Wall Slogans and Graffiti as urban forms of expression in the time of the crisis, Michael Tsangaris, University of Piraeus, Greece / Iliana Pazarzi, University of Piraeus, Greece
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Wall Slogans and Graffiti as urban forms of expression in the time of the crisis, Michael Tsangaris, University of Piraeus, Greece / Iliana Pazarzi, University of Piraeus, Greece
1. Wall Slogans and Graffiti
as urban forms of expression
in the time of the crisis
Michael Tsangaris, University of Piraeus, Greece
Iliana Pazarzi, University of Piraeus, Greece
RN27 - Regional Network on Southern European Societies
13th Conference of the European Sociological Association
(Un)Making Europe: Capitalism, Solidarities, Subjectivities
Athens 2017
2. the purpose of our presentation is to explore all sorts of unconventional wall
graphics of Athens as forms of alternative media in times of crisis
after a brief introduction on alternative media
we will develop a review concerning the unauthorized outdoor graphics of
Athens in retrospect
next we will describe a psychogeographical passage that we had trying to grasp
the sentiments evoked by the specific effects of the urban environment
finally, we will attempt to decode some of the texts and to present in a concise
way the situation
3. introduction
alternative media according to Chris Atton concern
'crucially about offering the means for democratic communication to
people who are normally excluded from media production'
all forms of alternative media differ from the mainstream communication
industries and often challenge the dominant capitalist media systems
(John Downing, Clemencia Rodriguez, Christian Fuchs, Pio Baldelli, Mitzi
Waltz etc)
4. introduction
alternative media can take many forms such as print, audio, video, clothing,
makeup, wall slogans, theatrical performances, street art, social networking
and so on.
they are critical with the intention to mobilize local communities and the
last decades they can also raise global effects with the collaboration of
supplementary distribution channels and the use of new technologies such
as internet and the Web 2.0.
5. introduction
when we speak about unauthorized outdoor graphics we will refer to
all those unofficial multiple messages of visual communication in any form
(words, sketches, drawings, etc)
made without permission on the walls, the billboards, the transportations
(buses, trams, cars, etc) the street furniture (benches, bus stops, kiosks, etc)
6. introduction
but what is radical about unauthorized outdoor graphics?
whatever the theme
or the motive of the performer,
the entire process is illegal as the performers without a permission sketch
graphics on private or public property
7. introduction
unauthorized outdoor graphics challenge the existing power
structures’ communication modes
thus, as communication activity belong evidently to radical media
8. a brief review
the oldest photographs that can be easily trucked down
concerning past unauthorized graphics in Greece are framing
patriotic slogans written in the Greek language all over the walls
of Athens by the resistance against the German occupation in
the Second World War
9. a brief review
actually, it seems that in the post-war era also the walls of Athens
continued to communicate messages of antithesis
as the Greek civil war, the post-war prosecution of the Greek left
and the colonels Junta
disrupted the Greek society and suppressed civil liberties for a long
period of time
10. a brief review
• after the political change-over and the restoration of the Greek
democracy, still the political disputes were marked in the urban
environment with slogans
• during the seventies the youth wings of all the political parties
worked incognito at nights covering the walls with posters and
political slogans drown with paintbrushes and each colour
denoted a political party according the visual code of politics
11. a brief review
• the American type of graffiti made its appearance in the streets
of Athens during the eighties
• initially adapted the conventions of the early American graffiti,
but gradually in interaction with the international trends, evolved
to various aesthetic forms (wildstyle, bubble, stencil, comic-
cartoon, 3D, neo-classic Greek, photo-realistic, etc)
12. a brief review
the recouperation of graffiti culture initiated in the beginning of the
nineties by the mass media and the commercial mainstream fashion
events such as
• the Thissio Festival in 1998 organized by the Hellenic American Union
that hosted ‘stage-names’ from all over the world
• a graffiti project on public transports by the Goethe Institute of
Athens in 2001
• the establishment of the Crape Dien group as a ‘persona ficta’ in 2002
to arrange conventions, seminaries, etc.
