Developments and influences of street art

Thomas Cavanagh

Earliest signs of street artThe earliest signs of street art was graffiti. That started on the sides of walls, transport etc. This was work done by gangs in the 1920’s and 1930’s in New York. Kyselak, known as the “father of graffiti” was someone who first began to spread the idea of street art, as he began inscribing his name into walls, etc. Throughout Austro-Hungarian Empire in the early 19th century. It all started from a bet with his friends, he was given three years to get himself known throughout the empire, therefore began writing his names on walls and the sentence “Kyselak was here”. Since then, street artists use this method to make themselves known, by placing their artwork around the cities like Kyselak spread his name around. Street art (graffiti) only became popular in New York 1960’s-1970’s. It started as people writing their names in places known as “tagging” it would usually include their name, and street number, this was a way of people trying to get recognized. A method of doing this is called “Bombing” which resulted in people tagging on trains so that their names got spread across the state/states. Eventually when people stopped bombing as much, graffiti began to become more appreciated as art.

How it street art defined?

How is street art defined? Street art acts as a message, one of the mains reasons that street artists would go and spread their work around the ‘streets’ is to gain recognition, or reproduce their typography, and symbolism and repeat this method. The whole point of street art is to produce work, display it on the streets and repeat.

Street art isn’t just any old graffiti work, as anyone can really just use a spray can and call it “street art”. Street art consists of using graffiti techniques, but also is produced by something ready made, for example a stencil, sticker, etc. Street art usually includes some other form of artistic technique, rather than it just be graffiti. Therefore there is a difference between graffiti and street art itself.

Work by Invader:

What influenced street art?As mentioned, Kyselak seemed to be the main predecessor of street art, but it is believed hobos in the UK and US were also some form of predecessor, or influence of street art today. They used to draw images, or write their names sometimes including a poem. They would produce their work using equipment such as oil bars, mark alls or wax pencils. At first street art (Graffiti) wasn’t really seen and appreciated as “art”, is began as a form of destruction in the 1960’s-1970’s America, Philadelphia. People purposely tagged their name around the area and used such methods as “bombing” (an act to graffiti on a train, to spread your name around the state (states). Eventually the act of bombing reduced and people began focussing on producing a more artistic approach to graffiti, for example representing their tag with more animation and a pop-art effect.

What relationships does it have to other art forms?As street art and graffiti are seen as separate things, graffiti would commonly be seen to be very similar or definitely incorporated with street art. Street art doesn’t seem to have many similar artistic forms, however there are different types of street art. For example sculptures, street poster art, sticker art and etc.

Streets art’s impact on society and art:

Street art can influence society, and how we see things today. For example Shepard Fairey included a bit of politic based design in his work like the Obama poster with the caption “Hope” Fairey did this in an attempt to “move further in the direction that he promised as a campaigner”.Banksy is an artist who has also tried to represent his view, through street art. Banksy makes street art so it can be seen in a new way, and that art in general can be viewed in a different perspective, so much that people accept art into their daily lives.

Artwork by Banksy -

How has technology had an impact?Technology has affected street art because now artists can print out stencils, and make their designs on computer. Some street artists gain popularity from the internet, for example they can share their work online, this will gain interest from people who may surf the web a lot, or just people genuinely interested in searching for street art/street artists. Social medias will have an impact on street artists, as people will share their own work or other people’s, then other users will then share the work, so that it gains even more interest.

What art/design movement is street art part of? Originally, street art was seen as vandalism. As people tagged walls/transport with their name, people then began to focus more on the artistic side of creating tags and and images on walls, for example including more creativity to it, spreading around positive/negative messages. Eventually to the point where people started to begin appreciating graffiti as “street art”. A lot street art is based of clip art, therefore it follows that concept, and people use it as a way of expressing themselves and their thoughts, through a creative aspect. Therefore nowadays street art is becoming more recognized as art, so much that it can be found displayed in art galleries. Street art as art/design itself generally tends to follow today’s society and show it through a different point of view, street art can really mean something to someone, whether that be political, religious, etc.

Cultural contextPolitical graffiti, started evolving in the 1990’s, when street artist Banksy began sharing his work and thoughts around. Since then, graffiti is becoming more focused on having a cultural meaning behind it, whether it represents politics, racism, religion, freedom of speech, etc. However Banksy is one of the most well known for doing this as with each piece he designs, he usually includes some kind of contextual meaning behind it and that’s why people find interest in his work, Banksy uses a lot of negative messages as he isn’t very keen on modern society. Other street artists will obviously get inspired by Banksy’s work and similar street artists therefore also spread their work. With so many different views and messages being represented within the street art, this will make people think about these pieces of work. The reason this will have an effect on culture is because the audience will have different views towards the work and this can cause debates therefore gaining the street art more popularity whether this be positive or negative.

Street art in other countriesAustralia, Melbourne - Famous for its street art, very vibrant pieces. Melbourne is already known for its art scene and it is always getting updated with new street art.

Colombia, Bogota - Again, a lot of vibrant street art, whether it be political, or just genuinely attractive. A lot of artists collaborate to make the place look more beautiful.

Thailand, Chiang Mai - A lot of aggressive type graffiti, possibly related to their culture. Not as much of a street art scene as other places.

Bibliography http://www.herron.iupui.edu/blog/06042012/street-art-vs-graffiti http://www.widewalls.ch/ http://hyperallergic.com/14166/origins-of-street-art/ http://listdose.co/top-10-types-of-street-arts/ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/barack-obama-hope-poster-shephard-fairey_uk_57384603e4b01359f686f6fa http://www.woostercollective.com/post/the-banksy-effect http://www.widewalls.ch/20th-century-the-rise-of-graffiti/ http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1197/a-beautiful-mess-the-evolution-of-political-graffiti-in-the-contemporary-city https://bkpk.me/streetart-graffiti-around-the-world/