Kim_Jong_The_Illest_ t1_j65ymea wrote on January 27, 2023 at 11:09 PM

Reply to comment by AhbabaOooMaoMao in I’m in Puerto Rico. Just saw a ‘VEO’ graffiti. by gdradio

For a few reasons, i do not think it is one person

AhbabaOooMaoMao t1_j66fvpr wrote on January 28, 2023 at 1:15 AM

I've thought a lot about this and I'm curious as to your reasons.

I think there are definitely some copycats. For example, the low effort Veo scratched into the clear plastic that overlays the LCD screen at a gas pump in Hartford. I might wager that all of those are plagiarists.

When it comes to the more moderate-effort stuff, such as on a utility pole or sign along a busy roadway, so intentionally and overtly scrawled upon our concrete jungle, I think it's almost entirely the real tagger. The ones that aren't "real" are one-time thrill seekers or petty vandals, acting on opportunity, without creativity to think of anything else to write.

The ones up on bridges and the fully articulated ones all like V̷̶̘̻͔̟ͬ̋̇ͪͪ̑̓ȩ̷̵͎̘͎͙̹̺̮̈͆̓̋ͩ̌o̠̦͓̜̠̐͜͝ĥ̻̼̻̦̩̋ͫͬ̿ and stuff in full color, for someone else to do it, defeats the concept of tagging. And the risk of getting caught red handed as a notorious vandal of private, local, and state property, who would risk that but the true tagger?

I assume it's basically all the person does and definitely has help, maybe a couple of close family or crew, to drive, scout, and lookout. I assume the person has a job that requires them to be mobile throughout the region, and possibly works with said accomplices.

I find it amazing that someone has not been caught and charged with a significant amount of these. Shit I wonder if I can launch my own investigation and file a qui tam action against the person to recover the state's money, on its behalf, a fee for my time of course.

Kim_Jong_The_Illest_ t1_j66hfxy wrote on January 28, 2023 at 1:27 AM

Well, there are variations. Sometimes there is a dot inside the O; sometimes there is an H at the end. Usually someone who tags or bombs does it in a fairly consistent way. Styles evolve and such, but a whole letter is a big difference; the dot is something distinctive. As someone who used to do graffiti and had lots of friends who did it (i don’t partake any more but still am way too into it), it strikes me as something a single artist wouldn’t do (the variations, that is).

Then there is the VO bomb thats around that often doesn’t have a VEO tag with it. I do think that is a singular person bc the style is distinct and there isn’t variation. But the VEO tag, my gut tells me it’s more than one person.

AhbabaOooMaoMao t1_j66hxtu wrote on January 28, 2023 at 1:31 AM

That's interesting. So you think Veoh, VO, and Veo, are three separate tags for three separate taggers, with the third one possibly being like a crew or a meme or something?

I had assumed Veoh, VO, and Veo, was just variation of one tagger, for style, mood, and perhaps, I always thought, time. Figured it must be cool to have a nickname you can spell these different ways.

Kim_Jong_The_Illest_ t1_j66imd3 wrote on January 28, 2023 at 1:36 AM

The VO bomb i believe is one person because it is so distinctive and has so little variation. But the other two, i believe is some mix of a small crew, and, like you said, copy cats and such—people spreading it. That’s just a gut feeling, but the variations make it seem like it’s not the work of one person.

AhbabaOooMaoMao t1_j66xmr6 wrote on January 28, 2023 at 3:36 AM

Well I'll keep my eyes peeled for some of these details. Good teamwork. Maybe one of these days I'll FOIA the DOT and see what they have.

nikedude t1_j6cq4sj wrote on January 29, 2023 at 12:07 PM

My guess is it's 4 people. Names probably start with V, E, O, H. Depending on who is working together on the tag, that's the variation they use. So V, E, and O go out and do a tag, they use VEO (if O does the spray, maybe adds the dot in the middle). Idk, just my $0.02