<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Public language: graffiti and public signage

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Unit 2: Site B Public language: graffiti and public signage

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Site B
Popular Music - songs that saved my life
Retail Therapy

Public language; graffiti and public signage

Articles on public language topic
Ghetto Art
Flickr - Luna Park - encyclopaedic collection of street art and graffiti

Site A

Language and Personal Identity
Good Taste/Bad Taste
Body Image/Self Esteem

 

 

 

  

INTRODUCTION

Remember, this is part of the Unit 2 coursework section of your AS Level. There are hints about coursework further down the page.

Graffiti Artists - Banksy
Highway and Road signs
Other examples of public signs
Public language - propaganda posters
Hints on research for your coursework on this topic

Graffiti and signage - what does this include?

Writing on walls is the oldest form of self expression - the cave dwellers did it thousands of years ago. Nowadays we have street signs, lights, cinema, theatre billboards and advertising among others making up a permanent display of messages. Cities, in particular, are full of markers of identity and collective meaning. A 'tag' like the pink and white graffiti below, marks out territory in a collective space - it says 'this space is my space'. State or county markers tell the viewer that this territory has different customs, accents and identities. Tourist information signs communicate our collective past.

Graffiti pink taggingAleinn nevadaNevadaTourist inf0Las Vegas lights

Look at the images above - which do you consider to be art? Which is just public communication? Which is vandalism?

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Graffiti Artists - Banksy

What is graffiti? Is it just art in the wrong place? Does the space or context determine the value we put on things?

Anvari - Banksy art

 

Banksy is a world renowned, London-based graffiti artist whose artwork is often political and/or humorous in nature. Although he has tried to hide his identity, his real name, according to The Guardian , is Robert Banks [1] , born in 1974 [2] in Bristol , England . His artwork has appeared throughout London and various cities around the world. His street art , which combines graffiti with a distinctive stencilling technique, has garnered him underground notoriety and widespread coverage in the mainstream media.

 

 

 

 

Is Banksy's work art or criminal damage and shamelessly derivative of other's work?

Discuss this with others on your course, either in class or on a forum/discussion board on your college VLE. Use some of the cards below, with opinions and information about Banksy and his art, to help you. Create a chart - for and against - one side for the idea that Banksy's work is art and the other for the idea that it is just ripping off other people's work. See a sample chart for some other students opinions - click here

Text Box: Quote 1 The elephant, blending into the background, is meant to represent the big issues in life, such as poverty, that some people choose to ignore Quote 2 The exhibit that features giant cockroaches clambering over photos of a scantily clad Paris Hilton along with copies of her CD. The display features a graffiti style message, Thou Shalt Not Worship False Icons. Earlier this month Banksy smuggled 500 alternative versions of the heiress's album into record shops in the UK . Quote 3 I just love his approach and his style and his wit, said Mr Bentley. It's really very simple and profound at the same time, that's what is clever about it. In a very public arena you can take away something really significant. Quote 4 Here's a mystery for you. Renegade urban graffiti artist Banksy is clearly a guffhead of massive proportions, yet he's often feted as a genius straddling the bleeding edge of now. Why? Because his work looks dazzlingly clever to idiots. And apparently that'll do. Quote 5 Banksy is a shining example to all PRs who understands that the media is his canvas to use as he sees fit to connect with a global audience. I love the artist Banksy ; a intellect that has rejuvenated the art of the stuntster, expressing that content and action fused together with social comment, can generate billions of words. Quote 6 Banksy's sensibility is to warp and excite, using his art to connect to a global audience. Why bother with cumbersome galleries and the art cliques that exist which have a history of hindrance that many have found impossible to penetrate? The gate-keepers often prove to be arrogant halfwits who are really estate agents in mufty. Quote 7 People who state that cleaning up graffiti represents an imposition of a cultural view are right (The writing on the wall, G2, March 24). So do laws against theft, murder and rape. In an anarchic society it might be acceptable to allow everyone to do their own thing with no regard to others. In a liberal society the presumption is that we allow people to do what they want, but we also accept that it is legitimate to curtail their activities when they have unacceptable consequences for others. The impact of graffiti on neighbourhoods is unambiguously damaging. Quote 8 By hijacking the established system of art exhibition, Banksy is drawing attention to its shortcomings. Art's the last of the great cartels, he contends. A handful of people make it, a handful buy it, and a handful show it. But the millions of people who go look at it don't have a say.

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Highway and Road Signs

Look at my collection of American road signs below. You could make a similar, photographic collection for your Unit 2 investigative coursework - see hints below.

What is the purpose of each sign? What is the context of each sign? How is the message transmitted? How can you tell these are not British road signs?

Read this article on the BBC website about road signs - What makes a good road sign? and one on the cultural significance of the London Underground symbol.

Arizona signsET Highway signNevada border sigCalifornia border

Route 66One wayTourist info signLittle Aleinn

Look at the three images below - they are also examples of public 'art' or signage. Where do you think these pieces of art were found? What is the message we are supposed to gain from them?

Fresco Italian abbeyLas Vegas street

Coke bottle, Las vegas

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Hints for Unit 2 Coursework

You have to produce two 'readings' for your coursework. For your second, wider investigation or reading (1000 words) you can choose from these three topics:

The AQA specification states that 'candidates should collate material from appropriate secondary sources and integrate this with
material drawn from their own direct observation'

Your 'direct observation' could include your photos of various kinds of graffiti or public signage, and secondary sources means research and reading you have done about the social and cultural significance of this kind of communication. You could include your visual material (photos etc) in your presentation (the second part of this unit) as well.

Your 'secondary sources' could include academic texts but also newspapers and magazines, websites, film, radio, television and 'the testimonies of others'. This means you could interview people about their feelings are reactions to graffiti, public art and murals, billboards etc.

You will be expected to use the knowledge you have learnt in Unit 1 (semiotics etc) to analyse and interpret the examples of public art, signage and language you chose to focus on.

Some ideas:

  1. Murals and commissioned art on public buildings - what effect do they have on the people of an area? What do they mean to them? Why were they commissioned?*
    This might include you interviewing people about their feelings about the murals - do they like them, notice them, hate them?
  2. Graffiti - an examination of tagging - who does it, where do they do it, why do they do it? How does it form part of that individual's identity and the identity of an area?*
  3. Shop signs and brands - how do they affect the identity of town centres (click here for article)? Do they deprive towns of their individual identity?
  4. Billboards and hoardings - official and unofficial - what are the differences between official billboards and 'fly posting'? Why do councils hate fly posting of band and gig posters? Why do people still do it? Is it subversive like graffiti?

*Use Flickr to research Street Art of all kinds - loads of good pages - start here You will need to sign up first, to access photo collections in Flickr. Luna Park's pages have a huge collection of every conceivable type of street art - take a look.

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