The Absorption of a Subculture by Jenny Cargill

International Edition

UK £7.00 US $14.00

The days when graffiti was reviled as ‘vandalism’ have long been left behind the origional impetus to decorate public space with personal artistic statements ranging from the revolutionary to the intensely intimate still makes a liberating appeal to all creative types.

The Absorption of a Subculture:

The Absorption of a Subculture

// Introduction

// Chapter 1

Page 2

Page 4

// Chapter 2

Page 8

// Chapter 4

Page 20

// Chapter 3

Page 16

// Conclusion

Page 24

// Bibliography

Page 28

AMSTER DAM

Het is te moeilijk en snel. Wil je het nog een keer zeggen, maar meer langzaam en duidelijk alstjeblief.

U gaat rechtdoor tot de stoplichten, aan uw linkerhand niet uw rechterhand, daar kunt u het station zien.

“People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish. But that’s only if it’s done properly.¬” // Banksy

Banksy

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U gaat rechtdoor tot de stoplichten, aan uw linkerhand niet uw rechterhand, daar kunt u het station zien.

introduction 2220:360:62:1

Although graffiti has existed for thousands of years, it is currently at the centre of a heated debate focused around the concept of whether it is categorised as art, or as vandalism, evolving from the hip-hop culture in 1960s New York. Graffiti is considered to be one of the four main contributing components of hip-hop, along with MC-ing, DJ-ing and B-boying. These four elements were forms of creative expression in New York, particularly in the Bronx. The first instances of graffiti were generally considered to be an act of criminal damage and vandalism upon the city, with New York writers (a term used to describle graffiti artists) being the first to take artwork and reproduce it on subway carriages. This has progressed into a much more socially acceptable street art culture, which in the United Kingdom started with the ‘great Bristol aerosol boom’ of the late

1980s. Street art is perceived as different from writing and graffiti, as the artists use media such as stencils, stickers, pastes and posters instead of single spray-cans. I am going to explore how simple graffiti writing has developed and created acclaimed artists, as well as being exploited by mass media and the advertising industry. I will also explore the concept of the graffiti subculture and subcultures as a whole, looking at how graffiti has evolved and been absorbed, investigating the Bristol aerosol boom and studying graffiti in my local area. I will be using data I have collected through my own primary research and some secondary sources. I have used a range of techniques

to assess the attitude towards graffiti in specific areas including a constructed survey. I contacted local councils and compiled images of graffiti found in my local area. This, combined with using secondary research from books and journals will enable me to obtain a wider view of graffiti in the world. As a by-product I will study the use of graffiti in advertising, progressing to locating examples and commenting on the specific absorption of graffiti into the commercialized mainstream using key texts such as Sony PlayStation’s PSP Campaign, Disney and the reinvention of Mickey Mouse and Domino’s Pizza reverse graffiti advertising.

Chapte

Graffiti Subculture

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The definition of a subculture is “a group being socially, economically and ethically different which enables it to be distinguished from others within the same culture or society.” Culture represents norms and values in society, by which most people judge behaviour. A subculture is a culture within a culture that has alternative norms and values, which are deemed different from the dominant culture, but are not always classed as deviant. Graffiti can be seen as a subculture within society, but with absorption into that society it can be argued that it is a culture in its own right. In the past, graffiti has generally been considered to be an act of vandalism or criminal damage but it has now evolved into a more acceptable culture of street art. The mainstream is defined as “ideas and activities that are regarded as conventional and the dominant trend in opinion.” It could be argued that graffiti, about which ideas and opinions have changed, is very subjective. Styles of graffiti such as tagging are deemed as vandalism as it is simply writing your name upon other peoples’ property to get your name recognised, and to progress within the hierarchy of the subculture. Stencil graffiti and ‘throw ups’ (larger concept pieces) are much

