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STREET ART
Facades – moving with the times
Dear readers,
on this special form of artistic expression which has
chosen the architectural surfaces of the urban envi-
Is graffiti a form of artistic expression or pure vandal-
ronment as its canvas.
ism? Keith Haring would appear to have answered
this question once and for all. Many a caretaker
In the 1970s, this was undoubtedly a reaction against
nevertheless seems to lack an appreciation of graf-
what was seen as a bleak and hostile urban landscape
fiti‘s artistic credentials – or an understanding of a
and as such, a protest against the excesses of the
young artists‘ motivation. Architects may also find it
building industry. But what is the significance of
difficult to welcome such unsolicited embellishments
graffiti in 2011? As a precautionary measure, we at
with open arms, especially when their own buildings
RENOLIT have invented the RENOLIT EXOFOL FX film
provide the “canvas“.
to cope with any artistic mishaps. Artists who are not
content with their graffiti can simply wipe it off this
The graffiti adorning Alvaro Siza‘s apartment building
film surface and replace it with a new work.
which was erected at the time of the Berlin International Building Exhibition in 1984 has since acquired
We hope you will enjoy reading this new issue
legendary status. The building stood for a long time
of Colour Road, the architecture magazine from
with this protest art on its facade, etching itself into
RENOLIT.
the collective consciousness of the architectural
world. The strict linearity in Siza‘s architecture proved
more than a match for the Berlin sprayer‘s works. We
nevertheless visited the Portuguese Pritzker award
winner‘s office to find out what this graffiti meant to
Yours,
him at the time. You can read his answer in this issue
Pierre Winant
of Colour Road – along with various other features
Board Member, RENOLIT SE
in the areas where they lived in 1968. Following the first
feature on a “writer”, who went by the name of Taki 183
in the New York Times in 1971, the movement took on undreamt of proportions. The “pieces” , as the letter-based
works are known, became increasingly extravagant in order
to set them apart from the rest of the graffiti on offer.
The movement also spread to Europe. In Paris, stencils and
posters were used to communicate political views. Graffiti
art entered a new dimension with Keith Haring in New York
and Blek le Rat in Paris in the 1980s, followed a little later
by Banksy in London. Around the time of the millennium it
experienced a veritable boom, due in part to developments
in media. As in the beginning, the artists continued to act
unlawfully, autonomously and outside of the art establishment. The works were public and accessible to everyone,
turning the urban environment into a gallery. Long gone
were the days when graffiti artists restricted themselves
to a single work. Walking through London, Banksy‘s rat
stencils are in evidence throughout the city, as are Blek le
Rat‘s rodents in Paris. They create their own narrative as
they “run” through the city. In Berlin it is Kripoe‘s yellow
fists, and in Granada the moving pictures of “El niño de
las pinturas” (“The child of the paintings”) that appear on
walls telling their own stories. In Granada, the pictures
have even been compiled into a catalogue and while travel agencies offer graffiti sightseeing trips, the municipal
authorities have fined the artist for vandalism and damage to property!
Despite these examples of graffiti enriching the urban
environment, it remains illegal to spray graffiti – which is
clearly part of the thrill for the artists involved. Most graffiti is painted over very soon after it has been produced,
and many works have very short lives. This ensures that
this form of personal expression is always highly topical
and developing at a fast pace akin to the breakneck speed
of “streetlife”.
Photo: ©Giuliano Maciocci Fotolia.com
Ever since ancient times, the street has been seen as an
urban space for communication and public debate. Until
the invention of radio and television, public places were
where news was spread and the latest information exchanged. Today, the presence of masses on the streets is
still understood to be a proclamation of dissatisfaction,
protest and resistance – indeed, such mass gatherings
now have an even greater impact than in former times
due to their rarity. While the urban environment remains
a stage for protests – as this spring has shown – its
significance as a venue for ongoing debate and communication has diminished.
The emergence of the automobile as a mass-produced phenomenon in the 20th century brought great changes to the
way pubic space was used. The street increasingly became
a place of fast-paced movement in specific directions. The
pleasant little alleys and squares of old established towns
gave way to wide carriageways and the streets became noisy
with increasing flows of traffic. Since the 1960s, various
events in the art scene drew attention to this phenomenon
of the dehumanisation of public space, examples being the
actions by the Situation ists in the 1960s and the “Reclaim
the Streets” events in the 1990s. In cities throughout the
world, artistic intervention in the urban environment has
long become an integral part of daily life. Artists take direct
action, for the most part anonymously and illegally and often as a mark of rebellion against long-established norms;
whether it is against the art and museum establishment or
against the transformation of architectural environments
into commercial billboards.
