COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL RELATIONS ASSESSMENT 3
GROUP MEMBERS: Laurence Cummings (s3241971), Jamie First (s3291388), Kasia Ilczyszyn (s3237190) and David Vevers (s3124335).
DISCIPLINE/PROFESSION: Design
ARTEFACT 1: Street Art
These artefacts decorate a laneway in central Melbourne. One of the works is a "paste-up" of a bespectacled girl holding a bottle of drink, while the other is an abstract concrete sculpture. They are indicative of today’s street art – a far cry from where it began in 1970s New York (Powers, 2004) as a way for underground society to express itself. In the intervening years, street art has become commodified. Now it is as much a pastime of the cultural elite as it is the expressive outlet for the fringe.
Coordinator of the Richmond Children's Museum, Lynn A. Powers, discusses this change in her article, "Whatever Happened to the Graffiti Art Movement?" (2004) She notes that when the movement began, taggers were – almost without exception – minority adolescents (p. 139). As street art became more popular, it was adopted by the established art world that hijacked it and made it their own, rejecting popular graffiti artists that did not show innovation or change in their work (p. 141).
The style and abstraction of these artefacts exemplify the type of street art around Melbourne that reflects the creative mainstream, rather than raw street culture. The concrete sculpture is part of a larger group forming part of a Melbourne City Council-sponsored program – known as the Laneway Commission Project – which offers artistic grants for chosen designs. Such funding can be seen as a step towards the legalisation of graffiti.
Through the program, the Council is attempting to turn what was an urban “tactic” into an urban “strategy”, by creating legal tagging zones – all the while careful to select which artists can work in these areas and when. As Jeff Stewart from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Melbourne indicates, such support takes the edge out of street art and its subversive nature. “Graffiti highlights the fact that a city is dynamic and it reflects a tension between the needs of those who live, work, govern and play within its precincts.” (p. 93)
The artefacts raise some intriguing questions. Has street art graduated from being a public nuisance to a treasured part of Melbourne’s culture? Is street art part of the counterculture and therefore illegal? Would wholesale legalisation change the face of street art?
Stewart also discusses graffiti in Melbourne and the legal zones created by the Council. He uses examples of artists – including Hansen (2005) and Norska (2008) – that describe part of the attraction of tagging coming from the adrenaline rush while the work is being created. Stewart quotes Hansen as saying: “It’s lots of fun doing what you’re not allowed to do” (p. 88).
The stigma attached to street art in Melbourne is far less than it used to be; it is now more widely accepted and regarded as part of the city’s cultural heritage. A City of Perth document has pitched the idea of re-developing its laneways to re-create its image as a more creative hub.
It chose to use Melbourne as a model, proving that this city has a powerful cultural and creative “brand”. But legalising street art could work to the detriment of the original, expressive, uncontrolled forms of graffiti, which were the domain of the fringe.
References: City of Perth, 2008, ‘Forgotten Spaces: Revitalising Perth’s Laneways, Episode 1’, pp. 1–20
Powers, L. A, 2004, ‘Whatever Happened to the Graffiti Art Movement?’, The Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 137–142
Stewart, J, ‘Graffiti Vandalism? Street Art and the City: Some Considerations’, UNESCO Observatory,
Faculty
of
Architecture,
The
University
of
Melbourne,
<http://www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/unesco/ejournal/pdf/jeff-stewart.pdf>
pp.
86-107,
ARTEFACT 2: Political Graffiti
The artefact above shows Melbourne’s flourishing street art culture. Surrounded by graffiti, a stencil of Kevin Rudd (with the word “KRUDD” beneath it) sits at the top of a stairway entrance to Flinders Street Railway Station (beside the Belgium Waffle stand, off Degraves Street). The stencil is a smiling, even “goofy” image of the Prime Minister, while the word “KRUDD” is seen as derogatory – a piece of derisory humour turned into an art form.
The stencil connects with Melbourne and the idea that graffiti has been – for some time – an integral part of Australia’s second largest city. Once graffiti hits the walls and alleys of any locality, it becomes a part of its cultural heritage and ever-changing urban landscape – revealing stories about its past, present and future.
Political graffiti is a kind of expression that takes ownership of the space on which it is written – in Melbourne’s case it is the streets and, in particular, the alleyways. Tags are often a commentary on societal views at the time they are produced.
An important part of graffiti is its ability to use “existing signs” (Cover, 2002) and transform these into something else. “Graffiti is one site which most readily lends itself to the appropriation of previous significations and an ongoing process of re-signification as the site is added to, amended, erased or otherwise re-used.” In the case of the stencil at the top of Flinders Street Station, the portrait of the dominant political figure of today has been used for amusement and mockery – “a cheap laugh”.
