Friday 10 October 2008

Graffiti, you've been framed

I chose to explore graffiti as a topic for my one week brief - turn something negative into positive.

At your first glance of this, you would immediately think it's destruction of property:



...wouldn't you?

Well, what if the same thing was framed in a gallery and looked like this:

Posted by at
Labels:

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The word grafitti is defined as "markings, initials, slogans, or drawings, written, spray-painted, or sketched on a sidewalk, wall of a building or public restroom, or the like "

Clearly the first image falls into this category, yet the second, given that the image has been framed and moved to a more formal environment, a gallery potentially, ensures that it cannot now be classified as grafitti.

In effect, what this change of location has done is instantly turned something 'negative' into something 'positive'.

But why is it that the first image cannot be seen in the same light as the second? Why is it that we need to formalise creativity to ensure that it conforms with soceity's standards, hence only then allowing it to be appreciated?

In my opinion, grafitti should not be subject to the default negative lens that society views it through, but rather, there should be an open acceptance of the fact that graffitti can be both positive and negative.

Admittedly, there will be images and markings which will be abusive & distrubing, but equally, we must as a society move away from the stereotypical branding & connotation that we attach to it, and appreciate that at times, "grafitti" can shed light on the creative side of individuals and give them a platform and opportunity to express their undoubted talent.

5 November 2008 at 05:24

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)