more significant pieces of ‘art’, which are becoming socially acceptable and protected. These are the types of art that have become adopted into the mainstream and used to promote products and events, subsequently becoming collectors items and appearing in art galleries. Observing the evolution of the graffiti subculture in the modern era we can see changes in artistic styles and textual content, but the structure of the subculture itself has not drastically changed. Interesting changes have surfaced as graffiti has developed into street art, especially in the subject matter. Street art, developing from mindless graffiti, now has much more of a message to convey. Banksy (a contemporary graffiti artist) bases his work around his personal views and opinions on what is happening within the zeitgeist. Because of his dramatic development of graffiti style, he opens new channels of communication for public debate, both social and political. Posters, stencils and more modern tecniques are being used to voice these opinions which have premeditated impact and often an intentional ‘shock’ factor. Although Banksy is a British graffiti artist there is much interplay between the American and British subcultures. There has been a translation of American subculture into British urban spaces over the past few years. As graffiti arose in America through the hip-hop tradition, its particular style soon found its way to Britain. Music

er 1

The Absorption of a Subculture

It could be argued that graffiti, about which ideas and opinions have changed, is very subjective. Styles of graffiti such as tagging are deemed as vandalism as it is simply writing your name upon other peoplesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; property to get your name recognised, and to progress within the hierarchy of the subculture. MacDonald

plays an important part in both countries, as London’s Rock and Roll culture in the 1970s also used graffiti to make specific statements including ‘Clapton is God’. Later, hardcore punk fans, associated with anti-establishment movements, voiced their opinions on the walls of the subways. Urban spaces in Britain today are littered with anti-establishment graffiti and this gives an insight into how minority groups who feel their opinions are not heard are expressing themselves. As graffiti has developed and expanded throughout Britain, various artists, like Banksy, have experimented with different techniques, which has caused styles to evolve into many contrasting genres within the subculture. This is where graffiti develops into street art. Traditionally, graffiti has set techniques: for example, ‘tagging’ is one of the most widespread styles of graffiti as it is the quickest and most basic. It is generally some form of representation of that artist’s name, primarily used to gain recognition by being seen in many places, gaining a widespread reputation for that artist. It can also be used as a signature for larger pieces of work. A ‘throw-up’ is another style of graffiti that is very quick to create. Block layers of paint are created in a specific colour, with letters outlined in a separate colour. Compared to a ‘throw-up’, the ‘wild style’ is a very complex form of graffiti, the letters being blended together and decorated, making the writing very difficult to decipher. As the subculture has developed, street art has evolved and is a lot harder to define; it is very much at the discretion of the artist. However a few common techniques that have become high

I spray the sky fast. Eyes ahead and behind. Looking for cops. Looking for anyone I don’t want to be here. Paint sails and the things that kick in my head scream from can to brick. See this, see this. See me emptied onto a wall. ― Cath Crowley profile are ‘stenciling’, ‘wheat pasting’ (posters), stickers and installations. ‘Stenciling’ is using a sheet of material, on which a desired design has been cut out, so when the ink or paint is applied, it will reproduce the design on the surface beneath. Stencils have become very

complex in recent times with the number of layers increasing to make the designs as detailed as possible. ‘Wheat pasting’

uses a type of glue that can be very cheap and easy to make yourself. This makes it the perfect medium to adhere artwork to walls. It is mainly used to promote gigs but has been adopted by street artists to place their work whether it be posters, political pieces, flyers or big stickers. Sticker art is another form of street art where an image, message or tag is displayed to the public. The main reason for using stickers is that there is a much lower chance of being caught as this is an illegal activity. Whilst ‘tags’ and ‘throw-ups’ have to be drawn, a sticker is easily and quickly applied anywhere. Installations are very modern types of street art, as they are in all spectrums of the art world. They can be as you would find them in art galleries, but in public spaces. It makes people who would not go to galleries aware of the art, and gains more attention in an uncontrolled environment.

