:02:58.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,covered walls with propaganda.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.01,0:03:00.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the Berlin Wall's one-sided graffiti
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.72,0:03:03.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can be seen as a striking symbol\Nof repression
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.52,0:03:06.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,versus relatively \Nunrestricted public access.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.89,0:03:08.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As the counterculture movements
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.49,0:03:11.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,associated with graffiti \Nbecome mainstream,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.29,0:03:14.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,does graffiti, too, become accepted?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.51,0:03:19.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Since the creation of so-called\Ngraffiti unions in the 1970s
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.02,0:03:23.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the admission of select graffiti\Nartists into art galleries a decade later,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.43,0:03:28.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,graffiti has straddled the line between\Nbeing outside and inside the mainstream.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.90,0:03:32.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the appropriation of graffiti styles\Nby marketers and typographers
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.62,0:03:35.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has made this definition \Neven more unclear.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.29,0:03:38.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The once unlikely partnerships \Nof graffiti artists
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.12,0:03:40.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with traditional museums and brands,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.17,0:03:42.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have brought these artists \Nout of the underground
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.53,0:03:44.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and into the spotlight.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.38,0:03:46.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although graffiti \Nis linked to destruction,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.81,0:03:50.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's also a medium of unrestricted\Nartistic expression.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.68,0:03:52.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today, the debate about the boundary
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.55,0:03:55.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between defacing \Nand beautifying continues.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.45,0:03:59.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile, graffiti artists challenge \Ncommon consensus about the value of art
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.81,0:04:02.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the degree to which any space\Ncan be owned.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.66,0:04:05.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whether spraying, scrawling, \Nor scratching,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.19,0:04:09.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,graffiti brings these questions\Nof ownership, art, and acceptability
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.10,0:04:10.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the surface.