Malcolm Jacobson | Stockholm University (original) (raw)
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Recently added papers by Malcolm Jacobson
Societies, 2020
This article engages with the existential importance of subcultural memory for middle aged men. T... more This article engages with the existential importance of subcultural memory for middle aged men. The social site is digital and consists of the first three Swedish graffiti podcasts where graffitied life courses are reflexively constructed through conversations. The empirical material gives unique insight into the construction of subcultural aging and self-identity and offers a critical reflection on theories of youth cultures. The results show that sharing memories of youth, crime and agency shapes the meaning of graffiti and subcultural cohesion. Retrospective narratives on personal development and increased reflexivity and self-control are constructed. Story telling has a long tradition in graffiti and social media has lately been incorporated within the subculture. As graffiti is a holistic practice, writers adopt many techniques to create graffiti personas, and podcasts, in addition to writing, have been established as a contemporary way to practice graffiti. The article illustrates how graffiti podcasting forms a mnemonic community where the meaning of graffiti is negotiated. Podcasts are memory sites in a struggle for individual and cultural recognition of what used to be labeled a deviant subculture.
Underground Productions, 2001
Stan 153 is often mentioned as a source of inspiration for the first generations of writers. He h... more Stan 153 is often mentioned as a source of inspiration for the first generations of writers. He has followed the development of graffiti from the tags of 1969 to the 3D pieces of today. In the classic book Getting Up, he helped to tell the story of graffiti, here is his own story.
Street Art & Urban Creativity Scientific Journal, 2015
There is an abundance of books, magazines, films and internet-forums dedicated to graffiti. How t... more There is an abundance of books, magazines, films and internet-forums dedicated to graffiti. How this documentation has influenced and been a part of the graffiti subculture has not been studied much. Drawing on personal experiences, as a documentarian and publisher of graffiti media over 27 years, Malcolm Jacobson recollects how the positions of participant and observer incessantly have twisted around each other. This has been mediated through development in media technology as well as by the coming of age of graffiti and its practitioners.
Street Art & Urban Creativity Scientific Journal, 2017
Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fuel... more Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fueled with the symbolic capital of illegal graffiti. Graffiti artists transform settings such as hotels, bars and boutiques into daring experiences. Building on ethnographic observations and interviews in Sweden, this article shows that graffiti artists and commercial companies cooperate in maintaining a narrative where graffiti is presented as essentially illegal. This narrative enables graffiti writers to exchange symbolic capital for economic capital and preserve their identity as authentic graffiti writers. The idea that subcultures are distinct from, and thus compromised, when appropriated by the mainstream is questioned. Instead it is established that graffiti artists adopt a pragmatic perspective towards commercial work.
A very brief introduction to contemporary graffiti history written in 1993 and published in "Krea... more A very brief introduction to contemporary graffiti history written in 1993 and published in "Kreativ kommunikation : en kvartalstidskrift om information och design", issue 1, 1994 (Creative communication: a quarterly journal on information and design). The article is based on the works by Kurlansky, Mailer & Naar, 1974, Castleman, 1982 (unfortunately uncredited in the article), Cooper & Chalfant, 1984, Chalfant & Prigoff, 1987, Jacobson, 1990, as well as a lived experience as members and chroniclers of the local graffiti community in the Stockholm region circa 1986-1993.
Written by Jacob Kimvall, and photos by Malcolm Jacobson (none of us wrote the headline though).
Referenced works:
Castleman, Craig (1982). Getting up: subway graffiti in New York. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press
Chalfant, Henry & Prigoff, James (1987). Spraycan Art. London: Thames and Hudson
Cooper, Martha & Chalfant, Henry (1984). Subway Art. London: Thames & Hudson
Jacobson, Staffan (1990). Spraykonst: graffiti från tecken till bild. Åhus: Kalejdoskop
Kurlansky, Mervyn, Mailer, Norman, & Naar, Jon (1974). The Faith of Graffiti. New York: Praeger Publishing
Papers by Malcolm Jacobson
Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fuel... more Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fueled with the symbolic capital of illegal graffiti. Graffiti artists transform settings such as hotels, bars and boutiques into daring experiences. Building on ethnographic observations and interviews in Sweden, this article shows that graffiti artists and commercial companies cooperate in maintaining a narrative where graffiti is presented as essentially illegal. This narrative enables graffiti writers to exchange symbolic capital for economic capital and preserve their identity as authentic graffiti writers. The idea that subcultures are distinct from, and thus compromised, when appropriated by the mainstream is questioned. Instead it is established that graffiti artists adopt a pragmatic perspective towards commercial work.
Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fuel... more Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fueled with the symbolic capital of illegal graffiti. Graffiti artists transform settings such as hotels, bars and boutiques into daring experiences. Building on ethnographic observations and interviews in Sweden, this article shows that graffiti artists and commercial companies cooperate in maintaining a narrative where graffiti is presented as essentially illegal. This narrative enables graffiti writers to exchange symbolic capital for economic capital and preserve their identity as authentic graffiti writers. The idea that subcultures are distinct from, and thus compromised, when appropriated by the mainstream is questioned. Instead it is established that graffiti artists adopt a pragmatic perspective towards commercial work.
