A contextual analysis on the socio-spatial relationships of unauthorised graffiti and street art

Abstract

In today’s day and age, it has become quite common to encounter some form of wallwriting that categorises itself as either graffiti or street art, becoming for many “an object of their travelling gaze” (Pennycook, 2010: p. 137). The phenomenon of graffiti and street art has throughout the years attracted a multitude of academics, stemming from different backgrounds, to systematically scrutinise its nature and the existing relationships it holds with other domains. Different perspectives exist on the topic, however one may notice that the phenomena are often renowned for their illicit nature. Halsey & Young (2006) posed the fact that the phenomena have been mentioned in many writings for their subculture, delinquent nature, and historically, as a regulatory problem.