About
About Equalized.org
Equalized.org began in May of 2003 as an effort aimed at documenting graffiti art in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Due to its illegality, graffiti art is often short-lived and covered under layers of paint used by the City of Grand Rapids to cover graffiti. Equalized.org believes that it is important to document graffiti art for a variety of reasons ranging from its artistic value to its assault on the banality of urban life.
Grand Rapids, Michigan and its Graffiti Scene
Grand Rapids is a medium-sized metropolitan area in the western part of Michigan’s lower peninsula. It is an area known for its support of Republican and religious right politics, and consequently, its graffiti scene has never been particularly large—nor has it attained a level of quality comparable to what is found in larger cities. Graffiti has existed in the city since at least the 1980s (based on reports in the Grand Rapids Press), but the people maintaining the site have noticed a significant increase in graffiti since the late 1990s with several writers (graffiti artists) and crews becoming omnipresent on walls, train cars, and under bridges. The photos on this site cover the period of May of 2003 to the present, documenting a significant period of increased graffiti activity during 2003 to 2004 and then a subsequent drop-off as numerous artists were arrested (at least 13 writers were arrested during the period of January 2005 to May of 2006) or otherwise ceased active involvement in the graffiti scene. Moreover, as downtown Grand Rapids undergoes a process of gentrification, many of the traditional areas in which graffiti was done are being redeveloped for private profit and like it has in so many other cities, graffiti raises questions about the use of space, the appropriation of space for commerce, and the values placed on various forms of cultural production.
About Graffiti
Graffiti developed in New York City in the 1970s as part of the hip-hop scene and is one the four elements (DJing, break dancing, rapping, and graffiti) that form the core of hip-hop. The specific history and development of graffiti as a subculture is well-documented both on and off the Internet, and as such, it is not necessary to go into its history. However, it is important to understand that far from being the nihilistic destruction of property, graffiti is a distinct subculture with a complex set of artistic conventions, hierarchies, terminology, and politics.
