‘Getting Upper’ — at the intersection of language, letterforms & graffiti

A, by DesignIsPlay; D, by Gail Swanlund

The idea for Getting Upper started after some consideration of the evolutionary relationship between the graffiti community and modernism, post-modernism and finally deconstruction. It sounds complicated, and when you start quoting Hegel is can get pretty deep. But basically, it was interesting to see how a generation of restless teenagers growing up in the ghetto with limited access to economic empowerment fought back with one of the few things they could control: words. They created their own language by “getting up,” the recognition that comes with the near-constant act of tagging your name. This became the driving force in the nascent graffiti scene, and as these young artists tagged over and over again, they experimented with different hand styles. They developed an intuitive understanding of how letters, the building blocks of language, could be redesigned and controlled for their specific needs. No wonder these artists referred to themselves as writers and their graffiti work as writing.

26 letters, 26 artists, 26 visions
An interest in language-based experimentation and the ways it can empower people or unlock new avenues of cultural expression encouraged our collaborative design project. If “getting up” describes proliferate tagging, then “getting upper” is what happens when we break free from history, from the global marketing culture, from the need to communicate, and from legibility itself. That’s why 26 graphic designers and artists were each asked to reinterpret a letter of the alphabet based on the theory of deconstruction. Their designs were screen printed at 18 x 24 in., in editions of 100, on Mohawk Loop Smooth 110# DTC (Double Thick Cover).

F, by Keith Knueven; I, by Jeremy Mende; J, by Jason Schulte

K, by Bob Aufuldish; M, by Martin Venezky

Now, deconstruction is understood to mean different things. But in this case it aligns closely with philosopher Jacques Derrida’s idea that words have different meanings based on each reader’s past experiences, cultural connections or social influences. Under these circumstances absolutes disappear and an author’s original intent is open to infinite subjectivity. It is important to note that rather than being a negative process of dismantling, deconstruction is more accurately defined as affirmative, because it frees concepts from their historic foundations and opens up new possibilities.

N, by Altitude (text from Huckleberry Finn); P, by Scott Thorpe; Q, by Denise Gonzalez Crisp

S, by Jon Sueda; V, by Volume

If that can be the case with words, then why not with letters? Which brings us back to graffiti and letters, those building blocks so necessary for developing meaning in our lives and allowing us an opportunity for shared expression. In the 26 posters that make up the Getting Upper alphabet, graffiti was the inspiration, but the results are the unique personal experience and work of the 26 graphic designers invited to participate. Each approached a letter from an individual perspective, and the results are as diverse as the ideas and images that continue to shape our culture.

W, by Slanguage; X, by Justine Mendoza

Amos Klausner learned the ABCs of design while working in the architecture and design department at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. After leaving the museum, Klausner spent five years as the director of the San Francisco chapter of AIGA. Today he is a freelance writer and curator, and the author of Heath Ceramics: the Complexity of Simplicity, published by Chronicle Books.