tapestries

Tapestries. How the social/culture defines a space

Metis - Greek for ‘ways of operating’

For the most conceptions, graffiti is unsightly, it is a sign of a poor neighbourhood with little money put into policing or street maintenance however, it does show a visual story or account of the social tapestry of an area. Just by allowing yourself to stop and actually read what has been quickly scrawled on a wall allows you to paint the picture of a part of the community. Street graffiti has been regenerated as art as after the London riots of 2011 a scheme called ‘Babies of the Borough’ was introduced to use graffiti for a common good. In Woolwich, street artists (legally) painted the faces of local babies on to shopkeeper’s shutters, basing it on research papers from the 1940s suggesting that the presence of infants “promotes a caring response in human beings” (Gordon, D. 2012). Since its inception crime rates have not shown a decisive amount of change, however a huge amount of investment has been put into the area, with the development of Woolwich Square by Gustafson Porter creating an open and inviting atmosphere with the space for cultural events to be hosted for all to learn and enjoy.

“instead of signalling the presence of crime in this area, we were signalling the presence of a community” (Gordon, D. 2012)

Visual culture has also been implemented through branding and advertising. The hotel chain CitizenM use their idea of ‘street style’ in order to attract visitors. In their Shoreditch premises they’ve taken the areas culture of street art and brought the outside in, using it as a branding strategy to entice more customers. An alternate side of this was also visualised after the EU referendum result through the Art on the Underground scheme. After the leave result there was the fear of ostracism and rejection of cultures, in reaction to this there was a positive campaign in order to make people welcome, either vocally or through advertising #LondonIsOpen.