Mi a neved? Identitáskeresés a kolozsvári graffitikultúrában
What Is Your Name? The Search for Identity in the Graffiti Culture of Kolozsvár/Cluj

Summary/Abstract: Language and the written word have become a legitimate medium of conceptual art since the early seventies at the latest. Words, especially the name of the artist, also represent the raw material of modern graffiti, the birth of which dates to this same period. The study offers arguments based on the graffiti culture of Kolozsvár/Cluj in support of the thesis that the graffiti representation of the writer’s name (the tag) is, essentially, a self-portrait, though without any reference to the body. The lack of any physical manifestation of the author’s body further confirms the idea that portraits must not be conceived as exclusively based on external characteristic, but rather objectify inner experiences, which are considered essential. However, the graffiti production Graff Zoo on the walls of the Romanian Academy Library of Cluj can be interpreted as an ironic deconstruction of the graffiti tag as a means of self-representation.

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