Graffiti adds a particular style to Melbourne and contributes to the city’s aesthetic. As the former Lord Mayor of Melbourne, John So, has said, much of the graffiti in Melbourne’s laneways and streets turns these “into a forum for comment, questioning and enchantment that enriches and enlivens the spaces.” (MacDowall, 2006) Tagging is a part of the communications spectrum, which is integral to the way a city sees itself and how others view it. Graffiti opens up points of discussion and sparks controversy.
Top of mind awareness of tagging is growing, so much so that graffiti artists and politicians alike reflect on its significance, even if they take differing positions about its relevance and value. Education editor for The Age, Jewel Topsfield, quotes the world's most famous tagger, Banksy, as once having said: “Melbourne's street art was arguably the nation's most significant contribution to the arts since the Aborigines' pencils were stolen.” (2008)
Premier John Brumby was criticised when he banned a tourism video in the United States of America that featured graffiti in Melbourne’s streets and laneways. The public outcry highlights how tagging has become a strong part of the city’s culture. As further evidence of graffiti’s importance in contributing to the city’s visual identity, a Banksy stencil in Cocker Alley has been covered with Perspex in order to prevent it being vandalised.
References: Cover, R, December 2002, 'Some Cunts: Graffiti, Globalisation, Injurious Speech and 'Owning' Signification', Social Semiotics, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 269—290
MacDowall, L, December 2006, ‘In Praise of 70K: Cultural Heritage and Graffiti Style’, Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 471–484
Topsfield, J, October 2008, ‘Writing's on Wall and for Brumby it's the Blight of Day’, viewed 13 April
2010,
<http://www.theage.com.au/national/writings-on-wall-and-for-brumby-its-the-
blight-of-day-20080930-4r8e.html?page=-1>
ARTEFACT 3: Youth Projects Building In Hosier Lane Covered With Graffiti
The “Youth Projects Inc.” building in Hosier Lane is a social and communal health organisation, created and crafted to help homeless and disadvantaged Melburnians recover from substance abuse. The building is ideally located in the midst of a well-known, artistic, community hub. Youth Projects’ carers can take advantage of creative rehabilitation therapy for their clients in the laneway. They are empowered as artists, using street art flourishes, stencil work, “throwups” and “wildstyles”. The graffiti displayed on the walls on the Youth Projects’ building demonstrates the attributes and positive impact of street art – a form of expression and a tool for interaction and communication, as opposed to vandalism.
According to the authors of the book “Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne”, Jake Smallman and Carl Nyman, Hosier Lane is one of Melbourne’s most culturally recognisable attractions. Surrounded by Flinders Street, Flinders Lane, Swanston and Exhibition Streets, the laneway is, in effect, a gallery of art work. Walls are encrusted with layers of installations, posters and graffiti. Home to the original “Stencil Graffiti Festival” in 2004, Hosier Lane provides a shining example
of how Melbourne residents commune and connect using artistry – conveying thoughts, anonymous texts and creativity.
Initially opposed to the visage of graffiti on the city streets, Melbourne City Council’s attitude has changed. Street art is gaining greater acceptance and cultural significance. As Smallman and Nyman state: “Melbourne actively supports the stencil graffiti community … the city is well aware that today many visit the central parts of Melbourne just to see stencil art. School groups visit alleyways and galleries; tourists come to Melbourne not just for food, fashion and sporting events, but also for its reputation as the world’s street art epicenter”. Smallman and Nyman surmise Melbourne is the “street art capital of the world”.
Smallman and Nyman also interview successful Melbourne-based graffitists such as Civilian, Dlux, Meek, Pslam, Sync, Ha-Ha and Rone. Predominantly detailing the origins of Melbourne street art, the book features a short epilogue. Smallman and Nyman highlight how this form of art has recently grown from a reflection of the city’s cultural landscape to become an important communications tool, much needed for the urban environment to “mature, prosper and progress”.
Similarly, Walsh’s “Graffito” suggests that some graffitists view their art as “a ritual transgression against a repressive political and economic order.” (1996) It further details the philosophical and psychological reasons associated with the communication form, explaining the mentality, values and attitudes relating to the emerging street art sub-culture. Describing the associated laneway practicalities, it is not hard to see how such spaces have become designated arenas for commercial purposes and, as such, notable creative areas for the public.
References: Cooper, M. and Chalfant, H., 1984, ‘Subway Art. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston’ and Walsh, M., 1996, ‘Graffito’, Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, New York, pp. 32–34
Melbourne City Council: ‘Street Art’ viewed 05 April 2010, <http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/ForResidents/StreetCleaningandGraffiti/GraffitiStreetArt/Pa ges/Whatisstreetart.aspx>
Smallman, J. and Nyman, C., 2005, ‘Stencil Graffiti Capital: Melbourne’, Mark Batty Publisher, Tower Books, Brookvale.
