whose streets? our streets! - that's your city screaming!

"Being in the world is no longer an experience of pure sensation - we are bombarded with text from everywhere, infiltrating an image-based experience with words. Some of it is functional - street signs, bus schedules, etc. A lot of it is in advertising. We don’t always realize it but public advertising is everywhere - billboards, posters on buses and in subway stops, etc. When we read this text, it filters into our internal monologues and affects our language.

Graffiti does the same thing, but from a grassroots level. Tags, stickers, stencils - that’s your city screaming. That’s the local language, the public self-expression of the people. In the war of words, graffiti is how we fight back.

Yet graffiti on public property is illegal, while public advertising is not only legal, it’s welcomed. Yes, it floods money into public projects, but it also floods into the minds of the people seeing it. Advertising can be vetted and curated, but that doesn’t make it any less offensive or threatening. There’s tons of discriminatory/racist/sexist/bigoted advertising - just because it’s sanctioned doesn’t mean it’s harmless.

Richer neighborhoods can afford to keep unsightly advertising to a minimum, since it doesn’t go with their aesthetic. Allston, on the other hand, is both kindof a mess and full of students, who are an attractive demographic because they’re impulsive, just starting to build brand loyalties, and have their parents’ money to spend. Incidentally, Allston is also overloaded with graffiti. Walking through the place can be overwhelming, but at least it’s overwhelming from both sides."

piece from kristine entitled "Whoose Streets? Our Streets!"