Over the past few months I have stumbled across many forms of small ephemera on the street, which could fit into the category of 'street art'. Short messages and positive messages seen on stickers, walls and inside bars. Here are some images:
"Those pants really work for you. Looking great!" a message on a sticker in a typewriter font stuck to a lamppost in Iceland. A great example of a small note aimed at anyone passing by with the intention to induce positive feelings about oneself. Also quite humorous.
"Positive Vibes Only" this message was painted on the wall of a bar
in Reykjavik, Iceland. Although inside the bar and not on the street, it reinforces the kind of attitude the bar has and represents the place.
"Take time to be kind" a small message found in Hyde Park, Leeds. While I imagine this wasn't written by a developed street artist, the idea of erecting positive messages has become part of the vandalism within this area. Different from the scribbles and illegible name tags, at least.
Slightly irrelevant, but this "sharing is the key" sign was in the locker area for the MACAB gallery in Barcelona. Using play on word key in two different senses, relevant to the space for lockers.
Art in Parc Guell, Barcelona. Distinct lettering skill and examples include this 'Candie' piece which has connotations of the beach in its colour and sits within a large stretch of wall covered in both illustration and text. This wall of graffiti showed various artist styles, though this piece of typographic work stood out to me as well crafted and structured letters. Hand lettering such as this can be much more noticeable than the amateur styles of many graffiti tags, though this may just be my point of view as a designer.
This piece also sat on the same stretch of wall, a pictorial image of a mythical creature with words "Art is free: boycott privatisation of parks" written in its stomach. A clear call out at authority to rethink possible decisions and a voice of the people it would be affecting.
The colours and style of lettering below along with accompanying symbol clearly depict danger, especially when placed along barbed wire and restricting barriers. This is an example of placing a work in context that gives it greater meaning. Though not actually written on the physical walls of the city, its place in the street adds to the visual appearance of the city, in this area particularly envisions authoritarian and restricted sections. Underneath there is another effort at street writing on the wall rather than a pre-made sign.
Keith Haring's mural in Barcelona by the Museum of Contemporary Arts stretches lengthways across the wall of a "dilapidated building", a spot between Carrer Robadors and Carrer Sant Pau, at Placa Salvador Segui. The wall at the time was littered with syringes and at the time was part of the seedy neighbourhood known as Barrio Chino, which inspired Haring to choose this spot as the perfect site for his fight against aids mural.
Todos Juntos Podemos Parar El Sida - Together We Can Stop Aids (1989)
He used plastic paint straight on to the wall, and the border at the sides and bottom creates a frame around the piece as if the space was meant for the artwork. In fact, the site-specific art takes into consideration all elements of the culture of this district in Barcelona of the time, making the mural relative to the specific time and place it was painted. The area is now known as Raval and has a much better community, though the famous mural remains intact having been preserved a couple of times since the original painting.
"Given the state of the wall, the Raval mural was conceived as an ephemeral work. After a while, it was ruined by environmental degradation and human interventions such as additional graffiti. Moreover, the building was affected by the Special Plan for Interior Reform in the Raval: it was going to be demolished. