Street+Art

p6

 * ======chalk drawing by Keith Haring, New York City, 1986. Haring left this on the steps of Henry Chalfant's studio.======

p7-8 - FOREWORD (by Henry Chalfant)

 * ======graffiti originated in 1970s and 1980s in New York City======
 * ======"put a new face on the concept of public ownership"======
 * ======graffiti = creative response to bad urban conditions======
 * ======many law enforcers/property owners were upset by graffiti, but couldn't catch the perpetrators======
 * ======started with painting on MTA trains======
 * ======eventually ended with MTA's campaign of prevention and renewal, refused to run painted trains======
 * ======"they created a multicultural, multi-racial community that reflected the diverse population of New York" (8)======
 * ======international movement======
 * ======street art was created by the dislocated and alienated urban communities of America======
 * ======people in cities feel need to own the walls around them======
 * ======it is "'in-your-face', anti-authoritarian, irreverent, irrepressible, wise, ironic, a voice for the powerless and the have-nots" (8)======

p15-25 - STREET ART OF GRAFFITI?
p26 - GRAFFITI p30 p31 p34 - Evolution of train graffiti p35-38 -LEE (Lee Quinones) p36-37 - Martha Cooper p39 - p41 - Futura 2000 (break out train) p42 p45 p49-51 Barry McGee? p63 p65 p65 - Street art p69 - Ernest Pignon-Ernest p70 - Kilroy (?? more?) p79 - NY train graff ended in 1989 p81 - new street art p90-92 - John Fekner
 * graffiti = "any form of unofficial, unsanctioned application of a medium onto a surface" (15)
 * graffiti originates from plural form of "graffito", meaning an image or text scratched into a wall
 * "graffiti writing" is the movement in which writers 'tag' or sign their work
 * street art is a sub-genre of graffiti
 * much cross-over, but they are distinct and Proxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 oxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 oxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 perate
 * derives from graffiti writing
 * many street artists originate in graffiti, and sometimes do graffiti on the side
 * street art vs. graffiti
 * graffiti has a bad public rep, and graffiti writers generally don't care
 * street artists generally more concerned with outsider perception of art
 * similar origins and ideas, different in form, function, and intention
 * graffiti writers focus on stylizing their personal letters and 'tag', make it hard for outsiders to understand it
 * like an internal language between graff writers
 * "it's about making an ugly place uglier" (19)
 * revolves around typography and letter formation, generally done with spray paint
 * writers are communicating with themselves and their closed community, don't care what outsiders think of it, if it is understood or not
 * Material difference between street art and graffiti
 * street artists tend to use stencilling and pasting, as well as paint and spray paint
 * generally big differentiation in style
 * but both use devices of scale and repetition
 * street art can be understood by any observer
 * street art and graffiti often found on same wall
 * some of earliest graffiti originates from Egypt, but examples are rare
 * over 11,000 examples of unsanctioned graffiti have been documented in Pompeii
 * mainly words and poetry, with little imagery
 * some words merging with pictures
 * both scratched and painted
 * not restricted to one area or particular class, often poetic or obscene, sometimes considered form of decoration
 * official, sanctioned murals also found
 * (destroyed in AD 79)
 * other example of ancent graffiti = erotic notes on Greek Island, Thera
 * graffiti in Roman world often political, popular way of speaking back to authority
 * city walls often covered with graffiti criticizing authority
 * believed that graff hit its high point in first century, most prevalent from Julian period to the riegn of Nero (AD 14 -69)
 * rose again in middle ages, mostly on outsides of churches
 * evidence graff was prevalent in Shakespeare's time
 * probably graff throughout modern history, the more graff, the easier for historians to find
 * public opinion turned against graff in the late nineteenth century
 * due to bad relationship between working class (graffiti writers) and elite
 * Romantic interest in graff as 'pure creative act'
 * Victorians returned to 'real art', ignoring what was being produced on the street
 * graffiti on trains = competition
 * as train traveled from Brooklyn to the Bronx people would challenge each other for bigger, better work
 * most important factor in graffiti's development was police repression, according to Henry Chalfant
 * "That just spurred it on and made it even more fun" -Chalfant (30)
 * some of the most famous original graffiti writers were Taki 183, Eva 62, Barbara 62, Tracy 168
 * graffiti = "most culturally significant art movement of the second half of the twentieth century"
 * no other movement since Cubism of Surrealism has developed such a distinctly new language
 * wasn't based off things that had come before
 * "free of art history and its limited concerns"
 * inspired by typography, comic books, and mainstream pop culture"
 * Wild Style meant to be indecipherable and alien to general public
 * closely linked to hip hop (added to its popularity and appeal)
 * writing on walls --> single-line tags on outside of trains (done quickly while train at station and passengers boarding) --> competition between writers, started to jump down train lines to tag trains parked for an hour or so (very dangerous, people died) --> parked train gave more time to enlarge tag, make elaborate details, more competition --> started to break into trainyards where they were left overnight, work developed quickly into complex designs
 * pivotal train painter during golden age of graffiti in late 1970s and early 1980s
 * subject of 'Wild Style', instrumental in propelling the graffiti movement to new world wide audiences
 * not interested in competitive writin, had non-graffiti viewers in mind
 * did block letters instead of wild style
 * more interested in narrative, message
 * considered movement of train
 * "images meant to be seen quickly and 'move away from you as fast as they came at you'"
 * one of the first graffiti train photographers
 * "I had gotten interested in graffiti and wanted to take pictures of cars, especially the top to bottom whole cars in the context of the Bronx"
 * "I would like my photos to be viewed as a collaboration between me and the writer. In the photos, I was saying, let's look at the trains within the context of the environment from where many of these writers came from"
