Graffiti is rapidly evolving. Some still engage in the centuries-old act of “tagging” — the marking of territory for a tribe or gang, smearing private property with dangerous names or threats, but others have endeavored to transform the nasty connotations surrounding graffiti.
They’ve warped it into something bold, refreshing and shrewd: They’ve created what’s known in the underground as “street art.” Why does graffiti earn itself such a bad rap?
“In suburban environments, private property laws are more strictly enforced,” said Adriene Jenik, director of the School of Art at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, adding, “suburban areas don’t have as much of a sense of shared space as in urban areas, where graffiti or ‘street art’ exists as an established communication form with an aesthetic intention and a compelling nature.”
One solution navigating around private property laws and the community’s desire for an uncluttered personal space is that of embedding a sort of mural or blank wall into the environment, designated for graffiti.
“ASU is state property, we’re privileged to be here, to learn here, and there is a necessary respect for a clean campus with clear signage and a common community space. But on-campus murals, perhaps designed proportionally to the size of the institution’s student body, could help to establish and strengthen our sense of community,” said Jenik.
The allure for “taggers” lies in the fact that most of their work is done after hours and is markedly illegal. It’s this type of graffiti that is most likely to unsettle a community’s space, but street art on the other hand, or graffiti with a real message that provides a certain insight or thoughtful intervention into the public realm, is swiftly capturing the public’s affection.
Artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey have established names for themselves as innovators of this emerging underground art scene, and the reason is clear: They’ve shifted the view of graffiti. They stripped it of its vandalistic and noxious atmosphere and recreated it into something with much more cunning, subtlety and slyness.
“Humor can play a role in it,” said Gregory Sale, assistant professor of intermedia and public practice in the School of Art at the Herberger Institute, adding, “our society is really polarized today; government is almost inoperable, civility is out the door. It’s a charged environment, and most of us are public only from the space of isolation.”
Sale refers to the Internet revolution. Many students today ironically make their most public statements from behind computer screens in private. “(Graffiti) can act as a sort of forum or message board. A small gesture of graffiti can link to a big message. It has the capacity to break down images that we are flooded with daily and invite us to question them. At its best, street art can provoke, disrupt, reinforce, celebrate or unite a community,” said Sale.
Regardless of regulation, there will always be a daring few drawing on the walls of Tempe, urging them to speak. If you’re willing to get arrested, it seems, you can pack a bigger punch.
Reach the columnist at jwadler@asu.edu
