I can't believe that you met futura. i read his book, studied his influences.
i hear where you're coming from with your response (also, thanx for the reply). i'm not a part of the graff community anymore - but i understand what you're saying when you talk about futura being considered a sell-out. that was just the talk of his day - criticism to acceptance of graffiti by mainstream art collectors. as an observer of graff artists (without going into what graff means to the art community) it seems like the most dedicated love art. getting up in the right spot is secondary or tertiary to their artform. like the sociological study i cited says - they spend a majority of their time sketching and developing their abilities. there are a lot of people who move in and out of graff, but you don't become a king unless you love to be on the streets at night with the city to yourself, creating something that you originally laid down on paper. with all the criticism that those who love graff (whether its foundation of its history, the styles that have evolved within the community, etc.) have endured, it seems like graff artists deserve something in return. the politics that exist within the community of who's selling out to the system, who deserves to be a king and so on, are all trivial. personally, graffiti showed me that i had artistic skills i didn't even know existed, and if i have kids i want to build them a wall in the back yard. members of the graff community embraced me, showed me how to blend, bomb, blaze, helped me pick out tips - we ran sketches by each other, the whole nine. so i know i want to give back, but i see what large corporations are doing, and i believe that they have to give back. true - i may be saying, 'here's my desire - where's your money," with such a presentation. economically, these companies don't benefit. i don't blame the artists that work for the companies. they've found their niche, and a lot of the graff artists i ran with wouldn't have a career if graphic design didn't exist. its wonderful to see them happy and doing what they love. and maybe they're the ones who have to say, "i did this for you, now you've got to give back to the community that got me here." thanks nettrice...still can't believe you met futura.