New from Sebastian Peiter: 60 minutes on graffiti, artists, economy and form.
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News To (Me)dia
…and everything in between
Stay on point :
New from Sebastian Peiter: 60 minutes on graffiti, artists, economy and form.
…and everything in between
this “street” art is different than gang graffiti tagging. But, what’s with the masks?
Police and criminal statutes treat gang members and artists the same when it comes to graffiti. Instead of viewing graffiti as a symptom of some larger problem, in the case of gangs, the law criminalizes graffiti with the intent of stifling gang activity (which it does not). These artists are treated as a menace to society, whereby the act of painting graffiti has become synonymous with the violence perpetrated by gangs. Thus, there is a certain value placed upon securing one’s anonymity as a graffiti artist – nevertheless many artists have become emboldened through certain mainstreaming of graffiti and no longer hide their identity as artists.
However, none of this changes the fact that most graffiti artists are spraying paint for hours on end, creating fumes that are horrible for one to breathe – graffiti artists are just trying to protect themselves with the masks.