Street art began in the 1920s with graffiti on train carts in New York City by gangs. It evolved into a true artistic expression in the 1970s-1980s as done by teenagers. While often illegal, street art gained acceptance in the contemporary art world through art enthusiasts. There is no single definition of street art, but it is found in urban environments and is a popular public art form not limited to galleries. Street art has been influenced by artists' past experiences, the surrounding area, political views, and thoughts and opinions. It has relationships with other art forms like sculpture and installations. Famous street artist Shepard Fairey's "Hope" poster of Barack Obama impacted society by helping Obama win the presidency

1. Street Art
Connor wake

2. History of street art
The first form of street art occurred in 1920’s with graffiti. The graffiti usually took
place on the side of train carts and was the work of gangs in New York City. The
impact of this subversive culture was felt in the 1970’s and 1980’s. From the
fingers and cans of teenagers, it had taken a form of true artistic expression.
Essentially an illegal activity, a process of creation through destruction began its
evolution into numerous forms of artistic expression which found it’s way to
galleries and the global art market. Although still subversive, and in its large part
an illegal movement, through art enthusiasts and professionals, street art earned
its place in the contemporary art world.

3. Defining street art
The presence of street art in an urban context was primarily based on the notion
of repetition. Since the impact of the message becomes notable solely through the
perceivable presence in the urban context, graffiti artists lived with the imperative
to reproduce their typography or different symbolical expression over and over
again. In the world when the digital global community we take for granted today
wasn’t even conceivable, artists needed to fight for the possibility for their work to
be seen. However there is no simple definition for street art. It can be found in or
inspired in the urban environment and is a popular public art. Street art is not
limited to a gallery and is also not easy to collect for those who collect art peices.

4. What has it been influenced by
Street art is influenced differently depending on the artist. Some artists are
inspired by past experiences such as childhood,in my opinion this is what the artist
space invaded is influenced by. Another way artists are influenced is by the
surrounding area. This could be buildings and the culture of the city etc. Another
way is the political views of people, an example of this is shepard fairey who
produced many political posters for presidential people such as Bush and Obama.
Finally another inspirational method is thoughts and opinions this again is linked to
shepard fairey’s work as he also done work featuring the iraq war along with other
war events.

5. Relationship with other art work
Street art has different relationships with different art forms, one of these forms
are sculpting as street art could be using an object in an area and changing or
modifying it. An example of this is when Banksy took a London post box and cut it
in half and stuck it together and then placed it back in the street. Another
relationship is with showing something with an impact on a physical being, an
example of this is when Banksy painted a elephant for one of his art shows.

6. Impact on society
Street art has a big impact on society, the main person to do this is shepard fairey
as he produced posters of barack obama what then went on to be the poster of
choice for his presidential campaign. This then impacted on society as that is the
picture that led Obama to victory and the message and picture was strong
showing ‘Hope’. This then could of been one of the reasons people voted for him
so it had an impact on society.

7. How has technology had an influence
Technology has had an influence on street art recently with the prices of buying
and using machines to help artists. An example of this is the screen printing
machine used when people need big pieces of paper to stick on walls or to use for
stickers. But the price to buy the machine has decreased and also the
manufacturing cost has went down meaning you can print more out for cheaper
making the amount of artists doing this go up and making the amount of designs
multiplying on the streets.

8. What art movement was it a part of
Graffiti had its own movement. This movement had massive success especially in
NYC in the 1970’s. The name of this came from the spray can vandalism what
occurred in most american cities but mainly on the subways in NYC. The two most
successful figures in this movement was Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring.

9. Wider cultural context
Graffiti has a different effect on different people. It can cause people to act or think
in a different way. For example it could make people think that it can ruin an area
but some may think it can make a area better. It could also make people think it's
bad and offensive and some may think it's good and art. Some may also think it's
vandalism and some may think it's not. It depends on the person to think about
what they think of graffiti in a whole so graffiti can be interpreted in different ways
for different people.

10. How is it used around the world
Street art is used around the world and is used for all different reasons. Some
artists in different countries use street art to compose a message such as a
political message or just a general message. Street art is also used in different
countries to bring attraction to that neighbourhood. It can also be a way for artists
to express their feelings in a image.

11. Bibliography
Banksy - exit through the giftshop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJfeAvP8xTo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBXjpfX576w
http://www.widewalls.ch/the-history-of-street-art/
http://www.artmovements.co.uk/graffiti-art