The aim of this paper is to utilize photographs to investigate existential aspects of graffiti th... more The aim of this paper is to utilize photographs to investigate existential aspects of graffiti that are theoretically underdeveloped such as how the subculture offers foundation for life-long friendships. Previous literature on the life of graffiti writers has often emphasized aspects of hyper masculinity such as competition, bravery, law breaking and risk behavior and neglected how boundaries concerning space and generations are negotiated through graffiti writing.
99 As a photographer and publicist, I have seen how the documentation of graffiti has shaped graf... more 99 As a photographer and publicist, I have seen how the documentation of graffiti has shaped graffiti practices in a dialec-tical process. Since 1988, I have been a part of this, and I will here reflect on how these dialectics have changed over time. Since my space is limited, I will build my case on personal, first hand, experience. I suggest that this can be developed in future analysis of empirical data. My earliest recollection of graffiti is when I as a child visited a pizzeria with my babysitter. On the television mounted on the pizzeria wall, a story was aired about youths painting the subway trains of New York. The creativity and energy that the graffiti writers brought about was paired with an intrinsic mix of individuality and community. This inspired me. I was eleven years old and started sketching graffiti letters and even wrote some signatures in the subway. However, my interest faded because I didn't find any graffiti community or graffiti writings in my neighborho...
Societies, 2019
This article engages with the existential importance of subcultural memory for middle aged men. T... more This article engages with the existential importance of subcultural memory for middle aged men. The social site is digital and consists of the first three Swedish graffiti podcasts where graffitied life courses are reflexively constructed through conversations. The empirical material gives unique insight into the construction of subcultural aging and self-identity and offers a critical reflection on theories of youth cultures. The results show that sharing memories of youth, crime and agency shapes the meaning of graffiti and subcultural cohesion. Retrospective narratives on personal development and increased reflexivity and self-control are constructed. Story telling has a long tradition in graffiti and social media has lately been incorporated within the subculture. As graffiti is a holistic practice, writers adopt many techniques to create graffiti personas, and podcasts, in addition to writing, have been established as a contemporary way to practice graffiti. The article illustr...
This study examines how social cohesion is built through exchange of urban art. Graffiti and stre... more This study examines how social cohesion is built through exchange of urban art. Graffiti and street art are treated like dirt and washed away. Unsanctioned art is often perceived as alien to museum ...
Societies, 2020
This article engages with the existential importance of subcultural memory for middle aged men. T... more This article engages with the existential importance of subcultural memory for middle aged men. The social site is digital and consists of the first three Swedish graffiti podcasts where graffitied life courses are reflexively constructed through conversations. The empirical material gives unique insight into the construction of subcultural aging and self-identity and offers a critical reflection on theories of youth cultures. The results show that sharing memories of youth, crime and agency shapes the meaning of graffiti and subcultural cohesion. Retrospective narratives on personal development and increased reflexivity and self-control are constructed. Story telling has a long tradition in graffiti and social media has lately been incorporated within the subculture. As graffiti is a holistic practice, writers adopt many techniques to create graffiti personas, and podcasts, in addition to writing, have been established as a contemporary way to practice graffiti. The article illustrates how graffiti podcasting forms a mnemonic community where the meaning of graffiti is negotiated. Podcasts are memory sites in a struggle for individual and cultural recognition of what used to be labeled a deviant subculture.
Underground Productions, 2001
Stan 153 is often mentioned as a source of inspiration for the first generations of writers. He h... more Stan 153 is often mentioned as a source of inspiration for the first generations of writers. He has followed the development of graffiti from the tags of 1969 to the 3D pieces of today. In the classic book Getting Up, he helped to tell the story of graffiti, here is his own story.
Street Art & Urban Creativity Scientific Journal, 2015
There is an abundance of books, magazines, films and internet-forums dedicated to graffiti. How t... more There is an abundance of books, magazines, films and internet-forums dedicated to graffiti. How this documentation has influenced and been a part of the graffiti subculture has not been studied much. Drawing on personal experiences, as a documentarian and publisher of graffiti media over 27 years, Malcolm Jacobson recollects how the positions of participant and observer incessantly have twisted around each other. This has been mediated through development in media technology as well as by the coming of age of graffiti and its practitioners.
Street Art & Urban Creativity Scientific Journal, 2017
Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fuel... more Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fueled with the symbolic capital of illegal graffiti. Graffiti artists transform settings such as hotels, bars and boutiques into daring experiences. Building on ethnographic observations and interviews in Sweden, this article shows that graffiti artists and commercial companies cooperate in maintaining a narrative where graffiti is presented as essentially illegal. This narrative enables graffiti writers to exchange symbolic capital for economic capital and preserve their identity as authentic graffiti writers. The idea that subcultures are distinct from, and thus compromised, when appropriated by the mainstream is questioned. Instead it is established that graffiti artists adopt a pragmatic perspective towards commercial work.
