Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Art and Design Theses Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design 7-16-2009 Street Art & Graffiti Art: Developing an Understanding Melissa L. Hughes Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/art_design_theses Recommended Citation Hughes, Melissa L., "Street Art & Graffiti Art: Developing an Understanding." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2009.edu/art_design_theses/50 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University.
It has been accepted for inclusion in Art and Design Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gsu. STREET ART & GRAFFITI ART: DEVELOPING AN UNDERSTANDING by MELISSA HUGHES Under the Direction of Dr. Melody Milbrandt ABSTRACT While graffiti is revered as an art form to some, it is often seen as an unwanted nuisance by others.
While vibrantly rich in history, graffiti has a controversial past, present, and future that will likely continue to be the subject of debate, especially with the insurgence of street art, an art form that often overlaps graffiti art in subject matter, media, aesthetic appearance, and placement as a public form of art. Distinguishing between street art and graffiti art proves quite challenging to the undiscerning eye, yet through a series of interviews and thorough investigation, I questioned the contexts of street art and graffiti art. By introducing non-traditional forms of art that are engaging to adolescent students, street art and graffiti art can expand the secondary art curriculum by helping students become more cognizant of current social, visual and cultural aesthetics in their own visual world. INDEX WORDS: Art Education, Graffiti Art, Street Art STREET ART & GRAFFITI ART: DEVELOPING AN UNDERSTANDING by MELISSA HUGHES A Thesis submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Art Education in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2009 Copyright by Melissa Hughes 2009 STREET ART & GRAFFITI ART: DEVELOPING AN UNDERSTANDING by MELISSA HUGHES Committee Chair: Melody Milbrandt Committee: Teresa Bramlette Reeves Melanie Davenport Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University August 2009 iv DEDICATION This manuscript is dedicated to my close friends, family, and students, for offering inspiration and support.
Furthermore, I am deeply indebted to the educators in my own family that have worked to make a difference…the tradition continues. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to the multitude of great artists that helped inspire this manuscript. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Melody Milbrandt for her sound advice and endless feedback, as well as Dr.
Teresa Bramlette Reeves and Dr. Melanie Davenport for guiding me though this process with composure and insight. A big thanks to Dr. Richard Siegesmund for encouraging me when I thought I didn’t want to be an educator in the first place.
Finally, I am deeply indebted to Mrs. Pope, the absolute definition of a master teacher—an individual that was not only ready to educate but also one prepared to instill values, confidence, and determination in me as a young lady in Dalton, Georgia. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 1 Need for the Study.
1 Purpose of the Study. 2 Methodology/Participants/Timeline. 3 Definition of Terms. 4 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE.
5 Differences in Street Art and Graffiti Art. 5 Why Include Street Art and Graffiti Art in the Secondary Art Curriculum. 11 Characteristics of Street and Graffiti Artists. 14 Analysis of Data.
14 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION & IMPLICATIONS. 22 CHAPTER 5: LESSON PLAN. 25 Stenciling: Social or Political Statements in Art. 33 How and why are street art and graffiti art different?.
33 What are the artists’ motivations to create street art and graffiti art?. 34 What can I learn from the experiences of street artists and graffiti artists that might be beneficial to my teaching urban high school students?. 34 vii In what ways might street art and graffiti art be incorporated into secondary art curriculum and instruction?. 35 Recommendations for Future Research.
41 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Grenade by Shepard Fairey from http://obeygiant.com 26 Figure 2: Banksy from http://www.uk 27 Figure 3: Assessment Points 32 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION As an artist I always felt compelled to investigate my interest in street art and graffiti art. Though I am not a practicing street artist or graffiti artist, I have always admired the art forms from afar, often attempting to decipher the message, motive, and meaning. I have always felt that there is a certain mystique regarding street and graffiti art that aroused a curiosity, begging further investigation, and yielding a more educated understanding for their being. Need for the Study Graffiti art has historically been viewed as a form of vandalism, a curious enigma, and a menace to society.
Infused in the emergence of the hip hop culture, the graffiti revolution primarily took place in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s. At that time, urban youth began extensively spray-painting subway cars, trains, and walls, providing a voice to the disenfranchised, anti-authoritarian rebels seeking an identity to be seen, felt, and heard by all. It seems that this style of graffiti-inspired art is still present, yet transformed and altered such that it now blurs the boundary between it and another art form called street art. Close cousin and successor to the graffiti revolution, street art has a foothold into contemporary, mainstream urban culture, yet still maintains its roots in graffiti art, with influences that are unmistakable.
