When writing meets art: graffiti

Most people think of graffiti as scrawled tagging that makes little sense to anyone except those who know how to read it. Then there's the giant penis and breast jokes. It has connotations of the gangster, derelict and addictive lifestyles. Yes, there are aspects of these lifestyles involved in graffiti but to say it is solely connected to them then you'd be mistaken. There are many artists, truly talented artists, who create stunning graffiti. In these cases the only difference between art on a canvas and art on a wall is the type of paint and the surface used.

There are many times when graffiti should remain on the wall and it can be said to be not only a shame when it's removed but an insult to culture.

Clever: Keep.

Clever: Keep.

That said, I don't mind at all when the scrawled tags are removed. If it isn't artistic, shows no skill or talent, then it shouldn't be for public viewing. That's how it works in the standard art world. So should it work in the world of graffiti. What stays and what goes shouldn't be made using blanket concepts like graffiti is bad or good. It should be made on a case by case basis. Art should never be completely banned from an art gallery nor should just anything be accepted.

There are many out there who will say it is defacement of property but defacement can be fixed with a lick of paint, annoying though the work may be. It is assumed that graffiti is always a petty crime done by one person on another's property but sometimes the graffiti is wanted, requested and sometimes done by the owner of the property.

Sweet: Keep.

Thoughtful and punchy: Keep.

For those inconvenienced, I apologise for seeming to make light of your situation but I still hold the position that good art should be kept wherever and whenever possible.

And all this without mentioning that graffiti often holds a message of action or peace intended for the largest audience reachable. There are also tributes to people both of importance to millions and of importance to a few, all for the most part worthy of notation. There are people currently on this planet and throughout history who do not deserve remembering fondly, for one reason or another, but it would be wise to think carefully before scrubbing any tribute.

Tribute to a person (reflects love and life): Keep.

Tribute to a person and their work: Keep.

These, on the other hand, should be scrubbed off the wall:

Seriously? All round bad...

Argh! Spelling...

Just plain mean, rude and prejudiced.

Ditto on this one. Add in murderous.

An example of bad graffiti that should stay:

Amassed messages: Keep

This might be bad but I vote for it to stay. This is an example of cultural graffiti. Scribbling on the toilet wall is standard everywhere in the world and should remain so for a good laugh and entertainment if stuck (for whatever reason).

Writing on the wall: a writer's way

Usually authors at least use Post It notes, much like this:

From: bettyswallow.wordpress.com

From: imgur.com

But sometimes it works out like this:

From: tammymitchell.typepad.com

From: xpress.co.uk

From: bbwalker.wordpress.com

From: academicanonymous.wordpress.com

I think my husband should be thankful I gave up on Post It notes and moved on to laptops otherwise I might just have ended up writing on the wall too. In fact, that pink wall is a little inspiring regarding home decorating. I'd just have to make sure that what was written was worth writing on a wall.

Largest versus longest books

There is a big difference between the largest and the longest books. Here is the world's largest. (It is large enough that even if I could read the text I'd be stuck there for ages just trying to figure out how to read it.)

The largest book in the world is carved in stone and  stands upright in the Kuthodaw pagoda grounds in Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma).
It is made up of 730 leaves and 1460 pages. Each stone page is 107 cm wide by 153 cm tall and 13 cm thick.

As there can be no cover presentation for a stone text each tablet was given its own roof complete with a precious gem on top.

They were then arranged around a central golden pagoda so you could read them in order.


So what about the longest book. For a long time people have answered The Bible to the question of what is the longest book. That hasn't been the case in a long time. The longest book is measured by word count as font, spacing and margin sizes would effect the page length. So with the most number of words there are the following: 

Longest novel: Tokugawa leyasu by Sohachi Yamaoka, which is approximately 20,000,000 words long. It is written in Japanese and took up 40 volumes in its original printing, which is now printed in just 13 volumes.

The longest self published novel: Marienbad My Love by Mark Leach, which is approximately 17,000,000 words long. It was written in English.

Longest lost text: Said to be the Yongle Dadian Encyclopedia. The Chinese encyclopedia is recorded as being written between 1403 and 1408 by 2000 scholars. it was known was known as the largest general encyclopedia and comprised of 22,877-22937 chapters (rolls) forming 11,095 volumes. It was written using 370 million Chinese characters. Only approximately 400 volumes have survived to today.

Longest series: Perry Rhodan written by various authors is 150,000,000 words long. It is written in German and when printed it takes up 2,300 volumes.


You could go on. There are so many different ways to judge the longest book that it is very hard to find the answer. Suffice it to say, not many of us would read these texts, either in one hit or over time. They are just so long they turn readers away.

I am impressed though. That's a lot of words!