Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

Dialogues with Graffiti: Codes of Practice linked to the Dark Side of Creativity

Workshop 3, Bristol Museum:Welcome - an Introduction to the ‘Dia-logues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City’ Network and Workshop.

Prof. Lorraine Gamman, 27 May 2011

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

1. What is Graffiti Dialogues about?

Dialogues with Graffiti for the 21st Century City:

An ESRC research Network and Workshops 2010-11.

1. Connected Environments, Communities, Materials and Tech-nologies: 14th December 2010, CSM Innovation, London.

2. Criminal Justice, Restorative Justice and Creative Justice: 11

February 2011, University College London. 11 Feb. 2011, Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, London.

3. Codes of practice and the Dark Side of Creativity: 27 May 2011,

Bristol Museum. Can a better understanding of the codes and activities adopted by graffiti practitioners, work to the mutual benefit of them and society?

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

1. Why hold workshops to connect communities?

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

Question:

Is it possible at a time when there is political change, and significant funding cuts to create a different discourse about the value of graffiti, one that makes it possible to under-stand the positive contribution graffiti makes, rather than simply promoting the need to clean it?

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

3. Why are DACRC at CSM here?

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

4. So what use is a research project about Graffiti?

“DACRC seeks to utilise art and design practice to influence social agendas.

Socially Responsive design takes as its primary driver social issues, its main consideration social impact and its main objective social change.”

Gamman & Thorpe, 2006

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

So what is the social agenda regarding Graffiti?

About graffiti our agenda is complex. UAL’s critical mass, and DACRC’s track record means we can influence diverse agendas, including those led by government and the Home Office who we advise as part of the Design Technology Alliance.

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

5. So What?

Why is this project important? Our perspective

Since 2008 DACRC has been invited to contribute to under-standings about various graffiti spaces - by Southbank Centre in London and Transport for London ...

Also by local councils and the Anti Graffiti Association as well the British Transport Police/Metropolitan Police . We advise but we are independent of all stakeholders . DACRC’s funding mainly comes from research councils and independent peer reviewed research funding applications.

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

A Dialogue with Graffiti: Southbank Undercroft London

2008-10

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

6. So Why Now?

Kensington Street

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

DACRC’s graffiti project aims to join up diverse communities in or-der to make a difference.

Our main point is that the money spent preventing or cleaning graf-fiti needs review. Some street artists regenerate communities .

Addressing graffiti requires diverse approaches and these ap-proaches may need review, and address social action or social in-clusion via innovative projects.

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

7. Says who?Your perspective

Few surveys ask people what graffiti they like (rather than what they don’t like). DACRC has consulted with many groups who influence the policing of graffiti. We now wish to consult with writers to see what can be delivered/developed in future around graffiti practice, and how we can connect it to communites.

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

There appear to be few impartial consultations in respect of graffiti - people are not often asked what they like.

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

Urban Lexicons revealed just 2/256 responses to be con-cerned about graffiti across a wide variety of urban spaces.

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

8. So What? Is it possible to ask writers to develop a “code of practice’ ? Not all graffiti practitioners have malicious intentions, even if some do, and we need to acknowledge this. We also want it acknowledged that some creative graffiti practice has a role to play in regenerating vibrant communities, as well as the opposite.

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

Questions we have:

It is possible to promote the decriminalisation of street artists and how should we mobolise such a campaign?

Should we separate street art and tagging - In practice? In policy?

Is tagging graffiti’s only ‘first rung’, as a process that in some cases helps build talent?

What is it that you’d like us to do in order to represent your position on behalf of creative practitioners and artists in terms of graffiti?

Dialogues with Graffiti for the Twenty First Century City

www.graffitidialogues.comDon’t forget to sign up - let’s continue the dialogue ...