Art

vs. Vandalism

The argument based around graffiti; ‘is it art or vandalism?’ has been hotly debated for as long as the general public has seen graffiti on a wide scale. Vandalism can be traced back to its origins by looking in depth at civilizations in the past. Roman soldiers are found to have scratched graffiti into the bricks constructing Hadrian’s Wall and even earlier, the Egyptian Pharaohs ‘decorated’ their tombs in the same way. So although there is historical evidence for graffiti, ‘vandalistic’ graffiti has been in the public eye much more obviously over the last fifty years, when groups adopted graffiti as a means to publicise their opinions. Sociologists developed what’s known

The vast majority of the public consider tagging and political graffiti a million-pound problem that new laws will prevent, but less complaint has been made about gang graffiti which is also given extensive treatment in the media. There is a common preconception that gangs use graffiti solely to mark territory. The many additions to marking boundaries include advertising individual gang members, showing networks between gangs, portraying personal views of gang life and commemorating the dead. Although gangs operate putting their own graffiti in neighborhoods, tagging crews who intend to get their names in the most difficult places can

as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the subcultural theoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, which stated that specific types of behaviors, i.e. vandalism, are more likely to occur in working class areas. Some of these forms of anti-social behavior are explained simply as part of social activities those adolescents take part in. That the majority of adolescent vandals grow up and settle down without becoming hardened criminals shows that delinquency is in most cases merely self-adjustment within the social spectrum.

create tension and often conflict between the two subcultures. Taggers who cross the line and tag on gang territory are seen as defacing property, therefore creating tension occasionally leading to angry outbursts. Having said this, some members of gangs do choose to join tagging crews so that they can be a part of something much less violent.

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As well as the territorial uses of graffiti, as we have seen it is also is a means of political expression with it being an original and unpredictable method of communication. This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always just a wish to send a message, but often turns to the roots of rebellion and a prospect of unanimity within a group. Of course this mode of expression unlike music, poetry or standing on a soapbox is largely illegal. The distinguishing factor between illegal and legal graffiti is that illegal graffiti is mainly on trains, apartment buildings, public toilets and abandoned buildings. Legal graffiti is more like an open exhibition in the street; work is placed in areas picked and decided upon in advance by the Council or business proprietors. This generates an argument as to whether where graffiti is placed (illegal or not) classes it as vandalism. This argument is highly subjective as even though graffiti may be placed legally, people might not appreciate the art behind it, as they would with street art, being a more developed artform. The methods used in the creation of the art show knowledge of colour combinations that create specific aesthetics. It can be argued that the basis of the information

Art vs. Vandalism displayed in the graffiti produced can tell you a lot about the writer. As this is a form of expression, it enables you to identify parts of their life; being their practices or educational background, which in turn can tell you about that specific writer as an individual or give a whole view of their style. To carry out primary research about graffiti in my local area, I conducted various surveys to gather information. This local study took me to different parts of Carlisle and to contact cities that I felt were relevant, either where I originated, or in a close proximity to Carlisle. Putting a survey on social networking sites has shown a vast variety of results from people residing all over the country. The email to councils that I created contained three specific questions about graffiti within their city. The first question asked, was “Within the local authority/council, how do you decide what graffiti is ‘vandalism’ as opposed to pieces with more artistic value?” This question gave the same answer for all councils contacted, as they stated that the specific cities follow the Government’s guidelines on graffiti and therefore do not differentiate between vandalism and street art. Stockport council stated that they do not discriminate between the two but they did go on to say, “… It doesn’t seem like Stockport has a local Banksy or a Keith Haring.” Which poses the question, if they did, would they take care to preserve