A very brief introduction to contemporary graffiti history written in 1993 and published in "Krea... more A very brief introduction to contemporary graffiti history written in 1993 and published in "Kreativ kommunikation : en kvartalstidskrift om information och design", issue 1, 1994 (Creative communication: a quarterly journal on information and design). The article is based on the works by Kurlansky, Mailer & Naar, 1974, Castleman, 1982 (unfortunately uncredited in the article), Cooper & Chalfant, 1984, Chalfant & Prigoff, 1987, Jacobson, 1990, as well as a lived experience as members and chroniclers of the local graffiti community in the Stockholm region circa 1986-1993.
Written by Jacob Kimvall, and photos by Malcolm Jacobson (none of us wrote the headline though).
Referenced works:
Castleman, Craig (1982). Getting up: subway graffiti in New York. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press
Chalfant, Henry & Prigoff, James (1987). Spraycan Art. London: Thames and Hudson
Cooper, Martha & Chalfant, Henry (1984). Subway Art. London: Thames & Hudson
Jacobson, Staffan (1990). Spraykonst: graffiti från tecken till bild. Åhus: Kalejdoskop
Kurlansky, Mervyn, Mailer, Norman, & Naar, Jon (1974). The Faith of Graffiti. New York: Praeger Publishing
Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fuel... more Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fueled with the symbolic capital of illegal graffiti. Graffiti artists transform settings such as hotels, bars and boutiques into daring experiences. Building on ethnographic observations and interviews in Sweden, this article shows that graffiti artists and commercial companies cooperate in maintaining a narrative where graffiti is presented as essentially illegal. This narrative enables graffiti writers to exchange symbolic capital for economic capital and preserve their identity as authentic graffiti writers. The idea that subcultures are distinct from, and thus compromised, when appropriated by the mainstream is questioned. Instead it is established that graffiti artists adopt a pragmatic perspective towards commercial work.
Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fuel... more Graffiti is extensively used within marketing. Products such as cars, sodas, and clothes are fueled with the symbolic capital of illegal graffiti. Graffiti artists transform settings such as hotels, bars and boutiques into daring experiences. Building on ethnographic observations and interviews in Sweden, this article shows that graffiti artists and commercial companies cooperate in maintaining a narrative where graffiti is presented as essentially illegal. This narrative enables graffiti writers to exchange symbolic capital for economic capital and preserve their identity as authentic graffiti writers. The idea that subcultures are distinct from, and thus compromised, when appropriated by the mainstream is questioned. Instead it is established that graffiti artists adopt a pragmatic perspective towards commercial work.
The aim of this paper is to utilize photographs to investigate existential aspects of graffiti th... more The aim of this paper is to utilize photographs to investigate existential aspects of graffiti that are theoretically underdeveloped such as how the subculture offers foundation for life-long friendships. Previous literature on the life of graffiti writers has often emphasized aspects of hyper masculinity such as competition, bravery, law breaking and risk behavior and neglected how boundaries concerning space and generations are negotiated through graffiti writing.
99 As a photographer and publicist, I have seen how the documentation of graffiti has shaped graf... more 99 As a photographer and publicist, I have seen how the documentation of graffiti has shaped graffiti practices in a dialec-tical process. Since 1988, I have been a part of this, and I will here reflect on how these dialectics have changed over time. Since my space is limited, I will build my case on personal, first hand, experience. I suggest that this can be developed in future analysis of empirical data. My earliest recollection of graffiti is when I as a child visited a pizzeria with my babysitter. On the television mounted on the pizzeria wall, a story was aired about youths painting the subway trains of New York. The creativity and energy that the graffiti writers brought about was paired with an intrinsic mix of individuality and community. This inspired me. I was eleven years old and started sketching graffiti letters and even wrote some signatures in the subway. However, my interest faded because I didn't find any graffiti community or graffiti writings in my neighborho...
Societies, 2019
This article engages with the existential importance of subcultural memory for middle aged men. T... more This article engages with the existential importance of subcultural memory for middle aged men. The social site is digital and consists of the first three Swedish graffiti podcasts where graffitied life courses are reflexively constructed through conversations. The empirical material gives unique insight into the construction of subcultural aging and self-identity and offers a critical reflection on theories of youth cultures. The results show that sharing memories of youth, crime and agency shapes the meaning of graffiti and subcultural cohesion. Retrospective narratives on personal development and increased reflexivity and self-control are constructed. Story telling has a long tradition in graffiti and social media has lately been incorporated within the subculture. As graffiti is a holistic practice, writers adopt many techniques to create graffiti personas, and podcasts, in addition to writing, have been established as a contemporary way to practice graffiti. The article illustr...
This study examines how social cohesion is built through exchange of urban art. Graffiti and stre... more This study examines how social cohesion is built through exchange of urban art. Graffiti and street art are treated like dirt and washed away. Unsanctioned art is often perceived as alien to museum ...