From Vandalism to Street Art

A presentation by Joel Gialluca and Adrianna Woszczynska

The Rise of Street Art

The birth of this revolutionary art form began in Philadelphia in the 1960’s after the untimely death of a well renowned jazz player Charlie “Yardbird” Parker.

From Philly to New York

In 1971 this emerging art form shifted from Philadelphia to New York City where local artists would “bomb” trains (which was their slang for tagging), and then these trains would begin to run all throughout the city. This created a mixed signal from the public but obviously the reactions were mostly negative from the conservative public as the people “bombing” trains were from the lower class. Immediately, the law enforcers began to tackle what they saw as vandalism and a major problem within the society.

The Message

The message they wish to convey is not one that would work if it was placed in an art museum, the fact that it is done in a public domain makes all of the responses more genuine and therefore these artists are challenged in making there pieces stand out and hit the public where it matters.

Is Street Art Good Then?

Most would argue that street art is a new modern way for local artists in a city or area to express themselves and combat the day to day evils such as law enforcements and the government. They are all about the people and nothing is capitalised about it. A lot of people would also say that cities and towns with street art actually make the city have more character, hence why manchester for example has allocated areas where artists can place their art.

Or is it Bad?

Although many people consider it as a good thing, a lot of other people (mainly older people), would see it as extremely threatening and as vandalism. If it is done on public property it is illegal and you can get a fine for doing so. In 5 years it cost £2 million to clean up graffiti across the country which is not very good at all. Although there are many good sides to street art, just like everything there are the bad sides too.

Conclusion

Whether you consider street art to be good or bad, you have to agree on that there is a vast majority of cultural influences in the work which allows each artist's message to stand out and appeal in a different way. If you like it or you don’t, you are pretty much going to have to deal with it because it’s been around for 1000’s of years and won’t be going any time soon.