Tag Town (9789185639052)
Tags are designed street names, written in the public domain. They are one of the most despised phenomena since long hair on men. They have burrowed their way into the big cities of the world, working both to annoy and tell stories. Now, they tell the tale of how the biggest and most vital artistic trend of the late 20th century origi- nated among children and youths. Martha Cooper documented New York subway paintings in the book Subway Art (1984). But she most preferred tags, the bastard siblings of the pieces, because of their raw energy. Tags are the blue print and uncouth offspring of graffiti writing culture. Cooper went exploring, and found a gold mine just a few blocks from her home! The earliest tags in New York were developed in Washington Heights, North Manhattan, and ten years later, Martha was there with her camera. She documented backyards, bridge supports, parks and pedestrian tunnels with the precision of an ethnographer. The walls were still full of tags from the 60s an...