While graffiti art is traditionally seen as an art form emphasizing self proliferation of a namesake via use of creative, bold lettering with spray-paint, street art knows no boundaries, often incorporating lettering but also using stenciling, painting, wheat pasting, and sticker “bombing” (making and pasting stickers) as art forms that share a similar aesthetic. 2 Street art and graffiti art continue to slowly gain notoriety within the walls of famous galleries and museum spaces, yet still take a back seat to that of traditional, mainstream accepted art forms. Street art and graffiti art styles are increasingly used in mass media outlets, from advertisement to product placement, in an attempt to appeal to young consumers worldwide. The importance and prevalence of street art can be seen easily within our daily visual culture, from the largest cities worldwide to smaller rural areas on a lesser scale.
Today, it seems increasingly difficult to distinguish between street art and graffiti art, as the two are so closely related and often overlap in subject matter, media, aesthetic appearance, and placement as a public form of art. Differentiating between street art and graffiti art is vital to this study, as the two contain a variety of differences that are not understood by an undiscerning eye. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this descriptive research study is two-fold. First I plan to investigate the contexts of street art and graffiti as a part of the visual culture found in urban areas, aiding in the identification of street art and how it differs from graffiti art.
As street art gains popularity worldwide, it continues to borrow influences from the graffiti art revolution, but is also increasingly recognized as a distinct art form. While the general acceptance and understanding of street art is in an indeterminate state, this study intends to describe the position of street art and artists by investigating their varying status in the art world, both problematic and successful. By conducting library research and interviewing local Atlanta street artists and graffiti artists, I will gain a first- hand personal perspective yielding a better understanding for motivations and perspectives of this genre. The second aim of the study is to broaden the secondary art 3 curriculum by incorporating new forms and styles of art that may be highly engaging to adolescent students, yet unfortunately are often overlooked in traditional art instruction.
I hope that my interviews with street and graffiti artists will reveal information that will be engaging and meaningful to my high school students. Based on this information I hope to develop art lessons that will be particularly engaging to urban students and help them become more cognizant of current social, visual and cultural aesthetics in their own visual world. Methodology/Participants/Timeline I will collect data through three artist interviews conducted via telephone, email, or face-to-face dialogue. Each participant will be asked a series of questions that attempt to locate commonalities.
All three participants are Atlanta-based street and/or graffiti artists. The interviews will be scheduled between April 2009 and May 2009, depending on availability of participants. After interviewing the artists I will construct a lesson plan about street art and graffiti art that I believe will best meet the needs of my urban high school students. Research Questions How and why are street art and graffiti art different? What are the artists’ motivations to create street art and graffiti art? What can I learn from the experiences of street artists and graffiti artists that might be beneficial to my teaching urban high school students? In what ways might street art and graffiti art be incorporated into secondary art curriculum and instruction? 4 Definition of Terms Bombing—tagging or spray-painting multiple surfaces within a location, often using quick tags Crew—a group of writers, or graffiti artists Pieces—large-scale, labor-intensive works of graffiti-style art, slang for masterpiece, often earning writers much respect if well-done Tag—a quick, stylized signature composed of letters and/or numbers Throw-up—a quickly executed statement that is in-between a piece and a tag as far as time and effort used to create it, often using one single color Wheat pasting—the practice of adhering a paper form of art or poster to another surface by using liquid adhesive Writer—an individual that practices or creates graffiti art 5 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE Differences in Street Art and Graffiti Art The street itself has become an explosive platform by which artists can express themselves, often transmitting their personal visions, values, and opinions on a daily basis.
Artists such as James de le Vega “…like the idea of the artist going out in the world and creating a dialogue. So I try to write something I think people need to hear, or rehear. Something to make them think, to be in that moment” (Fleming, 2007, p. This form of communication has, inadvertently or not, become part of our daily visual culture and comes by way of two different forms of art: street art and graffiti art.
Manco (2002), suggests that, “Graffiti art, as an idea, has always existed alongside other artist endeavors, the difference being that it is a mode of self- expression using methods that are seen as criminal, or outside the conventional art world, rather that specifically sanctioned or commissioned art” (p. While many graffiti artists gain experience by experimenting in forms of vandalism, some do not consider their art work to be defacing public or private property, but rather see it as bringing a voice to the disempowered (Howze, 2008), beauty to an unsightly locale, or developing one’s identity through a pseudonym (Othen-Price, 2006). However, there are also individuals who simply view street art as vandalism by another name (MacMaughton, 2006). Either way, it is imperative to develop a more informed understanding of street art in contrast to graffiti art as the two share many characteristics but are distinctly different.
The understanding and definition of street art as we see it today begins as a subculture of graffiti art, often crossing over and borrowing from one another. Merely 6 identifying street art is never a uniform, effortless task as it does not have one singular definition. Street art, originally coined by Allan Schwartzman in 1985 (Lewisohn, 2008), is an all encompassing varied artistic expression against an urban backdrop, deriving directly from the graffiti revolution, in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional state.