Art and Crime (and Other Things Besides … ): Conceptualising Graffiti in the City

Abstract

In this paper, we critically review the literature on graffiti and street art with a view to bridging the divide between the stark extremities of public graffiti discourse. We make the case for moving beyond singular responses to the challenges posed by graffiti – into the complex terrain between visions of a city free from graffiti and one where public art has free rein. To this end, we have chosen a series of interrogations of common dialectical positions in talk of graffiti: is it art or crime; is it public or private expression; is it necessarily ephemeral, or does it seek permanence; is it a purely cultural practice, or is it economic? Our list is by no means exhaustive, but it does go some way to uncovering the complexity of graffiti’s dynamic and contested geographies.

The effects of visual context and individual differences on perception and evaluation of modern art and graffiti art

“…Street art-complex and skilled visual art practiced in the street-is a highly controversial genre (Iveson, 2010;McAuliffe & Iveson, 2011). While some regard it as valuable, innovative art, it is regarded as vandalism by many people (Keizer, Lindenberg, & Steg, 2008;Toet & van Schaik, 2012).…”

(Un-)veiling the west: Burkini-gate, Princess Hijab and dressing as struggle for postsecular integration

“…The streets and squares do not belong to the leaders of this community, country, the world -it belongs to everyone in these spaces (McAuliffe & Iveson 2011). Although street art sometimes has mainly artistic purposes and the reason behind it varies, the street artist often seeks to give meaning to a space and communicate messages.…”

New Kids on the Block: Young People, the City and Public Pedagogies

“…Although the existing literature identifies how views of urban space taken variously from the multiple perspectives of such diverse segments and demographics of the urban populace as pedestrians (Boarnet et al, 2008), street artists (McAuliffe & Iveson, 2011), first nations women (Graham & Peters, 2002) and urban 'informals' (Roy & AlSayyad, 2004) amongst others, might provoke renewed understandings of how these spaces function, little attention has been given to what young people make of the city. Walking Neighbourhood directly responded to this and demonstrated how young people envision, make sense of and utilize urban space according to their own interpretive agency.…”