The Bigger Picture: Digital Graffiti Transnationally

Abstract:

Street art has reconfigured itself to the digital age. In clandestine operations artists’ project digital graffiti onto urban landscapes as a way of reclaiming public space in this international movement. Through out history artists have served a valuable role in

society for turning their art into a political weapon that questions and confronts the hegemonic power structures within our society. Social commentary and political protest in art reaches back to the French Revolution and the birth of modernity, as art became a moral force within society. Contemporary artists of the 20th and 21st centuries have a greater awareness of the social political struggles around the world than their predecessors. Today there is a proliferation of artists engaging in political and ideological struggles and communicating their ideas with a public audience. Digital graffiti offers the public a place of engagement and a forum for discussion on issues in contemporary culture. Social political art is not only created as a personal response from the artist, it is a direct response to the viewers' culture. The street art community has established an online presence that chronicles its past and unites it present.