The Absorption of a Subculture

that artwork? This email also provided some very informative basic information about graffiti legislation, which is derived from a social theory known as the Broken Window Theory. This theory is the basis of a lot of Local Government policy dealing with environmental crime. The Broken Window Theory is formed from criminology studies concerning norm-setting and the effect of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and antisocial behaviorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The basis of the theory is that if the urban areas are maintained in a cleaner and ordered condition it may stop further vandalism. James Wilson and George Kelling who were Social Scientists originated the theory in a 1982 article. It has been of great debate within the Social Sciences and with the public, and has since been used to motivate a few reforms in criminal policy. According to Wilson and Kelling the key to stopping vandalism is to

resolve problems when they are small. If you repair broken property in a short time, it is believed that vandals are less likely to look at it as a target and therefore do further damage. The theory claims that crime and vandalism will be obstructed at a lower and less serious stage which will then go on to prevent bigger crime. Within Carlisle itself there are various hotspots for graffiti and vandalism as is true with any city. Having lived in Carlisle for four years in various different locations, I have managed to see different types and styles of graffiti from tagging to throwups and community-supported murals. Recently, there have been a few high profile cases of graffiti damage within the city, with the perpetrators being caught and prosecuted. The three men were given a community service order and made to pay a fine after damage was caused to billboards, walls and bridges. Their defending

" counsel told the press that “it was artistic expression… it was a bit of a thrill, a bit of excitement but they won’t be doing it again”. These men were all taggers using the names Biz/R, Daze and Iscarict. There has also been another case like this one; a tagger using ‘Pace’ has been charged for carrying out thirty seven offences in the north of the city. These cases are typical of urban inner-city areas, where writers seek self-publicity possibly out of boredom. However there is a big contrast between this and the other types of graffiti around Carlisle. In the skate park, located near Bitts Park, there are many tags and throwups but you can also see that some street artists go there to do their pieces, maybe so as not to offend the general public and keep their art to a place where graffiti fits into the subculture of street sports such as skateboarding and BMX. There are some big and creative pieces of artwork in this area which I would describe as Street Art as they are generally not trying to convey a message. One piece in particular is a series of twenty-four Nike Dunk trainers. They are repeated in a pattern. This piece was made as a stencil. Because of the format of the lines and block colour it is easier to tell how it was created. The artist is unknown and the piece is open to personal interpretation as there is no slogan or tagline to explain the visual impact. I think that you could draw many interpretations from the piece such as commercialization and the mass-produced, exploitative fashion we are all exposed to. This piece has such a visual impact whether you choose to analyze it or not, it speaks volumes. All of this urban graffiti is quite a contrast to the final type that can be found in Carlisle. The last piece that I am going to look at is the mural in the underpass in Hardwick Circus. [FIG 3&4] This is a community driven piece of art involving children and teenagers from the surrounding area making their mark on Carlisle in a positive way. There are a few different themes that carry throughout including music and different flags from around the world. The mural is a much more organized

I can remember the early arguments against Warhol were that it’s not even art– it’s just him reproducing household items–mundane items–and movie stills. Shepard Fairey

production and many people feel that it adds brightness and an interesting factor to the darker areas of the roundabout. This type of street art is very positive as it gives the younger generation a structured outlet for their opinions, but it also confines them to one choice; conforming in terms of both location and artistic content. This being so, the individual’s street art therefore has much more of a voice. Compiling the results from the survey I created and published on various social networking sites, I have seen a vast difference in peoples’ opinions and found that this subject area is very subjective. However there was consensus in some cases. I asked if the people taking the survey thought that street art and graffiti was the same thing, in answer to this 85% of people talking the survey believed they weren’t the same and therefore to me,

The Absorption of a Subculture

this means they have, at least some, knowledge of the subject matter. Also, surprisingly, 97% of people liked street art and the majority of these people thought of it as a positive art form providing opinions such as “when it is in the ‘right’ place and is ‘good’ ” and “street art is a positive art form, but I would find graffiti to be in a whole other section and honestly most of it is vandalism”. With the people taking my survey ranging from Lisbon and Birmingham to Carlisle and Manchester, there was quite a lot of data both inside the UK and elsewhere. I asked specifically what types of graffiti are found around these cities, with responses such as “In the Northern Quarter of Manchester, there are countless pieces of street art, mainly huge airbrushed/ stenciled works of art. They cover a lot of shop/café shutters, so it appears street artists have been intentionally hired to create pieces of promotional design while the shop is closed and its shutters down”. And interestingly; “There are all of the Belfast murals, which I suppose could be classed as street art. They are

