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Language
English (en)
Date of Award
5-1-2007
Author's Department
International and Area Studies
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)
Restricted/Unrestricted
Restricted
Abstract
Celebrated and vilified the world over, graffiti anonymously intrudes on the public spaces it beautifies or desecrates - depending on how you look at it. Out on the streets and up on the walls for everyone to see, graffiti reveals everything and yet absolutely nothing at the same time. Graffiti writers boldly communicate anything they want, but don't stick around to offer much in the way of an explanation. Letters and icons are often indecipherable and esoteric, at times intentionally so. The prodigal child of the Art world, graffiti is produced by self-taught artists who 'throw up' their art on the streets wherever and however they see fit without thinking twice about art critics, gallery owners or museum curators. Despite its cool confidence, graffiti is vulnerable - it is subject to nature's elements and man's will, as it is often covered up by graffiti artists, city officials and average citizens. But, graffiti's transience is also something of a good thing. In a world where almost everything can be bought, sold, or traded, graffiti constitutes something of a magical rarity: unremitting graffiti removal literally forces graffiti artists to forever begin anew and the relative absence of market pressures affords artists the chance to endlessly experiment and to create new forms, styles and techniques. In cities around the world, the design of urban wallpaper is changing all the time. Today's artists employ an ever-expanding variety of materials styles, and techniques to create a dizzying array of work; easy-to- read stickers and stencils now share the same spaces as the still-popular 'tags' and 'pieces' that defined 1980's hip-hop style graffiti.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7936/qq53-mc75
Recommended Citation
Sapan, Amy, "Graffiti Buenos Aires" (2007). Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses. 137.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.7936/qq53-mc75
Comments
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