Post-Graffiti in Lisbon: On spatial localization and market absorption

Graffiti-making has been historically well located within the politics of territoriality/ transgression, deindustrialization/ decline, appropriation/ affirmation and other such inter-related frameworks. Such historicizations exist in parallel to a history of institutionalization of graffiti-making,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rohit Revi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: DINÂMIA’CET – IUL, Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial Studies 2017-12-01
Series:Cidades, Comunidades e Território
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/cidades/556
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850129684523646976
author Rohit Revi
author_facet Rohit Revi
author_sort Rohit Revi
collection DOAJ
description Graffiti-making has been historically well located within the politics of territoriality/ transgression, deindustrialization/ decline, appropriation/ affirmation and other such inter-related frameworks. Such historicizations exist in parallel to a history of institutionalization of graffiti-making, leading up to the first emergence of the phrase post-graffiti in the discourse. The post-graffiti has alternatively and independently also been used to describe an empirically observed shift in graffiti-making practices; from the typographical to the iconographical.In this context, the operationalization of a set of urban intervention policies by the Lisbon City Council provide an interesting inroad into the processes that underlie the market absorption of graffiti. Through a field analysis of street art in Lisbon as well as an examination of the intervention policy and its consequences, this paper presents that the intervention policies and associated public rhetoric manufactured a binary of order-disorder within the practices of graffiti-making, enabling graffiti and graffiti-making practices in Lisbon to be spatially localized. Such spatial localization, in turn, facilitated market activities surrounding graffiti. For the graffiti and the graffiti-makers, state/administrative sanction and the emergence of market activities meant heightened security, safety and a greater audience field – conditions that made iconographical aesthetics a virtue and a greater necessity. Thus, the post-graffiti shift in aesthetics has to be understood within the context of institutionalization of street art enabled by urban interventions and contemporary capitalism.
format Article
id doaj-art-12004b79c58749d3abd783408d60a414
institution OA Journals
issn 2182-3030
language English
publishDate 2017-12-01
publisher DINÂMIA’CET – IUL, Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial Studies
record_format Article
series Cidades, Comunidades e Território
spelling doaj-art-12004b79c58749d3abd783408d60a4142025-08-20T02:32:53ZengDINÂMIA’CET – IUL, Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial StudiesCidades, Comunidades e Território2182-30302017-12-0135Post-Graffiti in Lisbon: On spatial localization and market absorptionRohit ReviGraffiti-making has been historically well located within the politics of territoriality/ transgression, deindustrialization/ decline, appropriation/ affirmation and other such inter-related frameworks. Such historicizations exist in parallel to a history of institutionalization of graffiti-making, leading up to the first emergence of the phrase post-graffiti in the discourse. The post-graffiti has alternatively and independently also been used to describe an empirically observed shift in graffiti-making practices; from the typographical to the iconographical.In this context, the operationalization of a set of urban intervention policies by the Lisbon City Council provide an interesting inroad into the processes that underlie the market absorption of graffiti. Through a field analysis of street art in Lisbon as well as an examination of the intervention policy and its consequences, this paper presents that the intervention policies and associated public rhetoric manufactured a binary of order-disorder within the practices of graffiti-making, enabling graffiti and graffiti-making practices in Lisbon to be spatially localized. Such spatial localization, in turn, facilitated market activities surrounding graffiti. For the graffiti and the graffiti-makers, state/administrative sanction and the emergence of market activities meant heightened security, safety and a greater audience field – conditions that made iconographical aesthetics a virtue and a greater necessity. Thus, the post-graffiti shift in aesthetics has to be understood within the context of institutionalization of street art enabled by urban interventions and contemporary capitalism.https://journals.openedition.org/cidades/556Lisbonstreet artpost-graffititransgressionmarket absorption
spellingShingle Rohit Revi
Post-Graffiti in Lisbon: On spatial localization and market absorption
Cidades, Comunidades e Território
Lisbon
street art
post-graffiti
transgression
market absorption
title Post-Graffiti in Lisbon: On spatial localization and market absorption
title_full Post-Graffiti in Lisbon: On spatial localization and market absorption
title_fullStr Post-Graffiti in Lisbon: On spatial localization and market absorption
title_full_unstemmed Post-Graffiti in Lisbon: On spatial localization and market absorption
title_short Post-Graffiti in Lisbon: On spatial localization and market absorption
title_sort post graffiti in lisbon on spatial localization and market absorption
topic Lisbon
street art
post-graffiti
transgression
market absorption
url https://journals.openedition.org/cidades/556
work_keys_str_mv AT rohitrevi postgraffitiinlisbononspatiallocalizationandmarketabsorption