Journal #4: Street Art and Me
Street art is visual art created in public locations, usually unsanctioned artwork executed outside of the context of traditional art venues. Other terms for this type of art can be "urban art", "guerrilla art", "independent public art", "post-graffiti", and "neo-graffiti". Common forms and media can include spray paint graffiti, stencil graffiti, wheatpaste poster art, sticker art, street installations, and sculpture. Video projection and yarn bombing have also gained some popularity near the turn of the 21st century.
I grew up in Salem Oregon. To put it nicely: we had a lot of street art (graffiti.) Most of it was tags, crude drawings of a begginer but some times you would find a master piece on the side of
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There are so many forms and techniques to street art. Like whereas traditional graffiti artists have primarily used spray paint to produce their work, "street art" encompasses many other media, such as LED art, mosaic tiling, murals, stencil art, sticker art, "Lock On" sculptures, street installations, wheatpasting, woodblocking, yarn bombing, and rock balancing. New media forms such as projection onto large city buildings are an increasingly popular tool for street artists—and the availability of cheap hardware and software allows street artists to become more competitive with corporate advertisements. Much like open source software, artists are able to create art for the public realm from their personal computers, similarly creating things for free which compete with companies making things for profit. Some observers use the term "independent public art" to describe a type of street art, which can also include work in remote places that may not be visited by an audience, and may also be short-lived. An ephemeral instance of colored smoke in the forest, or a precarious rock balance are examples. Some work has been installed …show more content…
Street art in the form of text or simple iconic graphics in the vein of corporate icons become well-known yet enigmatic symbols of an area or an era. This period coincides with Keith Haring's subway advertisement subversions and Jean-Michel Basquiat's SAMO tags. What is now recognized as "street art" had yet to become a realistic career consideration, and offshoots such as stencil graffiti were in their infancy. Wheat Pasted poster art used to promote bands and the clubs where they performed evolved into actual artwork or copy-art and became a common sight during the 1980s in cities worldwide. As the world has grown up (cough cough, the 80’s) so has street
The difference in the approach between Margaret Kilgallen and Julian Schnabel can clearly be seen on the canvas. Ms. Kilgallen preferred to paint images that were flat yet striking; she favored street art over the main stream types of fine art. Street art is considered graffiti by a large number of people, since it is frequently placed without the property owner’s knowledge.
Three years later, enter Banksy, a world famous street artist from England. Banksy has become famous ironically through his use of anonymity as an artist. Banksy will choose a city somewhere in the world and embark usually on a month long anonymous crusade where he “tags” different buildings with culturally and politically motivated works of “street art”. When Banksy descended on New Orleans, he painted 14 works of street art in total, but the painting that stood out as the most glaringly political was the painting called “Looters”. (Banksy story)
The most predominant attribute of a graffiti artist is their mindset, for a graffitist is constantly surveying the streets in search for a new spot to “bomb” as well as examining the work of fellow writers. For instance, when a graffiti artist looks at an empty wall or a distant water tower they envision a canvas suitable for displaying their graffiti. A graffiti artist uses specific terminology when speaking to fellow writers as well as average people interested in this illegal art form. The use of terms, such as “tag,” “throw-up,” and “burner” are used to describe different styles of graffiti letters. In addition, the term “bomb” is used when a graffitist paints on numerous surfaces in a given area. When analyzing the desires of a graffitist, they explain the desire to go “all-city.” The term “all-city” describes a writers’ aspiration to display his graffiti throughout the entire city. The lifestyle of a graffiti artist tends to be more active than that of an average person, for graffitist go “bombing” during late hours of the night. The reason for these late-night paint excursions is to avoid cont...
Infused with the emergence of the hip hop culture, the graffiti revolution primarily took place in New York City in the 1970s to the 1980s. Graffiti art has historically been viewed as a form of vandalism, a curious enigma viewed by the governing class, and a general menace to society especially in large urban populations such as cities. Within the 1970s to the 1980s the urban youth began extensively spray-painting subway cars, trains, and walls, giving a voice to the disenfranchised, anti-authoritarian rebels who were seeking an identity to be seen and heard by the city that was now discrediting them. This type style of graffiti-inspired art is still present within the many art communities around the world, ever transforming and altering in
Graffiti is an art form that was bred from the rebellion of youths. The first sighting of graffiti was seen on subways, and other impoverished areas around New York. This form involved what is called tagging , where the artist signs his or her name, nickname, or group name, on the side of a building or other surface. It is well known for its bold, colorful presence and intricate script. It is still prominent and visible in those areas of the Bronx today.
Those who argue that street art is nothing more than graffiti that violates personal property do not characterize it as a valuable art form. These critics argue that some places cannot afford to keep the property clean; if it gets really bad, the whole building will have to be painted, and that is expensive (O’Lear). Unwanted artwork will cause economic problems with removing the art from illegally used canvases such as building, billboards, and sidewalks. Critics also uphold that there are numerous outlets that people could use that are more tasteful and less destructive. (O’Lear). Turkey Stremmel, the co-owner of Stremmel Gallery, suggests that there are other ways to create the murals artists plaster on street surfaces. Artis...
