5th, 6th, 7th Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard Area
Graffiti in this area was found on the East side of 5th, 6th, 7th Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard on a variety of public spaces including walls, fences, bins and signs. As well as the graffiti being found on multiple surfaces, the graffiti styles in this area vary from tagging, to political and gang graffiti. Gangs such as the Crips and the Bloods (myFOXaustin 2013), are predominantly found in the northeast or southeast of Austin (myFOXaustin 2013), fitting with the spatial distribution of gang graffiti in this area.
As an art form graffiti is used by the artist to express themselves with the city (urban area) as their “working environment” (Irvine 2012). In Austin over the last few decades, with the rise of the creative class, “a visually aware street art cohort” (Irvine 2012) has emerged, who “see the city as the real teacher, providing a daily instruction manual for visual codes and semiotic systems in which we live and move and have our being” (Irvine 2012). Graffiti, especially in liberal cities such as Austin, is a form of social commentary; it allows the graffitist to speak out but keep their anonymity.
Public spaces with graffiti on them change from controlled, hyper-commercialised urban spaces, characterised by placelessness to spaces with meaning (Douglas 2005). Graffiti on public spaces such as those on 5th, 6th, 7th Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard represent “a global network of local expressions of culture and resistance in which place is extremely important” (Douglas 2005). The type of graffiti in this area is a form of local resistance against the monopolisation of Austin by the high-tech industry in keeping with the slogan “keep Austin weird”. As well, the graffiti in this area is a metaphor for the creative class; it focusses on “creativity, individuality, difference and merit” (Florida 2002).
As an art form graffiti is used by the artist to express themselves with the city (urban area) as their “working environment” (Irvine 2012). In Austin over the last few decades, with the rise of the creative class, “a visually aware street art cohort” (Irvine 2012) has emerged, who “see the city as the real teacher, providing a daily instruction manual for visual codes and semiotic systems in which we live and move and have our being” (Irvine 2012). Graffiti, especially in liberal cities such as Austin, is a form of social commentary; it allows the graffitist to speak out but keep their anonymity.
Public spaces with graffiti on them change from controlled, hyper-commercialised urban spaces, characterised by placelessness to spaces with meaning (Douglas 2005). Graffiti on public spaces such as those on 5th, 6th, 7th Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard represent “a global network of local expressions of culture and resistance in which place is extremely important” (Douglas 2005). The type of graffiti in this area is a form of local resistance against the monopolisation of Austin by the high-tech industry in keeping with the slogan “keep Austin weird”. As well, the graffiti in this area is a metaphor for the creative class; it focusses on “creativity, individuality, difference and merit” (Florida 2002).