Street Art (?)

What constitutes art? This is a question that I'm sure is asked everyday, mainly to bored school children who would rather be playing killing mafia bosses or pretending to play Scrabble or doing something similarly pointless. It is a question that I first asked myself way back at the beginning of the year. I did a lesson on photography, and as homework the teacher asked them to bring in their favourite photograph and 200 words on why they like it so much. From a class of 20, 4 of them had all bizarrely chosen a photograph of an American aircraft carrier. I later discovered that this photo had appeared in that morning's edition of Heute, the Austrian equivalent of the Metro, only much MUCH worse. So, while some of them didn't take it seriously, there were a couple who really did. I saw some holiday photos, and some of old relatives, and one, which struck me as interesting was of a piece of graffiti. I knew that this student was interested in street art, because in the first lesson with them when I asked what they recommended in Vienna, he told me about some walls where it is legal to paint. And it really got me thinking. Is Street Art really art?

Around where I used to live there was a lot of graffiti. There is a lot of graffiti in my new Bezirk. Is it art? No. It is mainly meaningless scribble, a name at best. I thought I had a photograph of some but I can't seem to find it. Sometimes I feel that I am in the minority because I don't feel the need to go around scrawling my name on the side of a building, or spraying a line along a wall. In my mind, there is no question- these tags ARE NOT ART. But is this true of all graffiti?

I remember a couple of years back (quite a few now, actually!) I bought "Wall and Peace", containing examples of Banksy's work. I loved it. For Christmas this year, I was bought "Exit Through The Gift Shop", a film about various street artists. It was really interesting. Dad also seemed to be quite captivated by it, I remember seeing him perusing the book several times, and he watched the film with me. Mum, on the other hand was not so impressed. I don't think she could see past the illegal activity of defacing someone else's property. I'm not saying that either of these opinions are wrong, just pointing out that some people say it's art, and some disagree. Over the course of the year, I have photographed a lot of street art.

 This banana is done with a very simple stencil, yet it looks really good. I like it. Do I like where I found it? No, it was on Albertinaplatz, in the historic city centre.

 These beetles are also a stencil. I think they work really well. Also, they are down by the side of the canal where they are not disturbing anyone.

 Along the sides of the Donaukanal are these walls where street art is permitted. Some of it is funny, like this bra, while others are topical. Gadaffi, take note.

 I <3 Boy is everywhere. I don't know what it means, but it's kind of cool. What's more, it is not done in places of historic beauty.

 "Ois Guade", or "Alles Gute" in Real German means "all the best" a random phrase to paint, I feel, but I think it is a nice thing to say so I think the artist didn't spray the wall out of malice or for any sinister reasons, he was merely trying to brighten the place up. He succeeded.

 I really like these people, I can't remember if I've posted it before, actually. It makes me think of the Wieners. The man in his top hat, still clinging on to the Imperial past. The woman in her fancy clothes, thinking she's better than everyone else. The teenage boy, who is just like every single one of my students, particularly with the cigarette hanging from his mouth, and lastly the waiter, without whom I genuinely believe the city would fall apart.

 The word "whom" has long been a bone of contention among some of my friends. Some use it, others insist it is redundant. I belong to the former camp, and am always pleased to see grammatically correct paintings.

 I LOVE this next one. It is part of a huuuuge painting, it takes up the whole wall of a tunnel. Clearly a lot of work went into preparing it, and I think that if some of these things appeared in galleries, they would recieve huge critical acclaim rather than being criticised, just because they are outside.

 This one reminds me of someone. Can you guess who?

 I took this picture ages ago, in October or something. I remember thinking at the time "If I were clever, and a respected artist, I would call this The Death of Summer" because it was taken just as the seasons were changing but the chairs were still there from the summer.

 The graffiti/street art style is clearly popular, because this was a bike repair shop by the side of the Donau which had intentionally been sprayed like this.

 And now we're back to stencils. This one is probably my favourite. I took the picture in winter, you can't see it at all now because the vines have grown over it. Maybe if I were the kind of person to read too much into things I would comment on how the artist put it here intentionally, to comment on the transience of love. But I'm not that kind of person, so I won't.

 One of the artists I remember seeing in the Banksy film was Space Invader. I don't think I would ever have noticed his work if I hadn't seen the film. There are quite a few examples of it in Vienna, most of them are quite small and high up, only noticed by people who are really looking.

So...to answer my question. Is "Street Art" ART? I would say yes. There is a time and a place, it is not always appropriate, but there are clearly a lot of talented people out there and I think it's a shame that they don't always get the same recognition as "normal" artists. I think a lot of people think it all looks the same. Well, I think a lot of old paintings all look the same and I'm not really a fan of those, but it doesn't make them any less valid.

PS I know it is highly ironic that it is only now, in my last couple of weeks in Vienna that I actually get round to posting something with an actual structure and theme. Maybe I will try harder henceforth.