seeing this clever subversive hilton advertisement by vinchen brings to the foreground an idea i’ve been toying with for a couple of weeks – framing graffiti – or how to make guerilla art acceptable. andy warhol once said that people don’t really like art, but it’s hung very nicely in museums. by the same token, so long as things are nicely hung (and framed) they can pass in the public sphere – even when somewhat subversive. of course the trick is how much they can subvert without attracting unwanted attention and being taken down. many framed pieces of graffiti aren’t really subversive at all, like these humorous signs made in the style of official labels:
on the other hand, you can also attract attention to real issues in such a way that no one is empowered to remove the offensive sign – as with memorials. in an exception to the rule, i’ll post my own piece – untimely deaths at MIT – because i believe that the real job of graffiti, to democratize public space, can be expanded to fill the omissions in mainstream media.
oh, and check out the entire culture jamming page on wooster collective whenever you have a chance