 * "But photographing a moving subway car in the South Bronx is not the same as standing in front of a wall in Manhattan snapping a picture"
 * "__Style Wars__ was the bible and __Subway Art__ was the psalms book" -Goldie
 * these documentations helped spread movemeant overseas
 * "Graffiti is a visual language that incorporates the world around it. The viewer of these documents can get a real sense of the urban landscape in which it existed."
 * films and publications brought come writers overnight stardom, and the graffiti movement "was catapulted onto the world stage"
 * "If you look at graffiti in New York in the early 70s, it was whack, it was crude. I'm speaking with unholy words - because we're talking about the Mecca - but it took us time to work out what we were doing, scince we were inventing it as we went along" -Futura
 * one of first writers to work very early purely with abstract forms on trains and walls
 * later merged abstraction with figuration and alien-like figures
 * one of few writers to achieve gallery success in 1980s
 * mixed graffiti, design, fine art, music
 * designed record covers for the Clash in 1982
 * recorded with band and painted live on stage with them
 * does lots of design work now
 * street art/graffiti shows tooke a less precious approach to exhibiting art
 * "works were often hung salon-style, in a carefree fashion, pinned directly to the wall and placed in close proximity to each other"
 * many artists were working underground and doing their own shows
 * ""Graffiti writers value the placement of their work, so putting a tag or a piece in a difficult-to-reach location, such as on the side of a police car or the tope of a high building, will gain the writer notoriety within thw community. This is one of the reasons why graffiti writers often look down on exhibiting in art galleries: it represents no challenge, whereas placing your work on the side of a train is percieved as not only creative but also valued because it outwits the authorities. If a graffiti writer could paint the White House of 10 Downing Street, they would, because these places are highly reguarded, and consequently prized targets... The constant challenge to reach harder or more dangerous locations drives the adrenalin rush for recifivist offenders." (45-46)
 * "Street art is often reflective of the place where it is installed"
 * Keith Haring painted on Berlin wall in 1986
 * literally a comment on the most visible symbol of Cold War era
 * "artist alligning himeself with the political freedoms and ideas of democracy offered by the West"
 * use of materials affects the development of graffiti
 * in 2980s spray paint not easily available for financial reasons
 * poverty --> creativity
 * used other more accesible materials
 * household acrylic paint and small paint rollers, had huge affect on development of Brazillian graffiti
 * "restrictions resulted in many positive efects, and Brazillian graffiti is now easily recognizable through its straight lines and blocks of colour that are often not mixed. Now that spray paint is easily available in Brazil, we see both styles and techniques blending together
 * street artists often prepare their work before they put it up in the street (ex stncil), brings it closer to studio-based fine artists
 * street art reflective of political oponions and creative desired, differ from place to place
 * museum art = reflection of cultures that produced it
 * street art = ??
 * London street art competed with "an extremely media-saturated environment", and the artists are aware of and responsive to that environment
 * competing with advertisers
 * advertisers and marketers try to steal their ideas, must build a defense-shield against corporate theft
 * Melbourne street art reflective of Australian culture and issues
 * street art and graffiti both about making the city your own by claiming the space
 * street art less destructive and rebellious in nature
 * french artist, first street art from 1966
 * inspired in reaction to the French's 'Force de Frappe' (Nuclear Strike Force)
 * "he found it 'impossible to deal with on a canvas. It was at that point that I felt it necessary to work in situ and to try and consider the poetic and dramatic potential of the place itself'"
 * "Pignon-Ernest's drawing process begins with location and concept. He physically acquaints himself with his environment by walking the streets and by reading about the history of his chosen location. He conceives the outside world in terms of visual material: everything from the colour of the walls to their texture and the varying light conditions are taken into account. In true psycho-geographic style, he attempts to capture the soul of a space. He wants to give the impression that the location itself has produced his images."
 * WWII 'Kilroy was here' messages written in many locations where soldiers travelled
 * Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler both allegedly inquired as to exactly who Kilroy was
 * soldiers engaging in creative pastime --> graffiti
 * Mayor Ed Koch won battle to keep the subway virtually spray-paint free
 * NY from 1975 onwards there was street art
 * Jenny Holzer, Dan Witz, Richard Hambleton
 * followed by: Keith Haring, Jean-Michael Basquiat
 * In Europe: Harolf Naegeli, Gerard Zlotylamien, Blek le Rat
 * 1990s = new generation of street artists
 * Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Barry McGee, Phil Frost
 * street art started to seep into the public's consciousness in late 1990s
 * rise of the anti-globalism movement (associated with street art)
 * guerilla tactics street artists used to put their message across
 * corporate sabotage, cultural jamming
 * 1977 project Random Dates = sprayed random dates around industrial areas in northwest Queens
 * he wanted to "play conceptual mind games" with the viewer
 * had several successful gallery exhibitions by wanted to be rebellious and work outdoors
 * early street art inspired by NY teen gangs from 1950s who marked territory with names and paited tattoo style images
 * inspired by Robert Smithson, Laurence Weiner, Richard Artschwager and Gordon Matta-Clark to "use the city as a context in which to work"
 * stencilled texts on decrepit buildings, abandoned vehicles, motorway underpass, other bleak/neglected areas in the urban/industrial landscape
 * minimal but caustic choice of words
 * "my responses to conditions could be ironic and cynical or piercing and literal"
 * Ronald Regan made speech in 2980 in front of Broken promises text work in Bronx
 * illustrates the idea that everything a politician says is a lie
 * perceived environment differently because he traveled everywhere by car
 * worked in areas of isolation and in reaction to highway system (not subway system)
 * political message, description of deprivation