Public Space and Graffiti.

What is Public Space? This is a great question and in the video seen this morning this question was asked over and over again. The reason why this is an important question is because if public space was defined then technically graffiti artist would be able to use these spaces are there canvas. The issue lies when there is graffiti on private property and this is a problem, as seen in the image below where a school including other property like cars were vandalized using graffiti. This I believe is where people start the argument that graffiti is not art, when lines are merely sprayed over other peoples private property.

The image below is by Banksy and this is most probably my favorite piece by Banksy and having grown up in England and knowing that London is one of the most watched cities in the world this image is extremely powerful and questions this idea of public space. What are you looking at? This question asked by Banksy is clearly a attack on the idea of public space being invaded by the extreme number of CCTV cameras in place. Items like this by Banksy clearly makes you think what is public space and how can it be defined. An individual in the movie this morning stated that public space is what taxpayers pay for, but the issue with this is when something is public space it is available for everyone and people have conflicting views on this form of art. 

However Banksy has posed an important question here and the issue of public space is difficult but needs to be solved in order to fix any graffiti issues. 

Bibliography Sources 

http://pervasivegames.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/graffiti-and-the-struggle-over-public-space/

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/west-forsyth-high-school-vandalized-by-graffiti/nQfRg/