• the Chromopolis festival in 2004 that was established by the state as
part of the celebrations for the Olympic Games
13. psychogeographic inquiry
psychogeography according to Guy Debord investigates
‘the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical
environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and
behaviour of individuals’
in this respect we decided to perform a ‘dérive’
[drifting technique, a quick passage through varied urban
ambiances in a state of mind that requires an attitude withdrawn
from daily routines]
14. psychogeographic inquiry
we sketched a psychogeographical map to indicate schematically our
exposure to those visual messages
the spatial field of our ‘dérive’ covered the great central area of Athens and
as the point of departure was selected ‘Syntagma square’ (a) which is the
central square of Athens
we moved in a round course, drifting through ‘Omonoia square’ (b),
‘Monastiraki’ (c), ‘Psiri’ (d), ‘Keramikos’ (e), ‘Kolonaki’ (f ), ‘Exarcheia’ (g)
districts and finally escaped from the concentric zone through ‘28th
Oktovriou street’ moving on to the ‘Patissia’ district (h)
16. psychogeographic inquiry
‘Syntagma Square’ is located in front of the Greek Parliament where
most of the protests take place
although it is protected by police and always gets rapidly cleaned up
after the demonstrations,
still, someone can see slogan remains on the walls, capable of
provoking sharp emotional reactions
in the surrounding high streets of ‘Filellinon’, ‘Mitropoleos’, ‘Ermou’,
‘Karagiorgi Servias’ and ‘Stadiou’, the tension increases dramatically
as the density of the graphics grows
17. psychogeographic inquiry
this area contains merged all forms of unauthorized outdoor graphics:
tagging, political quotes ranging from gay rights to political crisis
complains, stencils of any kind, football talk and artistic graffiti
the sequence of expensive stores, hotels and restaurants next to closed
shops covered by unauthorised graphics, evokes negative moods and
renders a certain atmosphere of frustration
moving on to ‘Omonoia Square’ which is the heart of the city, a pure
multicultural zone the climate remains the same in a déclassé version
as the market here is more common and plain
21. psychogeographic inquiry
‘solidarity with the
resistance and self-
organization of the
Kurds’
‘freedom for all that
live in cells and cages’
‘immigration is not a crime’
23. psychogeographic inquiry
entering ‘Monastiraki’, ‘Psiri’ and ‘Keramikos’ (Gazi) districts it is
difficult to determine precisely when the state of mind provoked by a
peculiar area gives way for another
all those places are meeting points for the youth and attract dozens of
people on weekend nights, so they actually share a kind of
‘mainstream’ cultural ambience
certainly, some of the graphics here reflect also strong political protest
(mostly gender-gay rights, immigrant and crisis issues etc)
24. psychogeographic inquiry
however they are implanted to the general commercial environment
where sometimes someone cannot distinguish the illegal from the
commissioned graffiti
obviously the purpose of many graphics here is to attract customers, to
sell products or at least to decorate and make ‘fashionable’ art
in this sense an alternative mode of expression is blocked towards
commodification and recuperation, bringing radical debate into the
same context with practices of commodities promotion
29. psychogeographic inquiry
‘Kolonaki’ district is a rich and expensive neighbourhood with a variety
of luxury boutiques
after the crisis a great number of shops closed down altering this district
into a fragmented and incoherent zone
30. psychogeographic inquiry
most of the closed shops are sealed-off with wooden timbers, covered
by posters and smudged graphics standing next to the remaining
fashion houses and art galleries
our observation recalled similar emotional states that we had when we
were in ‘Syntagma Square’
obviously both areas share a common ‘unity of ambiance’ recalling
associations of economic decline, bankruptcy and social suffering
35. psychogeographic inquiry
‘Exarcheia’ is a student area by tradition
it is famous as the centre of the Greek anti-establishment activists
actually is the mecca of unauthorized outdoor graphics
everything is smudged and recomposed to honour the active
participation and protest against any social injustice
36. psychogeographic inquiry
there is an general tone of explosion in the atmosphere
an extensive collection of graphics in varying colours and sizes, reacted
on our senses bring about thoughts associated to fury, hope and
rebellion
all those graphics can give the potentialities for ‘situation-making’ and
thus mobilize for social activism
40. psychogeographic inquiry
‘Patissia’ district that during the sixties represented the ideal
neighbourhood of middle class, today consists one of the most
polluted, poor and highly concentrated ethnic mixed zones
all the way Patission street we encountered abandoned buildings that
used to keep stores and super markets now covered with posters and
unauthorized graphics
there is an inter-flux of pessimistic and furious impressions asserted on
a multicultural ‘mise en scène’
43. deciphering the ‘pulse of the city’
in order to give a concise picture we selected to present three
clean-cut and widespread texts from those places that we visited
45. deciphering the ‘pulse of the city’
it consists a sign that inductively links the part to the whole
‘what is happening to me is happening to all’, the text provides an
interplay between personal and collective identities
it can be regarded as an emblem of the collective suffering
additionally, we can assume that the skilfully handwritten childish fonts
connote people's naivety and innocence regarding the causes of the
crisis
46. deciphering the ‘pulse of the city’
Patission st. ‘papers to the immigrants’ [χαρτιά στους μετανάστες]
47. deciphering the ‘pulse of the city’
the statement is written in Greek block capitals and is usually signed by
antifa community
this expression is linked to human rights, recommending equality
before the law, freedom of movement, right to life & work, freedom of
thought & religion for all immigrants
besides, the text also denotes the anti-fascist movement and recalls in
general all the global justice movements
49. deciphering the ‘pulse of the city’
this slogan challenges the ‘heteronormativity’ of the public space
the text addresses ‘architextually’ at the viewer as an orientation sign,
making sense in relation to municipal signs
yet in a second signification level it recalls gender identity politics and
LGBT rights
the activists hijack the discourse as they take the leading role of
territorial indicators determining the urban space instead of the state
50. conclusions
a great part of the grassroots activists in Athens expresses through
alternative modes of communication that
in Greece people suffer
but at the same time calls
for the support and the legalization of all undocumented
immigrants and refugees
and the advance of LGBT rights
