Saint Sebastian
Detail from Saint Sebastian, 100 x 70 cm, Vahan Bego, pastel, May 2006
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
| |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
||||||||||
Detail from Saint Sebastian, 100 x 70 cm, Vahan Bego, pastel, May 2006
The graffiti of cantwo is the tip of an evolutionary lineage which has accumulated and refined optimal designs. It is traditional for graffiti artists to assert and insist on their originality, and to depise those who copy or 'bite'. However, this makes little sense in terms of evolutionary development, which modifies and 'perfects' existing designs, rather than continually starting from scratch. There are optimal and suboptimal shapes for letters: some graffiti templates for the letter 'C' are aesthetically pleasing, while others are not. A writer's calibre should be judged on the orginality with which they modify pre-existing designs; on how they take the template to another level. Cantwo is on top of the game in this regard.
Graffiti is a prime example of memetic evolution: it passes on techniques, shapes and colour schemes from one continent to the next, from one city to the next (horizontal meme transmission), and from one generation to the next (vertical meme transmission). In graffiti natural selection operates by ruthlessly eliminating the wack - only the wildest, most dynamic and most perfectly executed designs are assured a future.
Continue reading "Graffiti Evolution: Building on Existing Design" »
|
 design by maciej sierpien & krzysztof bartkowski |
|
|
||
|
|
||||
