Writing Urban Space: Street Art, Democracy, and Photographic Cartography

Abstract

In this article, the street is both a place of travel and a space for critical discourse. As tensions between public and private spaces play out in the streets, street artists claim visible space through multiple forms of art. Through a critical performance geography and a qualitative inquiry of the street, I photograph the movement of art across walls, doorways, windows, sidewalks, lampposts, alleyways, gutters, and dumpsters over a 7-month period in the Eastern Market neighborhood of Detroit ( N = 806). After describing street art as a fluid genre that has developed into a diverse spectrum of post-graffiti, I explore how street art contributes to a changing visual terrain through discussions of racism, decolonization, gentrification, and the role of art in spatial justice. Photographic cartography is introduced as (a) a visual method of performance geography that illustrates material-discursive “fault lines” and (b) a critical means of analyzing conversations in contested public space. Significantly, street artists simultaneously work within and against urban renewal policies in “creative cities” such as Detroit. Given that the arts are at the center of sophisticated visual discourse regarding neoliberalism, democracy, and the battle over public space, researchers might continue to examine how street artists inscribe social justice in, on, and around the streets.

The legacy of redlining in the effect of foreclosures on Detroit residents’ self-rated health

“…The racial compositions of the surrounding neighborhoods have changed, but a divide in resources and economic opportunity remains. While parts of the wall are still standing, activists have painted them and stripped the wall of its role as a racial divider (Ulmer, 2016). In contrast, many redlined neighborhoods were later subjected to urban renewal programs through the Federal Housing Act in 1949, which empowered government agencies to identify blighted properties for repurposing under eminent domain.…”

Composing Techniques: Choreographing a Postqualitative Writing Practice

“…The technique of not writing is one of the most productive parts of my writing practice. This frequently involves shaping ideas or remixing materials into something I can think with: choreographies, photographic cartographies, or interactive sketchbooks with images and transparent overlays (in Ulmer, 2015Ulmer, , 2016; see also Koro-Ljungberg & Ulmer, 2015). The selection of photographs to use in a manuscript, for example, often is a precursor to determining the topic of the manuscript itself.…”

“…I forgo the faster interstate route to drive through the Heidelberg Project (an outdoor folk art installation), or to take back roads to observe how sticker art is slowly spreading across neighborhood stop signs and outdoor electrical boxes. I allow myself to be moved by interesting moments during mundane tasks, such as walking each week through the local farmer's market to buy local produce and becoming "distracted" by street art (e.g., Ulmer, 2016). There are pockets of time that can be carved out in daily routines for play, and many have served as a form of not writing that spurs ideas and photographs and papers.…”

Food, Water, Shelter, Justice, Love

“…Because past and present histories of the city point to the fluidity, vulnerability, and strategic importance of heterotopic spaces, methodologies would benefit from an agility to respond. Researchers therefore might consider documenting spaces of need as they emerge, shift, and even vanish (Ulmer, 2017). Partial and fragmented mappings might dance across the fluidity of temporary moments, affects, and possibilitiesimagining and wanting futures yet to be.…”