I created this video for the Visualise Your Thesis competition at Westerns Sydney University in August 2020. The aim of the competition is to create a one minute video explaining your research.
Enjoy…and feel free to send me any feedback.
Category: Research
Street art: commentary on society or a reflection of society
Street art as a megaphone
Street art is a visual megaphone for ideas, thoughts, commentary and information. While artists have always acted as a mirror to society’s big questions, what makes this art form unique is that it is a voice in public space.
It is also a medium that can work in ‘real time.’ For example, a piece by Australian artist, Scott Marsh, appeared in Chippendale Sydney recently. This artwork is a response to how the Australian government handled the devastating bushfires of 2019/2020.
Image from artists Instagram account
This artwork catches the audience’s attention both with its visual impact, but also by asking us to contemplate and reflect about the events – not just the devastation caused but the power structures that has made climate change policy inaction a dimension of Australian political life. Marsh’s work asks us to begin conversations about conservation, prevention and assistance to those who need help. In this painting it creates a voice for those victims that may have been forgotten.
We can compare the way street art captures audience attention from the way an audience interacts with an artwork in a traditional gallery setting. Entering a museum space – you see what is presented to you on the walls: curated information and context and specified a way to be guided through the museum, creating ‘docile spectators’ (Flessas & Maulchay 2018). In contrast, artworks that break the traditional space of the gallery setting allow artists to create works that are guided by their own intentions and thoughts.
Continue reading “Street art: commentary on society or a reflection of society”
Street Art: Re-shaping audience engagement in the city
Over the last two decades, street art has become an integral part of the urban landscape. While this might seem natural to contemporary readers, it is in fact a remarkable change, given that the history of street art is linked to the criminality and vandalism of graffiti culture. Indeed, many cities around the world now hold street art festivals, signalling the location-based nature of the art form and reflecting its concern with contemporary social issues.
Although all art attempts to communicate, a unique feature of street art is the immediacy of the communication within urban landscapes – not locked away in galleries. One prominent example is Australian female street artist, Kaff-eine, who has an increasing global footprint through her artwork that raises awareness around issues of poverty and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Continue reading “Street Art: Re-shaping audience engagement in the city”BAMBI IN SITU 33.8863° S, 151.1999° E
Essay from Bambi’s Australian Exhibition, Nanda\Hobbs, 21 March – 30 March 2019
Street artists have always been at the forefront of political and social commentary. These artists use the urban environment as a canvas, creating images to respond to contemporary events that are occurring around us.
Street art is an art form that breaks the gallery space and brings art into the everyday. This reclaiming of space in the public eye allows artists to create site-specific works that can act as an image-based megaphone: conveying a message, telling a story, commenting on a controversy and reflecting the thoughts of the artist. In this way, it is a media that invites communication. It creates conversations between the audience, the artwork and the artist.
Continue reading “BAMBI IN SITU 33.8863° S, 151.1999° E”Street Art-My Definition
The definition of street art is in perpetual debate – for the art form is varied in both media and imagery (MacDowall, 2014; Wacławek, 2011; Young, 2014). In fact, Dickens (2008) argues that street art can best be described as “post graffiti” (p. 472) – that is, an art form that has extended from the graffiti movement .
Another way to understand street art comes from Austin (2010, p.44), who describes it as “…a fresh and unexpected new skirmish line in modern art”.
To define street art I draw on these three specific qualities that best capture the subculture: artwork, location and audience.
Street-Art-A-Feminist-Playground
What words come to mind when I mention ‘street art’? Vandalism? Free speech? Beautiful? Offensive? Colourful?
Whatever your thoughts are on the subject of street art, as with most things in life, we need to look at it from various angles: what is seen as vandalism by someone, is considered an art form by someone else.
What is clear is that more academic research is required to study this beautiful art form. The meanings behind some of these artworks, how they engage with current topics both in Australia and around the world, creating awareness of what is going on in our contemporary world and creating an alternative voice.
Street art has the ability to engage an audience and begin conversations between the artist, artwork and public – something that is both powerful and fascinating. Whether it is a protest piece or commentary on current issues such as society’s obsession with celebrity culture – something I discuss below – these works have the capability to create conversations that resonate through the streets visually.
Some important questions I have found myself asking: Have you ever thought about who paints the art work? Are they male or female artists? Would it change you attitude to the work if you knew the sex of the artist?
Street art is a male dominated movement. Why? Is it because of the frequently dangerous nature of the movement. Works often need to be undertaken at night and in alleyways. Or is it because of the socially constructed gender role of society that makes this a masculine practice?
Through the article that follows, I discuss how street art creates conversations in the urban landscape, delve into the history of graffiti, introduce the first female graffiti artist, Lady Pink, and discuss how some of the female artists situate themselves within this masculine practice.
Kim Kardashian is always likely to get you a headline. Her most recent Instagramed nude selfie – or nudie – once again brought the Internet to a standstill as her endless self-promotion lit up discussion boards and gossip columns. Continue reading “Street-Art-A-Feminist-Playground”
Alix Beattie: Street Art Researcher 