ARTEFACT 4: Hosier Lane
Adding character to the heart of the city and supporting Melbourne’s position as one of the graffiti capitals of the world (Stewart, p.9) is Hosier Lane. When first viewed, the rainbow hues serve to overwhelm the individual, catapulting one on a psychedelic trip more usually associated with substance abuse. Feelings of awe and wonderment are all embracing as the heart skips a beat and eyes dart from side to side, up and down, and back again. It is a space that is both contemporary and dynamic, an ever-changing microcosm of society’s views and values.
The power of the graffiti in Hosier Lane to transform the area, and turn it into a free-for-all expressive outburst, indicative of a gallery specialising in postmodern art, presents a sharp contrast to the classic architecture that surrounds it. In a world dominated by what researcher and lecturer Lachlan MacDowall refers to as the “concrete jungle” (p.472) – that is, the urban environment – the lane generates not only feelings of astonishment, but also interaction and discussion between people of all ages, races and religions. Not surprisingly then, it is a highly sought after space for tourism promotion, which has included the “Lose Yourself in Melbourne” campaign.
As one walks down Hosier Lane there is a feeling of living, breathing history in the making as art works are overpainted by others. Like an architectural dig, peeling away the layers would undoubtedly provide insights and expression of the city’s rich cultural heritage, giving rise to
what MacDowall quoted Alison Young as saying. “Far from being an undifferentiated mass of scrawl, graffiti writing is a highly nuanced, subtle form of communication with clearly developed styles and a sense of its own history ...” (p.481)
The lane also represents a Melbourne continuum, tracing the history of graffiti from a high point in the 1970s and taggers such as “70K”, to modern stencil designs by the likes of Banksy. In line with this, MacDowall writes that graffiti should be “protected” (p.472) and governments are listening. The recent outcry over the “Banksy rat” in Hosier Lane being inadvertently “cleaned” indicates populist sentiment as to the important place of graffiti in society today.
“Reflecting wider issues of power, subversion and containment” (p.253), Associate Professor Rob White substantiates the act of graffiti as a form of communication. The underlying messages that are scrawled on walls contribute to a city’s “identity formation” (p.266). Many types of graffiti that White mentions can be seen in Hosier Lane, for example “political graffiti” (p. 254) such as “KRUDD”, with a stencil of Kevin Rudd beneath the words, or “protest graffiti” (p. 254) reflected in a paste-up that reads “VANDALISN’T”. Hosier Lane represents a powerful, non-violent, communication tool. Graffiti should not “equate with criminality” (p.266) or be seen as “socially threatening” (p.253), rather – as White views it – as a social and political statement that is creative and influential.
The increasing prevalence of graffiti reflects the evolving “tolerance” of what some, like the director of graffiti-based documentary “Rash”, Nicholas Hansen, refers to as “free art work” (p.80). Once frowned upon by the Council – especially during the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, where it was announced there would be a graffiti clean-up operation – Hosier Lane is now a well-known and accepted place for an expression of free will and legitimate design. Now government even commissions works in the lane. The “City Lights Project”, for instance, encourages people to view the space as an empty canvas. According to Hansen, “the graffiti artist represents both hero and criminal and is willing to boldly express a vision which speaks up for many of us” (p. 83). The fact that so many people are actually “speaking up” to change the negative stereotype and stigma attached to graffiti is how Hosier Lane has earned its reputation as one of Australia’s most important cultural attractions.
Melbourne’s cultural heritage – indeed, its identity – is clearly linked to its street art, much of which is prominent in Hosier Lane. Acceptance of graffiti – be it political, protest or artistic – has been a long-time in coming. Tagging emerged in the 1970s as a form of counterculture, frowned upon by law makers and the establishment. But now, even Melbourne City Council is embracing graffiti as a legitimate form of expression, creativity and communication through commissioned works including the City Lights Project. Social and communal organisations such as Youth Projects Inc. are also encouraging people to find voice through street art. The danger is that the “edginess” that exemplified the early days of tagging will be lost through the “legitimisation” process, which appears to be taking place.
References: Hansen, N, ‘RASH – Street Art and Social Dialogue’, viewed 02 April 2010, Metro Magazine, pp. 80–83
MacDowall, L, December 2006, ‘In Praise of 70K: Cultural Heritage and Graffiti Style’, Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 471–484
Stewart, J, ‘Graffiti Vandalism? Street Art and the City: Some Considerations’, UNESCO Observatory, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Melbourne, pp. 86-107, viewed 04 April 2010, <http://www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/unesco/ejournal/pdf/jeff-stewart.pdf>
White, R, March 2001, ‘Graffiti, Crime Prevention & Cultural Space’, Current Issues In Criminal Justice, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 253–268
Young, A, 1995, Judging the Image: Art, Value and Law, Routledge, London