FRAMING GRAFFITI: Walls as Sites/Sights of Resistance to the Regulation of Public Space

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Vesperi, Maria

Keywords

Graffiti, Public Space, Resistance, Anthropology, Art, Ideological Warfare, Bansky

Area of Concentration

Anthropology

Abstract

In this paper I explore the extent to which contemporary urban graffiti can serve as a form of resistance to an ideology that excludes some people from participation in the public sphere. Using a theoretical framework drawn from Jurgen Habermas, Don Mitchell, and Richard Freeman, I explain how visual interruptions to the normal order of the city may serve to open up public spaces as sites of discourse and dissent. Specifically, I analyze the implications of the larger-than-life characters who play major roles in the New Orleans staging of this conflict: international graffiti artist Banksy, infamous anti-graffiti vigilante the Gray Ghost, and local pro-street art activist ReX, whose interactions have created a fascinating material record of the ideological battle played out over the question of the use of public space.

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