now a major tourist attraction, and a reminder of historical (and still current) issues in Ulster. There are also decorative works around some of the disused shops - which is more appealing than looking at the empty/ smashed shop fronts.” These responses show that there are many different types of graffiti within cities all over the world and it is not isolated to any one country. Both street art and graffiti can now be used as a form of design, as stated above, for shops to advertise and as creative promotional materials. Possibly shop owners feel that it is a better way to connect with the rest of their customer base than simply sending out flyers. This way the potential clients may see a piece of memorable creative art, be intrigued, and remember it providing business for that specific shop.

TAg

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from people on the street within a local community; fame and respect are the currency. When you start off at the bottom of the hierarchy you are the clichéd ‘nobody’, the more you get out and write graffiti the more you work your way up and become a figurehead, someone that is admired. This makes graffiti more of a ‘moral career’. Goffman describes it as a range of changes “in the person’s self and in his framework of imagery for judging himself and others”. Following from this Harre presents the moral career path as the public’s admiration and respect for their life’s work. The subculture is fully willing to help graffiti writers achieve their goal of becoming someone respected and with strong artistic flair. It takes endurance and hard graft; you need a good work ethic and

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The Hierarchy of a Subculture We can see that graffiti and street art are part of a growing worldwide subculture. How does the hierarchy of this subculture work and is it a deviant career? “Deviant and respectable careers display very different characteristics. Deviant careers are less likely to develop within a well-defined organizational hierarchy and they are less likely to follow standard career paths leading upward. Reward and security are less likely to increase as the deviant career continues and career progression is less often public. Finally, deviant careers are more likely to feature multiple shortterm involvements.” Best and Luckenbill

demonstrate in this quote that there is a clear refinement of characteristics when looking at deviant and non-deviant careers. Deviant and non-deviant can be explained as two clear paths. Being non-deviant is working towards a goal confined within what is acceptable in society as is expected of you, whereas deviant is diverging from what is socially acceptable, sometimes acting against the law in order to achieve self-gain. When looking through the characteristics for both types of career it is obvious that they do not share many of the same traits. However when examined closely you can see that they both conform to a power-

based hierarchy. The majority of graffiti writers typically start at a young age. In their teens, whilst still at school, they would concentrate on drawing graffiti in textbooks and drawing as much as possible. Within schools there are specific social groups dependent on your particular interest. Being a graffiti writer at this early age would include you in a group and you would adopt this as a lifestyle choice, not necessarily with thoughts of it leading to a career. Being a graffiti writer is problematic, as it doesn’t offer a great deal in terms of financial gain, hence the career is often short lived. The point of graffiti writing is to gain respect

The Absorption of a Subculture

can’t be slack in the way that you go about having a graffiti writing career. In this sense, it is like a job. You have to treat being a graffiti writer and in the same way that you would if you wanted to be a doctor. Graffiti writers face the same determination and trials that anyone does when they want to succeed. The difference with graffiti is that you have to put a lot more time in to it. Many graffiti writers combine a deviant and non-deviant career together within their life. This creates a very demanding and exhausting lifestyle as graffiti writer Acrid explains: “When I was doing six or seven hours work in an office, there’d be times when I’d do all three nights in a row. During my lunch hour I’d plan the pieces (large graffiti productions), finish work at six, go to the shops straight after work to steal my paint… I’d have some dinner, leave my house at half ten, get to the train depot at 12am, go in at two, finish at four, won’t get home til’ six or seven, then go to work. I did that for a bout three days in a row and like, come Friday, I was asleep at work on my desk”. This account of a week in a graffiti writer’s life proves the commitment that they have to their chosen lifestyle. The

