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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Beautification through Destruction

Specker, Mark R
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin152231963353269

Abstract Details

2018, MARCH, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture.
Public space is not truly public if we cannot affect and mold it freely. This is illustrated in the hypocrisy of public art, its benefactors, commissions, and careful curation before execution. Graffiti, however, is made for the people, by the people as an unsanctioned outlet for expression. Its removal implies that our public walls are neither truly public nor inclusive to all forms of artwork, rendering these graffiti artists marginalized because they do not fit within our social norms of traditional or accepted art. Graffiti challenges a consumer culture obsessed with logos and the proliferation of brand name advertising within the city. Influenced by commercial imagery, graffiti highlights the hypocrisy within our urban culture and the democracy of our public spaces. The wall without a security camera and the unlocked roof escape become attractive features for the graffiti artist, often leaving the abandoned environment as a popular target. Using the building’s context without the constraints and pressures of painting in the streets the artist begins to beautify the decay often found within the urban and industrial wastelands. This found environment thus becomes a series of surfaces for the artist to reinvent and create a personalized architecture, not as an object but as a response to space, time, and contemporary society.
Henry Hildebrandt, M.Arch. (Committee Chair)
Michael McInturf, M.Arch. (Committee Member)
71 p.
Architecture
graffiti; abandoned; reuse; urban; canvas; vandalism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Specker, M. R. (2018). Beautification through Destruction [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin152231963353269

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Specker, Mark. Beautification through Destruction. 2018. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin152231963353269.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Specker, Mark. "Beautification through Destruction." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin152231963353269

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin152231963353269
171
© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.