From Vandalism to Graffiti to Street art

By G. Sokol, D. Rarog, H. Green

History of Street Art

Where has it began?

The first signs of modern graffiti can be found in the 1960s, in Philadelphia. To celebrate the death of a famous jazz player, C. Parker (nicknamed “Bird”) people would write “Bird lives” on walls. From Philadelphia graffiti moved to New York City in 1970s. During that time writers nicknamed TAKI 183 and Tracy 168 started to get media’s attention as they would tag trains as they set off from the train stations, which carried their work around the city. Vandalism and graffiti soon turned into art. People got inspired and started to come on the streets to show their artwork.

Why do people do it?

There is a few reasons why people decide to vandalize, do graffiti or street art. Vandalism usually comes from boredom in poor, less developed areas where young people have nothing else to do. Some of them may hate the area they live in and want to ruin it like in the documentary “Bomb it” where graffiti writers said themselves they were doing it only to destroy the area around them. They may also do it just to break the law as it is illegal because they like the adrenaline rush. Others may do it for social reasons as it gets people to work together, they often work in groups to realize bigger projects.

Graffiti and street art are mainly done due to political and social reasons. People write on walls because they want to get attention and be listened to. The graffiti and street artwork often relates to social and political issues going on at the time such as “Black Lives Matter” tag on a statue honoring J. Davis, president of the Confederate State of America in Richmond, Virginia that relates to young black men being shot in America at that time. Another example is Banksy’s work which shows two soldiers with guns painting a peace sign what relates to pointless wars going on that are meant to bring peace.

Some just use it as a form of expressing themselves, like any other form of art.

Why Graffiti is good• It can use otherwise empty space make an area look attractive • Can be political• Way for people to express themselves• Can raise money for charity• Iconic artists have come from street art (Banksy, Sheppard fairy etc.• Inspirational• Can be emotional or cultural• Part of American culture• Can be used for protest

Graffiti can use otherwise empty space to make an area decorative which can increase tourism in places with lots of nice looking graffiti; making an area look attractive can also increase local pride

It can be political.Some street artists use graffiti to get a message to a lot of people by putting their work in public places

Some graffiti has been sold to benefit charities. Such as this by Banksy which

was painted on a youth charity building which was struggling for

money and was at risk of closing. The painting was sold for £403,000.

Some very Iconic artists such as Baksy, Shepard Fairey etc. have

come from street art A lot of their street art has been political

A lot of people use graffiti to express

themselves and their opinions about different

issues. Graffiti can also be considered a cultural

movement

Graffiti is a way of people leaving their

mark on thing which humans have been doing since we first

evolved in cave painting, some of the oldest ‘graffiti’ is cave

paintings in lascaux

The ancient Egyptians used

hieroglyphics to tell stories and their

beliefs often inside the burial tombs of

their pharos.

Why Graffiti is Bad

Graffiti can be expensive to clean up. £8,500 was spend on the cleanup of a Northampton station.London spend around £100M a year on cleaning up graffiti which could be much better spend on other things.It can also be time consuming to remove for the owners of businesses or homeowners who are the targets of this vandalism.

Graffiti wastes taxpayers’ money.

Graffiti can make an Area feel unsafe and decrease the value of houses in that area if graffiti makes it an ugly, rundown place to live.Graffiti can also make an area feel unsafe as it is connected to gangs and is illegal, people may not want to live in an area where they think their house could be the target of criminals.It can also make somewhere that was once a tourist area less popular.

Graffiti can be bad for the economy

Graffiti/vandalism in non designated areas is a crime and anyone who is caught doing it could be prosecuted. Graffiti is associated with gangs as they often use graffiti to show where their territory is and intimidate people and other rival gangs. Graffiti can be a bad influence on children who may not understand that it’s bad and therefor just do graffiti on their school or walls at home etc.

Graffiti is illegal

Analysis of Street Art

• Space Invader• Banksy• Shepard Fairey• Laguna• Smates

Space Invader

The first example we analyzed is a work done by artist called “Space Invader”. He uses an unusual technique to create his pieces which is sticking tiles on walls. His work makes boring walls enjoyable to look at also it makes places we wouldn’t even notice more noticeable. The artwork he creates does not damage the properties as he sticks them on using glue.

BanksyAnother example of street art is Banksy’s artwork which presents a text saying “follow your dreams” that has been crossed with a big sign saying “cancelled”. This artwork relates to todays society problems with not being able to follow their dreams. It has an impact on the audience as it make them think about the problem and they may want to change something. To create it the author used stencil and spray paint causing damage to the wall and making the artwork permanent.

BanksyThis street art by banksy shows a homeless man with his sign saying ‘keep your coins, I want change’, it shows a political message that banksy is not happy with the amount of homeless people in the country and wants to get his message to people by putting up this picture in a public place therefore reaching numerous people. It looks to have been done with spray cans and stencils this is likely so that he could do it quickly and leave so as to not get caught by police as it is illegal. It looks to be life-size as well so that it could look like a real person if you were looking at it from the corner of your eye.

Shepard FaireyShepard Fairey’s poster is another example of street art. He creates his artwork in form of posters and stickers however he also does the graffiti painting work. His work is often related to politics and social issues. It shows people that they have right to speak and encourages them to speak their opinions out loud. The analyzed example presents president Obama and it shows that Fairey believed he was a ‘hope’ for America. He used strong contrasting colors of propaganda images. His artwork usually does not damage any properties and he is often hired to do it.

LagunaLaguna’s work can mainly be seen on abandoned buildings and things that aren’t being used for anything anymore, his work can help to recreate an area and make it look a lot more pleasant for people who pass through. The piece of work that can be seen has transformed the old metal cylinders to look more interesting and it could attract people to pass through the area more or even live around it as the image brings more life to the area around.

SmateThis is the work of a street artist called Smate, he puts his work large scales on buildings, walls and bridges. He mainly presents animals in his artwork what could get people to pay more attention to animal rights and problem of endangered species of animals. His artwork makes the boring constructions more interesting and attractive what bring more people into the area to look at it.