Graffiti (from the Italian “graffito”, plural “graffiti” – an
inscription scratched in stone) was the main springboard
of street art, and remains its best known form today . It
covers a broad spectrum, from lettering through stencils
and murals to the more recent light graffiti. Young New
Yorkers began writing their names on exposed surfaces
Banksy
B r i t i s h S p ra y e r B a n k s y i s a rg u a b l y t h e b e s t - k n o w n
s t re e t a r t i s t a ro u n d – d e s p i t e h i s g re a t e f f o r t s t o
c o n c e a l h i s i d e n t i t y. H e h a s b e e n a c t i v e t h ro u g h o u t
t h e w o r l d s i n c e t h e 1 9 9 0 s. A s w e l l a s i n E u ro p e , h i s
w o rks can be fo und i n A ust ral i a, Israel , Cu b a, M ex i c o
and Mali. His works also make regular appearances in
m us e um s, in s o m e in st an c es h avi ng b een hung t h ere
b y t h e ar t i st h i m sel f ! Wi t h a d r y sense o f hum o u r, h e
c r i t i c i ses so c i et y an d p o l i t i c s, as w el l as h u m an t rai t s
suc h as g reed , h yp o c r i sy and c o n su m er i sm . A l t h o u g h
hi s w o r k s are f req uent l y c o nd em n ed as vand al i sm , he
has achieved worldwide fame and at an auction in
New Yo r k i n 2 0 0 8 , o n e o f h i s w o r k s reac h ed t h e o n e
m i l l i o n d o l l ar m ar k !
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Bonjour Tristesse
The Schlesisches Tor apartment building was completed in Berlin
Kreuzberg as part of the 1984 International Building Exhibition,
built to plans by Alvaro Siza. On completion, the corner building featuring a sleek, sweeping facade attracted the attentions
of a sprayer, who duly applied the message “Bonjour Tristesse”
around the eye-shaped opening on the gable. Alvaro Siza‘s initial
response was to have the area painted over but as the plaster was integrally coloured, this was not possible. Replacing the
plaster only at this spot would have given it more prominence,
and replastering the entire building was financially unviable. The
architect therefore had no choice but to leave it as it was. The
romantic idea circulating in some trade media at the time that
Siza had commissioned the graffiti himself is untrue. Irrespective
of the quality of the pictures, the architect is not especially fond
of graffiti, comparing it to paintings being hung in one‘s own
house against one‘s will!
Foto: Georg Slickers/Wikimedia Commons
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Seres Queridos
The international project “Seres Queridos/Etres Aimes” (Loved
Ones) began in 2010 in Monterrey, Mexico. The original idea came
from ARTO - Art Beyond Museums (Mexico) and Nobulo, a Spanish
organisation which seeks to forge links between different Communities through artistic and cultural projects. Starting from the
premise that a city gets its appeal not only from its architecture
and history, but also from its people; with the aid of the municipal
authorities they invited the local residents to choose characters of
their liking. The unsung heroes, the likes of whom we encounter
every day (from the car park attendant in the old quarter to the
bookshop owner who has been selling second-hand books in the
street for years). Portraits of these people were then produced
by a group of internationally recognised graffiti artists. Not for a
museum, but for the city itself. Giant portraits of their faces now
adorn large areas in the city centre which would otherwise have
been used for large-format advertising posters. While an argument ensued about the difference between art and vandalism, the
majority quickly accepted the new works of art. The project has
continued in Campeche, Mexico and is currently in Paris.
ISSUE | 02
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Photos: NOBULO & ARTO
Graffi
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RENOLIT
R
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ffer
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embellishments
ts can be rem
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v d simply
simpply
ly and swiftly from surfaces finished with
wiith RENOLIT
moved
EEX
XXOF
OFOL
OF
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FX film.
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EXOFOL
Photos: RENOLIT SE
ISSUE | 02
Explore
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Publisher‘s details
RENOLIT SE
Monika Fecht
Horchheimer Str. 50
67547 Worms – Germany
www.renolit.com
www.renolit.com/colourroad
Tel:
+49 6241 303-377
Fax:
+49 6241 38058
E-mail: cr@renolit.com
Design and editing:
GKT – Gesellschaft für Knowhow-Transfer in
Architektur und Bauwesen mbH
Leinfelden-Echterdingen – Germany