Mainstream forms of media and marketing bank on finding out what is cool and adopting it into how they sell their product. While accessible, the angry, often violent attiude of graffiti and the gangs that surrounded it made the art less appealing to advertise with. Street art has done what Graffiti could not, become legitimate in the eyes of the art world, and be exploited as an advertising tool.
The appeal of street art is undeniable. Today’s youth is attracted to the doctrines of street art, going out into a harsh world and making your mark. Street art disavows some of the traits of its predecessor, but maintains on the art’s major appeals, illegality. While for some the illegality of street art can be a turn off, for most of the rebellious youth, it adds to the concept of fighting the man while not hurting anyone. The illegality also creates arguments in the community about the line between art and tagging. While many street art murals are beautiful, almost all are illegally made. Certain groups in communities like Atlanta have had trouble when deciding whether or not to remove popular murals on the sides of buildings and tunnels. Some say that the art benefits the culture of the community while others argue that the art is illegal and a blemish. The most important thing to remember when considering whether or not a piece of street art should be allowed to exist is permission. If the owner of the property did not give consent for the work to be done or wants the art to be removed then removing the art is their prerogative.
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Fairey's Hope poster became a symbol for the Obama campaign in the last presidential election |
One major change brought on by the mainstream adoption of street art is the attention the work receives from art collectors. Artists like Banksy have sold some of their work for upwards of fifty thousand dollars. One collector in “Exit through the Gift Shop,” Banksy’s documentary, notes that her art done by Banksy is displayed in her home next to work of iconic pop artist Andy Warhol. Mr. Brainwash’s famous show in 2009 net millions of dollars and was extended long past its initial scheduled open time (D’Cruz). The young hip culture that came out of the early 2000s seems to have a general appreciation for this once obscure form of art. Shepard Fairey’s art has even gained more the monetary and artistic recognition. Fairey’s “Obey” work has stemmed off into its own clothing line, but it is his “Hope” posters of Barrack Obama that even garnered popularity as the face of a presidential campaign. The attention of the art community grows as advertising gurus latch on to what is hip and cool generating marketing possibilities and money making potential.
Trailer for the street art documentary,
"Exit Through the Gift Shop."
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| Tagging like this for Adult Swim's programming has been found across the country |
Using street art to advertise has and its successes and failures. Adult Swim, the sector of programming for Cartoon Network aimed at the ever important 18-24 demographic, has had a wildly successful marketing campaign through the use of street art. Murals featuring characters from popular shows like “Superjail” and “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” colorfully adorn the walls of cities all around the country. Atlanta, being the heart of Turner Broadcasting the parent company of Adult Swim, has seen its fair share of art. Bt an incident in Boston raised the most eyebrows. Leading up to the release of the Aqua Teen movie, a guerilla marketing campaign had blown up the streets and the internet and the streets. As part of the campaign flashing LED signs of one of the show’s characters waving his middle finger were placed in ten American cities. In Boston the sign caused a scare that required the bomb squad and the arrest of two of the men involved.(Citation) While publicly the perpetrators were seen as reckless, the internet community exploded with praise for the clever artists and hilarity over the ensuing hysteria. The whole debacle only aided Adult Swim in promoting the movie, minus the heavy penalties and fines paid by Turner Broadcasting.
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| Bomb squad removing the Aqua Teen sign that caused such a fuss |
One problem involved in advertising using street art to advertise is backlash. Purists in any culture don’t like the marketing big wigs dipping their toes in the water. Sony experienced this first hand with their PSP campaign. The 2007 campaign featured caricatures of children using the portable gaming device as a other toys. Taggers and street artists alike attacked the ads adding words, crossing the ads out with images of their own and writing harsh criticisms. Wired, a popular tech and pop culture magazine even went as far as to call the ads, “an attempt to buy the credibility of street art,” (citation). Sony had paid a mere one hundred dollars for two weeks’ use of the wall, but the real cost came in the form of consumer backlash and mistrust.
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| Example of Sony's failed street art campaign |
As street art’s popularity increases and people find more and more ways to make money as artists, the world will become cluttered with commissioned murals encouraging young people to buy or watch something. As consumers of art and products it is our responsibility to be able to distinguish between self expression and clever marketing. The same discretion comes into play when the art in question isn’t legally done. While the work is to be appreciated removal of illegal work is just and completely necessary, however through tools like the internet the art can be preserved and appreciated for all time. Street art has the potential to grow even greater. Street art’s humble beginnings in chalk hobo drawings on the sides of train cars have to be remembered and appreciated. In the future we may see even more companies adopt street art into their advertising campaigns and art museums featuring more and more graffiti exhibits. These would both create and interesting and dangerous environment for fans of the art form, but only time will tell.
Once again thanks for reading and thanks to Dr. Guglielmo for giving me the opportunity to explore this issue!
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