TAG: name writing in public space

246 pages
Edited by Edward Birzin, Javier Abarca & Matthias Hübner
29.7 x 20.8 cm
Language: English
Paperback
Publisher: Possible Books
Second edition
2023

Tagging has rarely been the subject of serious examination. The Tag Conference is a first attempt to conceptually frame contemporary tagging, and to study it alongside its abundant but largely ignored historical antecedents. Informal name writing in public spaces is a time-honored practice, probably as old as writing itself. In the last century, it has acquired unprecedented intensity and has become the central feature of several full-fledged folk cultures throughout the globe.

The most sophisticated of these cultures is the graffiti tradition that developed in the subways of New York City during the 1970s. By influence of this tradition, name writing is today generally referred to with the slang term “tagging”.

The Tag Conference provided a space for discussion about tagging, about its nature, its meaning and its history, and about the diverse tagging traditions and cultures that exist and have existed.