Collaberation Nation

BRISTOL POP-UP SHOP BLACK FRIARS

STARTED BY BRISTOL BASED SPZERO76 COLLABORATING WITH HIS FAVOURITE ARTIST’S

graffiti subculture has a basic status structure for placing people, with highly soughtafter rewards. At the start of their career path as writers they set out with their own tag, like a personal logo, which they aim to write as much as they can . This gives as

http://www.collabi nternational.com http://twitter.com /Collab_Nation

much publicity as posters at bus stops on the journey to school and work. Instead of the tags disappearing into the background, some stand out and become familiar to passers-by. In the recognition of the tags, newer writers see the point of being in the subculture – the fame of it. They also progress to see the challenge of it; other people’s abilities spur the writers on to get better as they can see how the best have got to where they are. Some tags can be used out of respect for another writer, if the police have caught them or they have died, putting their name up as a mark of respect which can be common. In doing this, the writer keeps the fame and publicity. Also to avoid being caught, highly ‘active’ illegal writers have more than one name, so that if the police are looking for a specific one, they can use another and not have as much pressure.

and maintains the new writer’s ego, so that when they feel ready their public identity is ready for their debut. A clear switch from private to public art is made. Illegal writing is the natural starting point, as illegal work is what we see around us; inspiring new writers. The rush of adrenaline and playing a part in an illegal activity is attractive to many. Proud 2 explains his opinion of the pulling nature: “Unless your goals are illegal when you start, you would never do graffiti. If your goals were legal, you would go to an art school and be a brilliant illustrator or a brilliant artist. It all started in our adolescence, we were all pursuing the same sort of goal, be it on walls or trains, to

destroy.” Proud 2’s opinion is that the attraction of graffiti is down to destructive desires to cause disruption. Whatever gives the motivation to do illegal acts; this type of gratification cannot be found in the legal workplace. The illegality of the

Within the graffiti subculture, style is everything. The way you write, the letterforms and shapes, the colours and flow all contribute to your ‘style’. Others within the subculture judge you based on this, and you must have had lots of practice before you debut on an actual wall, as you would not get taken seriously if there was no potential or style. Practising skills on paper at home is where most writers start out. This reduces the risk of humiliation

new writer’s career aids them in learning the tools of their trade. Having a very good understanding and style with these tools means the writers can, if they so desire, move into the world of legal work. It is not always the case but graffiti writing can provide the pathway if desired. Making a name for yourself can be done in three main graffiti forms. Using the tag (as discussed before), the ‘throw-up’ or the ‘piece’. These provide the stem of a graffiti artist’s career. You cannot walk in to a shop and expect to go from the bottom of the chain to a manager within a day; it takes time and effort through which you need to learn everything along the way. These graffiti forms are the organic start

The Absorption of a Subculture

to anything that follows, and many writers who amount to bigger things feel the need to go back occasionally and do some work on trains or walls where they started. As a new writer you tend to be

judged on the quantity of times you get your name up; the more names, the more respect. From the tag it gets bigger with more experimentation into different forms of graffiti being used. A high majority of writers use trains as the main platform of work, as these move around the country providing a much bigger audience. This does provide many difficulties and often involves going into train yards at the dead of night to avoid being arrested, armed solely with a spray can. The subculture itself can be compared to a secret society, it is a group that enables diversity of opinion, but it is not a happily consolidated group. Because many of the writers wish to keep their real identities out of the public eye, putting the subculture in the spotlight means there is a reluctance for people to talk about graffiti outside of the subculture. To the converted legal writers, graffiti is all about developing techniques and the same illegal practices but in an art form. Many legal writers try to persuade illegal ones to change their career path and spell out to them that you cannot beat the system and are always going to get caught sooner or later. Tension is created therefore between legal and illegal writers, and in the public eye between what is seen as vandalism and what is seen as art. One graffiti artist that has made the complete transformation from illegal graffiti writer to acclaimed street artist is Banksy. Banksy is a graffiti artist, film director, political activist and painter from Bristol. His career can be seen as deviant as he continually walks the narrow line between legal and illegal artwork. He started his career like many new writers do, with ‘freehand’ work as one of Bristol ‘DryBreadZ crew’. Out of this crew his work became part of the much bigger underground scene in Bristol, with other writers

