throw up (graffiti)
{{Short description|Form of graffiti}}
File:bubble writing graffiti.jpg
Throw ups,{{efn|sometimes written hyphenated (throw-ups) or without the space (throwups)}} or throwies, are a form of graffiti that fall between tags and pieces in complexity.{{Cite book |last=Snyder |first=Gregory J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJUUCgAAQBAJ |title=Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground |date=2011-04-15 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-4046-0 |language=en}} The name comes from the way they are designed to be "thrown" onto a surface as quickly as possible. They are almost always done with aerosol paint.{{Cite journal |last=Graf |first=Ann M. |date=2018 |title=Facets of Graffiti Art and Street Art Documentation Online: A Domain and Content Analysis |journal=University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Digital Commons |s2cid=149842845 }}
Form
Throw ups are typically the writer's moniker in large "bubble-letters", with or without a fill. Throw ups without fills are called hollows.{{Cite thesis |title=Writing on the walls: Graffiti and civic identity |url=http://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/28256 |publisher=University of Ottawa (Canada) |date=2009 |degree=Thesis |doi=10.20381/ruor-19161 |language=en |first=Michelle |last=Parks |archive-date=2023-12-03 |access-date=2023-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203001920/https://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/28256 |url-status=live }} Throw ups are sometimes done using only the first two or three letters of the moniker in a throw up to quicken the process, especially if the writer uses a longer name.{{Cite book |last=Castleman |first=Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFSD-UOkI54C |title=Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York |date=1984-04-26 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-53051-4 |pages=75 |language=en}} Throw ups are done with fast, pre-planned body movements to enhance speed.{{cn|date=September 2023}} This speed means that writers can produce large amounts of throw ups in a short time, especially when compared with pieces.{{Cite journal |last=Lasley |first=James R. |date=1995-04-01 |title=New writing on the wall: Exploring the middle-class graffiti writing subculture |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01639625.1995.9967994 |journal=Deviant Behavior |language=en |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=151–167 |doi=10.1080/01639625.1995.9967994 |issn=0163-9625 |archive-date=2023-09-02 |access-date=2023-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902165434/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01639625.1995.9967994 |url-status=live }}
Defining characteristics of skilled throw up include letter height consistency, letter shape conformity along the top and the bottom,{{Cite book |last1=Almqvist |first1=Björn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYxXDwAAQBAJ |title=Graffiti Cookbook: The Complete Do-It-Yourself-guide to Graffiti |last2=orkel Sjöstrand |last3=Lindblad |first3=Tobias Barenthin |date=2014-04-04 |publisher=SCB Distributors |isbn=978-91-85639-71-7 |language=en}} minimal negative space,{{Cite web |last=Team |first=The Drivin' & Vibin' |date=2022-08-21 |title=Who is Cope2? |url=https://outsidefolkgallery.com/cope2/ |access-date=2023-09-08 |website=Outside Folk Gallery |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908090710/https://outsidefolkgallery.com/cope2/ |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last=Grim |first=Jon |title=Replace your graffiti throwie with this! |url=https://theartistblock.ink/articles/replace-your-throwie-with-this |access-date=2023-09-08 |website=The Artist Block |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908090709/https://theartistblock.ink/articles/replace-your-throwie-with-this |url-status=live }} and clean lines. The line between pieces and throw ups is sometimes blurred, but throw ups tend to be faster to paint, have fewer colours, and prioritise speed over style.{{Cite book |last=Navitas |first=Prananda |title=In book: Music-City. Sports-City. Leisure City. A reader. |publisher=Publisher: Bauhaus University Weimar |editor-last=Bergmann |editor-first=Alexander |pages=(pp.90-97) |chapter=21st Century Graffiti. How authorities should deal with it in city centers |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/215445259}}
History
Throw ups originated in the New York City Subway in the 1970s{{Cite book |last=Ross |first=Jeffrey Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kGKpCwAAQBAJ |title=Routledge Handbook of Graffiti and Street Art |date=2016-03-02 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-64586-3 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Ferrell |first=Jeff |date=1998-12-01 |title=Freight train graffiti: Subculture, crime, dislocation |url= |journal=Justice Quarterly |language=en |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=587–608 |doi=10.1080/07418829800093911 |issn=0741-8825}} and started as larger versions of tags{{Cite journal |last1=Dovey |first1=Kim |last2=Wollan |first2=Simon |last3=Woodcock |first3=Ian |date=2012-02-02 |title=Placing Graffiti: Creating and Contesting Character in Inner-city Melbourne |url= |journal=Journal of Urban Design |language=en |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=21–41 |doi=10.1080/13574809.2011.646248 |hdl=11343/230654 |s2cid=110689365 |issn=1357-4809|hdl-access=free }} before evolving into their own style.{{Cite journal |last=Whitehead |first=Jessie |date=2004-11-01 |title=Graffiti: The Use of the Familiar1 |url= |journal=Art Education |language=en |volume=57 |issue=6 |pages=25–32 |doi=10.1080/00043125.2004.11653573 |s2cid=189475620 |issn=0004-3125}} Compared to tags and pieces, throw ups have not changed as much since their origins.{{Cite book |last=Snyder |first=Gregory J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJUUCgAAQBAJ |title=Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground |date=2011-04-15 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-4046-0 |pages=35 |language=en}}