Graffiti can describe any writings or drawings created on a surface in a public space. Tagging refers explicitly to writing the artist’s signature (or their pseudonym name or logo) on a public surface. This distinct signature is known as a “tag”, and the artist is referred to as a “tagger”. You will find these tags around train, bus and metro stations around the world.
Tagging is the simplest form of graffiti and often graffiti artists practice it in sketch books and wall around the city with no security in sight. It looks like graffiti tagging came around in the modern 20th-century but tagging in the most basic form has been around for ages.
Why do artist tag over each other?
Most artist will try to outdo each other by tagging over each other’s works in the most unusual spaces. From around the seventies and eighties metro stations, subway trains and busses were a prime canvas for taggers around the world. Because of these graffiti tags you could no longer see through the windows of these vehicles.