On the contrary, many argue that since unauthorized graffiti is illegal, it is not art, instead it is vandalism. The New York Times insisted that graffiti’s most important quality is the fact it is illegal. However, regardless of its legality, graffiti is art. A flower growing in the “wrong” place is still a flower. Likewise, art in the “wrong” place is still art.
A graffiti artist style of art is what they are identified by. Some graffiti artists “simply wanted to add an element of art to a wall or an entire city” (Ganz 18), but other graffiti artist paint a message that depicts the world around them. Their paintings represent a protest with the government or with the way society views a situation that is going on. “It is a visible and powerful form of protest that promotes change and social justice by allowing oppressed groups to express their viewpoints about human rights that are abused” (Farmer and Milo 410). In other words they are saying that graffiti art allows oppressed
The rise of vandalistic art produced by Banksy and others, has altered the way in which the public views graffiti culture. Where spray paint once represented gangs and violence, it now suggests an exciting and cutting edge artform that could potentially be a lucrative investment. In fact, Banksy’s work is so sought after that people are willing to take bricks out of buildings in order to steal it. In 2013, one of Banksy’s most famous pieces of artwork was stolen from the side of a store in the UK. It was later discovered at a US auction (Banksy Artwork Taken). “Street art has entered the art world’s mainstream, with Banksy pieces regularly selling for more than $1 million” (Salib
Is street art a true art form? Does it provoke the same emotional impact that museum art has? There are many people who disregard street art as a form of vandalism and something that should be subject to punishment. However, after watching the film Exit Through the Gift Shop, I began to question why street art is not considered a true form of art by a large portion of the art community. Street artists convey messages in their work that cause us to think critically so that we can truly understand the meaning, just as fine art in museums do. The temporariness of street art does not necessarily take away from the emotional impact that is intended by the artist. What makes art, art, is not what it looks like, but how the viewer perceives it. I believe that you cannot put a boundary on art, no matter if it is in a museum or on a street corner, as long as the creativity and authenticity is there, and the viewer is challenged to think.
Art is the expression or application of our thoughts, desires, emotions and feelings. Art helps us spread and share our thoughts with others. There are many different types of art and graffiti is one of them. Each person living in this world has their own definition of art. Some define graffiti as illegal because they believe that it abuses public property. Others believe that Graffiti should be legalized because they see it as not just another form of art but also as a useful form of political expression, a way to beautify scenery and as a potential source of income.
It is a ridiculous belief that just because graffiti is done somewhere without consent, it throws out the notion that it is still art. Sure, the piece of work was done illegally but why can’t the work still be appreciated and enjoyed. Art is art wherever it is found. The location of the piece does not change that. In fact, graffiti can kill two birds with one stone. First, at the foundation it is a form of art. Second, on top of that foundation a message can be erected and directed. But as the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Graffiti started in the 1920s when gangs would tag train cars and walls to mark territory mainly in New York City. Graffiti took a different turn in the 1970s when young adults decided to use street art as an outlet to express their political and social outrage. This movement had soon gained the attention of the “adult” world. Graffiti was known as “creation through destruction” and to this day is still considered illegal in most parts of the world. In modern street art the mediums used have evolved past spray paint and now artists are using different methods with spray paint to progress their works past crude tags. Common mediums used are stencils, prints, and murals. Graffiti is often considered to be art because of new artists, such as
People around the world have different ways to express their feelings through. It could be done legally or illegaly. One way in which it could be done is through art like graffiti. Graffiti is a form of art where people express their feelings by spraying colors on street walls. It is actually a very interesting kind of art, as it is not easy to draw with sprays and to express yourself using some kind of symbols on walls that represent something deep inside you. Since the beginning of time, people have been debating on whether graffiti is legal or not. If you think about it for a second, you will find each and every reason for graffiti to be legal, but people till now tend to accuse it as a form of crime. Since when is art a crime? Since when is expressing your feelings in a peaceful way is a crime? Graffiti could not just be used on walls of other people’s property, it as well could be done on portraits and sold and actually in Brazil many people travel there to see the graffiti portraits in the galleries. Graffiti grabs people attention in a way and raises people’s awareness of something through drawing. Isn’t it just beautiful to draw something that grabs people attention and raises their awareness towards something and then credit you for doing so? Therefore, graffiti is passionate beautiful kind of art that I do not think it should be seen as a crime, instead as an astonishing form of art.
Street art is understood to be a subculture of graffiti, but cannot be simply defined as one form (Hughs). “Street art, originally coined by Allan Schwartzman in 1985 (Lewisohn, 2008),