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I was driving into Boston the other day and I couldn't help but notice all of the graffiti along the masspike. There were all of these initials and random sayings. I started thinking about how graffiti is a medium.What I find most interesting about graffiti is that the artist is trying to portray a very specific message, but that there is only a limited audience that will be able to understand this message. The message can be anything from territorial marks to corporate advertisements.
For example, below is an advertisement for a well known company.
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But after looking at it, I don't think most people would be able to figure out what it was advertising, especially if one was driving by it briefly. The mural is an advertisement for Converse, as you can see by the logo under the B in BRUTAL.
Graffiti is also used to show respect for a famous individual. For example the image below is a mural painted in honor of John Coltrane.
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It's also interesting to see how graffiti styles vary between country or location. For example the three example above were all from Boston. The examples may or may not be from different locations. Looking at them, I wonder how many people would be able to tell a difference. ...
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The places these murals are from are Holland (Amsterdam), Ireland, and South Africa, and Ecuador respectively. And looking at these I have no idea what the messages are from any of them. The one from Ireland could possibly be interpreted as something about the horrible living conditions in the city, but to be honest I there is no way to know for sure.Perhaps there is a targeted audience that can understand it better than I can.
I like the fact that you address different audiences as a unique aspect of graffiti. Seems like it could be a language of its own among subcultures.
ReplyDeleteThe advertisement graffiti is also interesting. We read a chapter about this in Consumer Society about corporations taking over city blocks. I had never realized that graffiti was used this way. I was trying to decide while reading your post whether or not this made it more or less effective. I haven't come to a distinct conclusion but I know it doesn't have much impact on me.
I personally have always thought graffiti is a beautiful form of art, gives cities individual character, and shows the sign of the times. I know that in the past few years certain Universities have also made graffiti an actual art requirement. What is especially great about graffiti is that the artists are normally the minority and it is a way for them to get their ideas out to the world.
ReplyDeleteGraffiti is definitely and interesting form of media. As you said it does send and convey messages to audiences, for various reasons. Unfortunately, in a city close to my home, graffiti was becoming a huge problem because gangs were using it to disguise locations where people could buy the drugs.
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