Digital Territories: The Act of Graffiti

Statement of intent: Graffiti has been selected as it is heavily invested throughout the site. Texture and public exposure will be analysed in order to determine the location of tagging, marking ones territory on the site. Experiments will be generated through principles and methods discussed in research material on the topic such as Exit Through The Gift Shop, Fadings Graffiti to Design, Graffiti-Architecture-Theory and a number of theses surrounding the topic at hand. It is intended that the act of creating graffiti on the site and its potential to imprint one spatial atmosphere on another will be explored. These principles will then be further abstracted before imposing the act of generating graffiti as a superimposed image back onto the site as the occupier begins to take ownership of the site.

leftbank Site Analysis

Leftbank has always been a local hot spot for graffiti artists. The Alleyway between Leftbank and Ghuznee St, referred to as ‘graffiti alley’, was closed off indefinitely prior to the Rugby World Cup due to the frustration of the City Council and neighbouring building owners alike towards the graffiti. This action has altered the way in which the site is used and has caused for these artists to look further a field with many deciding to tag the rest of Leftbank as a rebellious measure.

The site itself is run down, dark and dirty. Graffiti artists and taggers alike have covered the site in artwork, most of which goes unnoticed until a user stops. As a result of the overwhelming amount of graffiti in the site i have chosen to explore its relationship to architecture, especially that surrounding the creation of the artwork.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Graffiti Removal Experimentation with the Content Aware tool on Photoshop in order to Remove Graffiti Digitally

Graffiti de-architectualises an environment by the declaration of public ownership. It blurs the graphic boundary between public and private. Wellington CIty Council Currently spends over $100,000 a year removing graffiti from the City. Graffiti, Post-ups and tagging can be found throughout the Leftbank Site. This first experiment aimed to digitally remove selected sections of the unsightly graffiti using Photoshop’s new Content Aware tool. The result caused for one applied spatial atmosphere to be removed, the graffiti, to be replaced by a successful and sometimes failed spatial atmosphere generated through Photoshop’s algorithm.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Marking Your Territory Analysing How I Mark my Own Territory at my Flat

Overlaying the Markings of Individual Territories in the Site

According to Graffiti-Architecture-Theory (2011), graffiti is commonly used to mark ones territory on a given site as an act of disobedience rather than an act of violence.

Living on Rolleston St in Mt Cook, I am constantly surrounded by taggings or ‘markings of territory’, a number of taggers have even graffitied my flat and fence. I have analysed how my ownership of the flat has been enforced through increasing the mark of territory through the inclusion of elements such as a large gate in order to detract from these taggers claiming ownership of a space which does not belong to them. Retail and restaurant owners have applied similar methods to increase their claim of ownership in the Leftbank site, overlaying of these individual territories from multiple view points has allowed for a blurred spatial boundary or territory to be extracted.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

The Act of Making Graffiti Analysis of the Movements involved in the Act of Creating Graffiti

Superimposing one Spatial Atmosphere upon another Spatial Atmosphere

This analysis focussed on primarily on the act of creating graffiti on a site. Quick shutter speed was used to capture the movements of an artist simulating the act of graffiting a site. These movements were then overlayed and superimposed into a single form where the boundaries of the artists body are undefined creating a sense of ambiguity and anonymousness. This act has then been superimposed back onto the architecture from which it aimed to disrupt in order to review and analyse the actions involved in the creation of graffiti as a piece of architecture, rather than simply the graffiti from which the artist has created.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Natural Selection through Texture Experimentation with Displacement Maps to Analyse the Textures of the Commonly Graffitied Walls

Large Red Concrete Wall at The Cuba St End of Leftbank

Varied Black Concrete Walls at the Rear of Leftbank in the Covered Service Area

After reviewing “Exit Through the Gift Shop” (2010) a Banksy film, one quote in particular stood out; “I choose a wall because I like it, I like the way it feels, its colour, its texture” This spurred further research into why particular walls or surfaces had been selected for graffiting. Displacement maps were used to experiment with the textural qualities of the major graffiti walls. It was discovered that artists primarily use flat painted walls with minimal texture as apposed to rough textured walls for the ease in spray painting their message to the masses.

