Free Agents: A History of Washington, D.C. Graffiti [Paperback]

Roger Gastman (Compiler)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 2001

An acclaimed young artist takes readers on a visual journey through the colorful streets of D.C., featuring the hit-and-run stories of the city's most notorious graffiti artists. Candid interviews reveal their motivations, offering glimpses into a unique lifestyle and an underappreciated art form.

Product Details

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (June 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887128948
• ISBN-13: 978-1887128940
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,751,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Write on! September 2, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Gastman has compiled a truly unique collection here. Any reader will be pulled in bythe graff artists' stories, but writers themselves will cheer that they finally have some 'permanent' documentation of their own in "Free Agents." It shows that it was a labor of love.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Before there was Borf.... July 30, 2007

By hoov

Format:Paperback

...there was Go Go.

A preface: as "A Reader" so bluntly pointed out, street art and graffiti in particular are not well received by the general public. It's simply ignorant to equate graffiti taggers with "muggers" because in no way shape or form is an inanimate object like a wall the equivalent of a human being. "By all means buy this book if you want to glorify the meaningless of talent wasted by tag". It's all subjective. If you're the type of person who is interested in geographical currents in street art then buy this book.

The unsung heroes of DC's graffiti scene of old get a little less ephemeral treatment. Essentially - if you're on this page reading these words, then you probably have already made up your mind.

5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding May 23, 2012

By reading guy

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

DC is not widely known for art, but there was a positive force punk movement in the 80s and 90s and with around that time also was an explosion of graffiti. It is an eyesore but this book it highly recommended for anyone who lives in the city to get an understanding of the people and movement behind it. Well written and put together, definitely a great purchase.

4 of 45 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars I want a book on local muggers! November 20, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Having suffered at the visual diarrhea that these low-level criminals and thugs threw up throughout my city, I checked it out at a bookstore. Yes, you see advertisements that were merely written on (web surfers should check out the excerpt page on "Seven" who defaced an add- how bland and unoriginal and flat out borrrring!), you see beautiful buildings, offices and homes turned ugly and you see pictures of a bunch of... who could have been artists but instead were the pettiest of petty criminals.

By all means buy this book if you want to glorify the meaningless of talent wasted by tag...-- me? I'm waiting on a study of muggers as "class warriors." Only the most hardened city-hating suburban fool could enjoy this. Buy a book on architecture instead and see real beauty before the dummies drew all over it.