such as Nick Walker and 3D. As well as discovering the ‘freehand’ style, Banksy experimented with stencils as elements of his pieces from the beginning, and coming out of the underground scene, he turned to stenciling as it takes much less time to create a piece. By applying this technique, his art became renowned around Bristol and London as it was different, and stood out from the rest. His stencils are usually there to portray a message, whether it is anti-war, anti-capitalist or anti-establishment. They usually contain striking and humorous imagery with a slogan. After doing pieces all over various cities in the UK and abroad, Banksy came into the spotlight fully in 2002 with his second exhibition called ‘Turf war’. He controversially painted on animals in the exhibition, which gave the press a field day covering the animal rights perspective. This controversy made sure that everyone was talking about his work. Many auction houses got hold of original pieces and started selling the work with celebrities such as Christine Aguilera and Kate Moss paying over £50,000 for certain pieces. A journalist called Max Foster created the phrase ‘the Banksy Effect’ to show how the interest in his work had made street art from other artists more valuable. During Banksy’s progression through the street art world another artist and filmmaker, Mr. Brainwash, made documentary films recording everything he saw. He met Banksy who allowed him to document his work. Banksy used this footage to create the movie; ‘Exit Through The Gift Shop’ which was released in the Sundance Film Festival in Utah in 2010, with great success. There are many opinions about Banksy both from the public and members of the graffiti subculture. There are the public’s critical views of vandalism, as with any graffiti, and on the other hand admiration for his genius and outspoken views. However, those within the graffiti subculture generally see him as ‘selling out’: he took his roots as a deviant graffiti writer and progressed into a mainstream graffiti artist. He is careful not to offend the graffiti community however saying: “I’m not so interested in convincing people in the art world that what I do is ‘art’, I’m more bothered in convincing people in the graffiti community that what I do is really vandalism”. So once again he is walking a very fine line between deviancy and acceptability much like the artform itself.

Absorb

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As graffiti has evolved and become more accepted into society, this has been shown in many ways especially through forms of advertisement. Another graffiti artist who shows absorption into society is Shepard Fairey. He is a world-renowned graffiti artist who used repetition of one image and one word to create an impact through his work. Expanding from being a street artist he has been catapulted into the limelight and become very much a part of the mainstream in today’s society just like Banksy. Fairey intentionally didn’t have a message behind his graffiti, it was meant to mimic advertising campaigns by utilising repetition much like Andy Warhol before him. He started out using the wheat paste technique to enable him to get his pieces up quickly and without being caught. From this starting point, he has progressed into a

mainstream designer with his ‘Obey” message becoming a brand. The brand sells items of clothing and artwork, and shows how lucrative the industry can be if you hit the right market. The most famous and recognized piece of Fairey’s work in recent years is the poster he designed which was used in the Obama election campaign. The poster itself was

The Absorption of a Subculture

a Che Guevara essence piece and it has become much sought-after as an iconic piece of imagery for the era. It is quite remarkable that these artists, once deviant and illegal graffiti writers, have had such an impact on today’s society. Many high profile companies including Domino’s Pizza, Sony Playstation, Disney and IBM have recognized that graffiti and street art have a place in today’s society. They have, each in their own way, tried to embrace this to attract specifically attract young adolescents as a target market. Some of their campaigns have worked very successfully and others have incurred massive clean-up costs for the companies. Graffiti advertising can be legal and when so, is unique and an effective way of capturing an audience with outdoor campaigns alongside TV, Radio and magazines. Legal graffiti advertising is generally done by leasing a wall from the proprietors and then employing a graffiti artist to create a piece of work which incorporates the company’s logo or message. This is similar to the way billboard advertising works with the

lease of a wall, but with the work being spray-painted straight onto the wall and the graffiti artist creating the individual pieces. Often the advertising venues can evolve into the venues for the actual events themselves. Graffiti advertising is generally used in promoting consumer products and entertainment because those are particularly aimed at a youthful market. It is often used when the specific product that is being promoted is linked to the graffiti culture in general. Many think graffiti is a cheap way to advertise but it is actually a lot more expensive that you would think, because companies have to utilise legal graffiti. It

