Graffiti - 'Matter out of Place?

Background:

Without being too 'sociological' I define graffiti as 'matter in or out out of place' from the perspective of both the person looking and also, the intent of the person who put it there. Whether you define graffiti as 'street art' or as nothing more than plain old fashioned acts of vandalism will depend on your background, experience, culture, expectations, level of 'awareness' and how 'comfortable' you are within yourself and your environment. Is graffiti art or eyesore? For me its all about the intentions behind the protest /message /visual /advert /name-drop ad infinitum and how we are able to decode what is behind the imagery. Each genre has its own language, terms and definitions. A real problem with this contentious question is who ultimately has the power to decide whether it is one or the other.

When I first started taking photographs of social scribbles and the like, I decided to seek out the differences in content and context in graffiti between countries that I visited. I quickly noticed that the mass of 'graffiti' was in fact corporate, it was writ very large and was ever-present. I then expanded this idea to include 'purposeful context', which defines covert or overt intention i.e. what is the real message behind this particular visual. What do these people want from us, what is their bottom line, how can a visual act as an 'action trigger'? These simple thought processes opened my eyes to a lot of stuff around me which I had not consciously noticed before. Examples of graffiti and /or 'matter out of place' can be found for all the countries I have recently visited.

Graffiti is ever present on branded shopping bags, designer clothes, CCTV, advertising hoardings, newspapers, televisions, radio, taxis and buses. In point of fact, almost anything capable of carrying or defining a point of view. Most of these forms of 'art/graffiti' are nothing more than what I define as social re-enforcers (ads) and their use has mushroomed to such an extent within modern consumer societies that it is almost impossible to get away from them if you live in an urban area or are capable of being connected to a communication device. I focus here on the every day examples of 'graffiti' which are appearing now in your neighbourhood and town centre. Of course, I dare not mention the spectacle of Formula 1 racing drivers covered from head to foot in branded logos and corporate sponsors. Nor shall I mention the numerous shots of branded goods strategically placed for your visual consumption in almost every TV programme you watch!! From the onset and within my world-view, much of what is put before us is purposely constructed, for a well defined purpose, by individuals and organisations having both overt and covert agendas. That is, my definition of 'graffiti' is purposely broad to include more than social scribbles on buses and trains.

Detail:

Searching for examples of what most people view as graffiti was a bit frustrating because, apart from railway bridges and stations there was little to photograph or analyse. However, for the first time I noticed the huge amount of commercial advertising spaces, their size, prominence and strategically-placed presence. I show examples of this and liken corporate advertising to a cancerous attack on the body (us) on which it feeds. Thus I define an advertising hoarding as a 'cancer board' and repeated instances of the same visual or flyposter as 'cancer cells'. There are also subtle differences between corporate and community advertising, which I also highlight, particularly in the UK section. The context of graffiti as I see it is to stimulate us to consume, based on a false premise that buying this or that will make us feel a lot better about ourselves. Think about it, how much of our daily life is subjected to consciously or not, an incessant attack on our visual, olfactory and hearing centres? These graffiti images are ever-present in our waking, walking and working life. To mention just a few other methods of mass persuasion, if you also add commercial radio, commercial television, branded goods with all the labels proudly shown on the outside, 'free' newspapers such as the Metro to ensure you internalise the messages of fear, death and destruction as you travel to and from work, you quickly begin to get and internalise the message, literally. The cumulative effects of all these messages drive our patterns of consumption, consumption and consumption. We, in turn, consume what is placed before us and consequently fuel the huge profit-coffers of Big Business, which gives rise to the creation of global multi-national corporate giants. From the Big Business model of the world, mass cancer board advertising works and they use the same strategy the world over and only need to change the message to fit in with the culture of where those ads are eventually shown.

The relentless bombardment of advertising on what to buy, see or do from agents of the mass media has become so familiar to us that on one level we appear immune to what is being sold. When asked whether advertising has an effect on our buying habits, we rationally argue amongst ourselves that these 'graffiti' ads merely inform and do not affect or influence our buying habits. At a sub-conscious level however, I would argue that we respond in a predictable way to the subliminal images and messages embedded in much of the corporate 'graffiti' that we are exposed to. Worryingly, much of this 'graffiti' is directed to specific sections of our society, particularly our young people. Why else do manufacturers vis-à-vis advertising companies spend so much time, effort and money 'persuading' us to buy their goods? Secondly, in order for these embedded images to really work on our sub-conscious the product being sold is put across in such a way that it is almost out of reach of the very people they purport to be selling to. Therefore I see mass advertising strategies unfolding within a two-fold process (1) embed an image deep into the mind and (2) symbolically embed the image and associate this image or message in a setting or physical body that few people have or are likely to possess. Thus, advertising strategies trigger predictable consumer behaviour by making us feel not quite right about ourselves and we plug that gap in our perceived well-being by being good little consumers.

If we become stuck in the subtle glue of a fake 'Matrix' e.g. a manufactured mind reality, I believe that this feeling of being 'not quite right' provides a fertile environment for the 'dark' forces within society to affect and manipulate what we think about, become interested in, act or react to and ultimately, how we define ourselves. That said, I also believe that this feeling of not 'being quite right' can equally provide a wonderful opportunity to step outside the 'Matrix' so that we can ask ourselves more esoteric questions about ourselves such as why do I feel the way I do, why am I doing this, is there something here which I do not fully understand? These esoteric questions are an important step in spiritual growth and what comes out of this will be 'felt' at a much deeper internal level, it will resonate with your whole being.

Final bit before the photos of graffiti

I find it difficult to define graffiti except to say that I prefer the term 'matter out of place' . For me, the intention of the people behind the messages are more important than the content so I present some pictures to add flesh to what I have attempted to say. You might not agree with anything I have said, but at the very least, I hope to stimulate awareness in you the next time you see an advertising poster 10 m by 10 m high reminding you yet again that you are not enough, never will be enough but just buying this little product will make you feel a whole lot better about yourself. This simple advertising strategy 'legitimises' people to spend vast amounts of money on anything from cosmetic surgery, beauty products, branded products and all the other little bits of useless paraphernalia that make up the rest of our buying 'decisions'.

One good thing about this particular exercise is that once I became consciously aware of what was being put before me and why, it had little effect. I rarely look at the product but think more about its size, shape, overall look, strategic placement etc. In other words, once you are aware of the strategy used by the mass media it is possible to change your perception of what is dangled before your eyes. It is then relatively easy to de-construct the true intent behind the message or image i.e. is it matter in or out of place, you choose? When you have finished here, take a look at the examples of subliminal advertising, put the two together and you will have some idea on the scale of what is being put before you for your consumption and edification.

Click on a country of your choice below to see examples of the above.

London - UK

India

Australia