Displacing Aspects of the Site Upon Tagged Walls

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Difference in Inhabitation Overlaying Videos of Three Different Users of the Space to Extract New Spatial Relationships form Site

Screen-shots from Superimposed Video

This experiment overlayed three different people using the Leftbank site in three different ways, walking, stopping to rest and graffiting before running through the site. The video is rather difficult to watch as your focus is constantly shifting from one user to another. These screen shots capture accurately what the experiment was attempting to achieve, the superimpositions of one user of the space on to another.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Superimposing Artists onto Architecture Superimposing the Human Form of both Artists and Users onto the Surrounding Architecture

Service Area: Minimal Public Surveillance

Leftbank Stairs Area: Large amount of Exposure

By combining elements of the previous experiment with elements of the earlier artists form experiments, this experiment focussed on the act of creating graffiti in key graffiti areas of the leftbank site overlayed with the everyday use of the same site. The artists forms in black and the users form in white generate interesting geometry allowing for further extraction of the interaction of conflicting territories between the everyday user and the mischievous tagger.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Superimposing Artists onto Architecture Manipulation of Superimposed Image Extracting and Abstracting new Territories and Spatial Relationships

Experimentation with Luminosity and Colour Alteration

Extracting Territories of Superimposed Human Form

Experimentation with Colour and Overlapping Layers

Imagery resulting from the previous experiment has been heavily manipulated in order to begin to extract the desired territory. The colours of the images have been adjusted to match that of the most frequent graffiti in the site in order to draw closer relation between the artist and their creation. Selected territories of the superimposed human form of the two graffiti artists and the sites users have been extracted, reapplied to the site and then removed again to create a flat surface from what was once a complicated 3D form. This surface can then be used to generate a stencil for further manipulation

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Superimposing Artists onto Architecture Manipulation of Superimposed Image Extracting and Abstracting new Territories and Spatial Relationships

Experimentation with Luminosity and Colour Alteration

Extracting Territories of Superimposed Human Form

Imagery resulting from the previous experiment has been heavily manipulated in order to begin to extract the desired territory. The colours of the images have been adjusted to match that of the most frequent graffiti in the site in order to draw closer relation between the artist and their creation. Selected territories of the superimposed human form of the two graffiti artists and the sites users have been extracted, reapplied to the site and then removed again to create a flat surface from what was once a complicated 3D form. This surface can then be used to generate a stencil for further manipulation

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Superimposing Artists onto Architecture Manipulation of Superimposed Image Extracting and Abstracting new Territories and Spatial Relationships

Experimentation with Luminosity and Colour Alteration

Extracting Territories of Superimposed Human Form

In order to produce a series upon which to experiment, further images of an artist graffiting the front of Leftbank were taken at night allowing for a variety of locations and types of spaces to be analysed. The colours of the images have been adjusted to match that of the most frequent graffiti in the site in order to draw closer relation between the artist and their creation. Selected territories of the superimposed human form of the two graffiti artists and the sites users have been extracted, reapplied to the site and then removed again to create a flat surface from what was once a complicated 3D form. This surface can then be used to generate a stencil for further manipulation

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Caught In The Act Documenting two Artists Graffitiing the Roller Door of Jala’s Dairy, Wallace St

Comparing Graffiti in the Site with the complex Street Art of Wellington

Graffiti and Tagging found throughout Leftbank

Examples of Wellington Street Art:

Sourced from http://flickeflu.com/groups/94148461@N00

After analysing the act of graffiting a site from a simulated viewpoint i felt it was important to actually capture a real graffiti artist tagging a building of wall. After a number of unsuccessful attempts by fluke I ran across two young design students tagging Jala’s Dairy at the bottom of my street. The pair wanted to create something cool where passers by could see it. They were not worried about getting caught as they have created a number of pieces before throughout Wellington’s CBD. After talking to the artists I then hid in the trees opposite Massey University in an attempt to document their process further, the results were not as successful as first intended.

Through comparing the graffiti found in Leftbank to that found throughout Wellington, the tagging in Leftbank is nothing more than that, tagging. Unlike Wellington street art for which popularity is continuing to grow, tagging such as that found in Leftbank adds little more to a space than simply a scribble of a name on a wall. It does not provide added depth, or a further spatial atmosphere, it simply diminishes, disrupts and decays the existing space in which it is created.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Abstraction of the Act of Graffiti Experimentation through Spray Painting Different Mediums to further Abstract the Territories Created through the Act of Graffitiing the Site

Leftbank Stairs Area

Service Area

Constructing stencils out of each of the abstracted territories of each space, spray painting of the design onto a variety of mediums was used as a more literal abstraction of the act of graffiti. From an artistic view point the results as very interesting, especially those where the stencil have been deliberately elevated in order to disperse paint randomly creating a sense of ambiguity in spatial relationships in the attempted removal of constructed boundaries. From an architectural perspective, the experiment simply applies an abstracted surface of paint to another flat surface.