BANKSY costs thousands to lease the advertising space, and then create a general buzz and awareness amongst the graffiti community and then organise the actual event. If the public can see the piece being created, stick around to watch, film on mobile phones and circulate the advert themselves it is more of an attraction. Two examples of creating a sucessful graffiti advertising campaign are Sony with their PSP and Disney’s Mickey Mouse. I am going to use these examples as they contrast in how one was successful and the other was not, and they cross over in the way they treated the artists. Sony decided that when creating their campaign for the new PSP games console, they wanted to appeal to a younger market, with strict instructions for the graffiti artists to draw wide-eyed children playing with the latest console. This attempt at graffiti advertising was not successful at all. They were considered to be ‘stealth ads’ within the graffiti culture and subsequently many of the adverts were defaced as can be seen in with such words as “stop hawking corporate products and big business on our neighborhood walls” alongside them. The other campaign with Disney was much more open to the artists’ creative input. The idea behind the campaign was to bring Mickey Mouse back into popular culture. Disney, instead of telling the graffiti artists what to do, invited them to create images of what they liked, and many chose to create black and white images from original Mickey Mouse movies. Because of the freedom

of expression this campaign was massively successful and many people did not know if it was actually a campaign or just street art. These two companies show through their mistakes and successes that it is very important to let creativity take its course, because if the work is accepted by the graffiti subculture it is likely to work very well. When pieces of graffiti make their way out of the underground they are judged and perceived in very different lights. As graffiti advertising becomes more popular, other companies are starting to develop other ways of getting involved in the market. Domino’s Pizza utilised a form of ‘reverse graffiti’. By using detergent on grimy walls and streets, years of filth are washed away with a stencil. The advert is clearly displayed on the cleaned surface. This is very popular as it is not illegal and you do not need permits, it is simply cleaning. Domino’s used this form of advertisement, as it was “carbon-negative, sustainable advertising”. However, IBM tried to use graffiti advertising to promote their new Linux operating system. Their campaign was nine symbols that were applied in what was meant to be washable paint. The paint did not come off as quickly as intended, and therefore was gathering negative attention from newspapers and television crews everywhere. However it could be said that any publicity is good publicity.

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Having explored the changing attitudes to graffiti within mainstream society using not only my own primary research, but also examples from the advertising industry, I have discovered that the absorption of the graffiti subculture into mainstream artistic culture is significant. Large corporations, major art galleries and collectors all consider this artform to be a legitimate means of expression. What was seen as a deviant, vandalistic and illegal subculture has been transformed into big business. Graffiti artists such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey demonstrate a clear progression from graffiti writer and vandal to icon in the artistic world. What has not changed is the voice behind this form of expression, which still embraces counter-cultural values and an alternative way of looking at society. This voice will always appeal to the young and disaffected which is why companies who aim for the teenage market have pulled graffiti into the mainstream. The way that this subculture is becoming intertwined with popular culture enables more people to feel able to artistically express themselves without always conforming to the seen societal ‘norms’. Having said this, this individuality has now been exploited by big business and everyone is out to make money. Fairey is the prime example of this, using his ‘OBEY’ campaign catching people’s imagination, mass producing clothing and artwork on a wide scale. This shows that even when trying to mimic something to criticise it, you can end up being ironically similar to what you are trying to criticise. In this way society will always partially absorb subcultures, as there is always an opportunity for the niche culture to be marketed, however deviant it may seem when it first emerges. The graffiti art world’s evolution into mainstream society is just a natural course of progression towards the marketplace.

Some people represent authority without ever possessing any of their own. Banksy

Street Art integration

The Absorption of a Subculture

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