After really enjoying “Bomb It!” during class, I’ve decided to write a little bit on acceptable vs. unacceptable public art.
What we consider and
promote as public art is organized and carefully orchestrated by those who hold
power in cities. Public art is normally commissioned and created in a designated
city space. In both social geography and urban (re)development, the value of public
art is increasingly recognized. The same is not true for street art in general
(or we wouldn’t have pieces of media like Bomb It!). The value of graffiti as
being art has long been speculated. Of course, this is challenged. Merriam Webster
defines art as being, “something that is created with
imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas
or feelings”. Of course, this definition is not static – beauty is in
the eye of the beholder, but definitions of beauty are euro-centric,
imperialistic, racist, etc. They’re socially produced and reproduced. Art is up
to the viewer’s interpretation, which is why we can see a discernible lack of
acceptance of street art due to dominant narratives. This is not only evident in commonly accepted definitions
of art, but also graffiti being heavily influenced by the hip-hop movement – a counterculture
that is marked by a lack of conformity. This isn’t to say that graffiti doesn’t
foster its own conformity as a culture. Graffiti resists contemporary concepts
of art and epistemologies both mold those definitions and their antonyms. Despite
being both public and art, graffiti is widely considered street
art instead of public art. This art has more potential to represent marginalized folks than commodified, commissioned, and designated public art.
Much like the definition
of art, cities are constantly being made and re-made around the world. This is
inherent both physically and socially. To truly understand the powers at play
behind the construction of the urban environment it’s essential that we look at
manifestations of urban culture – both conformist and non-conformist.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/03/living/ireport-street-art-public-art/index.html
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/art
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