Front of Leftbank at Night

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Graffiti A Method of Corrosion Corroding Polystyrene With the Created Abstracted Territory

Leftbank Stairs Area

Service Area

Corroding Goldfoam With the Created Abstracted Territory

Front of Leftbank at Night

Leftbank Stairs Area

Service Area

After comparing the graffiti in Leftbank to that of the greater Wellington CBD it was discovered that the graffiti in the site does little more than disrupt and decay the existing spatial atmosphere of the site. Applying this though process to the most recent spray painting experiment has resulted in the corrosion or decay of polystyrene, based off the nondurable materials found in the site, when the spray paint is applied in a logical and deliberate manner. This process was then repeated with the denser Goldfoam.

The result is a series of interesting corroded forms symbolising the scarring of the site through the act of graffiti, carving deeper into the foam in main areas of the space, the models are beginning of more architectural experimentation of the earlier extracted territories of each space.

Front of Leftbank at Night

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Graffiti Artist’s Movement Models

Leftbank Stairs Area

Service Area

As a method of experimenting with the act of creating graffiti in a physical medium, spray foam has been used to represent the motions, time and occupation of site in a single form. The interweaving of these strands creates an unusual form especially when lit from below. As a quick and simple experiment with a physical material the experiment was reasonably successful allowing for an alternative view to my previous results to be generated.

Front of Leftbank at Night

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Abstracting Models Into a Spatial Tag Creating Potential Graffiti from the Abstracted Artist Movement Models

Leftbank Stairs Area

Front of Leftbank at Night

Service Area

This experiment was similar in its objective to the previous experiment of spray painting the abstracted territories, although this process approaches each of the three spatial models from a digital ‘tag’ perspective. The goal was to generate a recognisable logo or mark which could be applied to a site to express aspects of how that site has been previously used or inhabited. Essentially constructing a graffiti concept out of the abstracted methods of generating graffiti on the site.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Owner Vs Occupier Negotiation Models Experimenting With the Negotiation Between the User Graffiting the Site and the Owner Unconsciously Painting Over it in a Repeating Cycle

Negotiation Experiment Model One

Negotiation Experiment Model Two

Graffiti in Leftbank is a common “Owner vs Occupier� problem where a user wants to express themselves in the public domain and the owner of the site such as the building owner or the council wants to keep the space clean and free of Graffiti. What results is a constant battle between the owner and the occupier with a constant layering of paint upon paint. Usually an owner will cover up graffiti very roughly with a completely different colour to the existing wall, resulting in a worst aesthetic than that created by the tagger. These models have been constructed from the front of site night site where the owner has attempted and failed to remove the large bid post up.

These models explore the conflicting relationships between the graffiti artist expressing himself on the site, the spray foam, and the owner constantly trying to remove their work through the use of further paint or harsh chemicals such as turpentine which has been used to decay and collapse the expressive form of the artist.

The resulting forms are rather disgusting, until they are place under light and the intricate relationships between the two materials and the two parties begin to shine through. These models provide an interesting organic architectural perspective which could easily be continued into project two.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Owner Vs Occupier Negotiation Models Experimenting With the Negotiation Between the User Graffiting the Site and the Owner Unconsciously Painting Over it in a Repeating Cycle

Negotiation Experiment Model Three

Negotiation Experiment Model Four

Graffiti in Leftbank is a common “Owner vs Occupier� problem where a user wants to express themselves in the public domain and the owner of the site such as the building owner or the council wants to keep the space clean and free of Graffiti. What results is a constant battle between the owner and the occupier with a constant layering of paint upon paint. Usually an owner will cover up graffiti very roughly with a completely different colour to the existing wall, resulting in a worst aesthetic than that created by the tagger. These models have been constructed from the front of site night site where the owner has attempted and failed to remove the large bid post up.

These models explore the conflicting relationships between the graffiti artist expressing himself on the site, the spray foam, and the owner constantly trying to remove their work through the use of further paint or harsh chemicals such as turpentine which has been used to decay and collapse the expressive form of the artist.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories

Displacement Maps Digitally Modelling these Abstract Negotiations of Space or the Ownerships of Space

Manipulated Map of Displacement One

Manipulated Map of Displacement Two

Manipulated Map of Displacement Three

Displacement Map One

Displacement Map Two

Displacement Map Three

This experiment is by no means the final approach to this project, it is simply the next logical step in which to continue this design process. Selected images created from the negation models have been heavily manipulated and modified in order to create the desired effects once imported into 3ds Max as a displacement map. The forms have been deliberately generated to show the comparison between the unsightly graffiti on the site and the poor attempts to cover them up, resulting in a form which communicates the scarring of a building surface through tagging and then a unattractive covering layer of paint upon the buildings surface.

This process provides a clear progression and desired concept for further exploration in the next project.

Michael Hatch 300168368 ARCI 411: Assignment One Digital Territories