3. Where has it began?
The first signs of modern graffiti can be found in the
1960s, in Philadelphia. To celebrate the death of a
famous jazz player, C. Parker (nicknamed “Bird”)
people would write “Bird lives” on walls. From
Philadelphia graffiti moved to New York City in
1970s. During that time writers nicknamed TAKI 183
and Tracy 168 started to get media’s attention as
they would tag trains as they set off from the train
stations, which carried their work around the city.
Vandalism and graffiti soon turned into art. People
got inspired and started to come on the streets to
show their artwork.
4. Why do people do it?
There is a few reasons why people decide to vandalize, do
graffiti or street art.
Vandalism usually comes from boredom in poor, less
developed areas where young people have nothing else to do.
Some of them may hate the area they live in and want to ruin
it like in the documentary “Bomb it” where graffiti writers said
themselves they were doing it only to destroy the area around
them. They may also do it just to break the law as it is illegal
because they like the adrenaline rush.
Others may do it for social reasons as it gets people to work
together, they often work in groups to realize bigger projects.
5. Graffiti and street art are mainly done due to political
and social reasons. People write on walls because they
want to get attention and be listened to. The graffiti
and street artwork often relates to social and political
issues going on at the time such as “Black Lives
Matter” tag on a statue honoring J. Davis, president of
the Confederate State of America in Richmond,
Virginia that relates to young black men being shot in
America at that time. Another example is Banksy’s
work which shows two soldiers with guns painting a
peace sign what relates to pointless wars going on
that are meant to bring peace.
Some just use it as a
form of expressing
themselves, like any
other form of art.
6. Why Graffiti is good
• It can use otherwise empty space make an area look attractive
• Can be political
• Way for people to express themselves
• Can raise money for charity
• Iconic artists have come from street art (Banksy, Sheppard fairy etc.
• Inspirational
• Can be emotional or cultural
• Part of American culture
• Can be used for protest
7. Graffiti can use otherwise
empty space to make an
area decorative which can
increase tourism in places
with lots of nice looking
graffiti; making an area
look attractive can also
increase local pride
8. It can be political.
Some street artists use
graffiti to get a
message to a lot of
people by putting their
work in public places
9. Some graffiti has been sold to benefit
charities. Such as this by Banksy which
was painted on a youth charity
building which was struggling for
money and was at risk of closing. The
painting was sold for £403,000.
10. Some very Iconic artists such as
Baksy, Shepard Fairey etc. have
come from street art A lot of their
street art has been political
11. A lot of people use
graffiti to express
themselves and their
opinions about different
issues. Graffiti can also
be considered a cultural
movement
12. Graffiti is a way of
people leaving their
mark on thing which
humans have been
doing since we first
evolved in cave
painting, some of the
oldest ‘graffiti’ is cave
paintings in lascaux
15. Graffiti can be expensive to clean up. £8,500
was spend on the cleanup of a Northampton
station.
London spend around £100M a year on
cleaning up graffiti which could be much better
spend on other things.
It can also be time consuming to remove for the
owners of businesses or homeowners who are
the targets of this vandalism.
Graffiti wastes taxpayers’ money.
16. Graffiti can make an Area feel unsafe and
decrease the value of houses in that area if
graffiti makes it an ugly, rundown place to live.
Graffiti can also make an area feel unsafe as it is
connected to gangs and is illegal, people may
not want to live in an area where they think
their house could be the target of criminals.
It can also make somewhere that was once a
tourist area less popular.
Graffiti can be bad for the economy
17. Graffiti/vandalism in non designated areas is a
crime and anyone who is caught doing it could
be prosecuted. Graffiti is associated with gangs
as they often use graffiti to show where their
territory is and intimidate people and other
rival gangs. Graffiti can be a bad influence on
children who may not understand that it’s bad
and therefor just do graffiti on their school or
walls at home etc.
Graffiti is illegal
18. Analysis of Street Art
• Space Invader
• Banksy
• Shepard Fairey
• Laguna
• Smates
19. Space Invader
The first example we analyzed is a work done by artist called
“Space Invader”. He uses an unusual technique to create his
pieces which is sticking tiles on walls. His work makes boring
walls enjoyable to look at also it makes places we wouldn’t
even notice more noticeable. The artwork he creates does not
damage the properties as he sticks them on using glue.
20. Banksy
Another example of street art is
Banksy’s artwork which presents
a text saying “follow your
dreams” that has been crossed
with a big sign saying “cancelled”.
This artwork relates to todays
society problems with not being
able to follow their dreams. It has
an impact on the audience as it
make them think about the
problem and they may want to
change something. To create it
the author used stencil and spray
paint causing damage to the wall
and making the artwork
permanent.
21. Banksy
This street art by banksy shows a
homeless man with his sign saying ‘keep
your coins, I want change’, it shows a
political message that banksy is not happy
with the amount of homeless people in
the country and wants to get his message
to people by putting up this picture in a
public place therefore reaching numerous
people. It looks to have been done with
spray cans and stencils this is likely so that
he could do it quickly and leave so as to
not get caught by police as it is illegal. It
looks to be life-size as well so that it could
look like a real person if you were looking
at it from the corner of your eye.
22. Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey’s poster is another example
of street art. He creates his artwork in form
of posters and stickers however he also does
the graffiti painting work. His work is often
related to politics and social issues. It shows
people that they have right to speak and
encourages them to speak their opinions
out loud. The analyzed example presents
president Obama and it shows that Fairey
believed he was a ‘hope’ for America. He
used strong contrasting colors of
propaganda images. His artwork usually
does not damage any properties and he is
often hired to do it.
23. Laguna
Laguna’s work can mainly be seen
on abandoned buildings and
things that aren’t being used for
anything anymore, his work can
help to recreate an area and make
it look a lot more pleasant for
people who pass through. The
piece of work that can be seen
has transformed the old metal
cylinders to look more interesting
and it could attract people to pass
through the area more or even
live around it as the image brings
more life to the area around.
24. Smate
This is the work of a street artist
called Smate, he puts his work
large scales on buildings, walls and
bridges. He mainly presents
animals in his artwork what could
get people to pay more attention
to animal rights and problem of
endangered species of animals. His
artwork makes the boring
constructions more interesting and
attractive what bring more people
into the area to look at it.
