I like street art and the way it can bring some life to a run down area or a blank wall.
I have a Pinterest board dedicated to Street Art and added a few more pins following the suggestions in the course material. I particularly enjoyed looking at the miniature installations of Slinkachu, the illustrations of Ericailcane or Ben Eine’s take on typography.
I also like to take photos whenever I notice some graffitis or illustrations that I find interesting. Below are a few of them.
In the examples above, we can see how they all interact with their environment in different ways.
Often, the art interact with the support on which it is created. In the image #12, the little figures are using the street sign as a support to land on. In #13, the girl is leaning on the wall (right hand), while in #16, the character is immersed in the wall as if it was water.
Other times, the art interacts with its environment through its meaning. In #14, the character smoking a cigarette evokes someone who would be just around the corner and look a bit menacing in a comedy way.
In #15, the painting works well with its environment and the colours merge naturally with the vegetation and the buildings around.
It is sometimes very difficult to make the difference between art and vandalism.
The image #1 is a photo taken in a street in Marseille where there are mainly graffitis (although it might be changing and turn more to street art). Individually most of these graffitis are not art, and yet, all together, the effect is quite interesting and the cafes in the square next to that street have obviously been inspired by the graffitis (#2). The photos in #3 and #4 are taken in a different part of Marseille (Quartier du Panier) where there are beautiful examples of street art (Unfortunately I have only these two examples as someone tried to grab my phone, so I did not dare to take it out for a little while). The entire area has embraced street art to such an extent that there is even a hotel that has decorated its rooms in that style (https://blog-espritdesign.com/deco/hotel-graffiti-au-vieux-panier-marseille-9839).
Marseille is probably quite a typical example of a city where graffitis were first a form of vandalism and in some areas at least have evolved towards street art.
Examples 5 to 11 were taken in rue d’Aubervilliers in Paris. In that instance, artists have been invited to create some art on the long wall that runs alongside the train track. It was a neglected area and, very possibly, covered with graffitis and it is now a tapestry of street art.
Although sometimes the difference between graffitis and street art is very well defined, it is often difficult to decide where the boundaries are. On one hand, it is sometimes a bit sad to see some surfaces disfigured by some graffitis. On the other hand, if some artists had not taken the liberty to use a public space for their art, we would not be enjoying their work. Maybe it is a question of intention. If the creator of the graffiti or street art intends to add something to the area with their work and is thoughtful about their surroundings, although they might not be always successful, it is more likely to be art rather than vandalism.
Catherine Roux Degree in Illustration 