Conclusion

Giant Bread Tag and lots of throwies on wall near Washington St., San Diego CA, July 2013

As I stood in front of this giant wall with Bread's huge tag and all the throwies below.. I was wondering how it was that this spot, which is just a few hundred feet from the Washington St. trolley station, was not being policed more often. I thought about its value for writers, how good of spot it must be since the trolley and train pass by it. I recalled the Wild Styles documentary and what Waclawek wrote about the importance of hitting the trains in New York. Hitting the trains meant that you tag your name went around the city and that many other writers would see it. Since cities such as San Diego intensely patrol the trolley & train yards, you never ever see any graffiti on them. I figured that this was why this wall had so much value, it was clearly visible from the train. If you can't get-up on the train then the next best thing is to put your name somewhere where the people riding the train or trolley can see it. That's exactly what I as thinking right about the same time that this trolley (see pic below) zoomed by, all covered in corporate advertising! I thought it was iron and hypocritical to see that this trolley cart has been tagged, just not by a street artist or writer.

Trolley Going by the Washington St. spot with all the Throwies, San Diego CA July 2013

Just a few minutes later, this train zoomed by! And this one clearly features an artistic design on it. If I hadn't seen upclose, if I wasn't familiar with San Diego's strict laws about graffiti, I would have thought that the train had been hit up. So apperantly, the train and trolley stations don't think that their carts look bad with art on them, if you're willing to pay the right price. This experience made me realize that the struggle between street artist and corporations is always going to be there.

Train Going by the Washington St. spot with all the Throwies, San Diego CA July 2013

 

The history of graffiti and street art is finally being institutionally assimilated. The irony of this is that the very notion of graffiti and street art being is assimilated by art history is a bit of an oxymoron. Clearly there is resistance on both sides of the of the fence. Street artist are just as hesitant about being assimilated as the institutions and academia are hesitant about excepting these practices as legitimate art.

Sorry my conclusion sucks. I know. The gist of it though.. is that loved this class, its opened up an entire new world for me, a beautiful world that I want to be part of! All these years, I had mixed feeling about it, but I never looked any further into all of these arts, not just graffiti but hip hop, break dancing, dj, etc. This class has given me an basic understanding of and appreciation for all of them.