Graffiti- Wraitterin Kasikirja

A book from Finland! It makes me curious. I like scandinavian graffiti. It is bright, bold, colorful, spontaneous, playful and usually idiosyncratic, averse to outside influences. When I contacted Juho Toiskallio to find out more about the his book, he was happy but also surprised to find out that someone from a foreighn country was interested in it. I think the world should see more of Finland’s graffiti scene because it is vibrant and alife! And since there are only a few publications on graffiti from Finland this book might do that. Although the book is in Finnish, it’s still worth checking. Graffiti Wraitterin Kasikirja is a hardcover book with handy dimensions and over 190 pages. Although it actually is a handbook-  it contains chapters such as “Vocabulary, What is graffiti, The Journey of modern graffiti from New York to Finland, Basic forms of graffiti, Materials and accessoiries, Do-It_Yourself, Design and implementation”- this book is in no way corny. The featured writers all have one page with photographs of their work: Age, Tazer, Trama, Rie, Wado, Heart, Ora, Isee, Move, Jpot, Kiss, Fuse, Goblin, Hel, Isop, Mors, Seis, Zrone, Jeans, Shazmo, Sleeze, Ngli, Omos, Votka, Osek, Jash, Sign104 156/IBM/TDS/OTB, Ray 52, Krylon/ Mans, Frank, Taika Jim, Vamp, Romeo, Skulls, Wild, Nyce, Rudeboy, Cover, Smell, Pallo, Pims, EGS, Victa, Eman, Puz, Dusty, Oiler, Ezoo, Spugepasi, Stay Up, Zek, Octo, Kap, Aie, Night, Arrow, Fresh, Clir, Skin, Berg, Yase.
Writers like Egs and Sign 104 show how they paint a piece in 15 photos. Two pages full of characters and six pages full of burners. Supplemented with photos of spraycans, markers, blackbooks, throw ups and tags Graffiti Wraitterin Kasikirja is a full-fledged book that, besides its ‘Handbook’ content also provides insight into the writers in Finland. -Timski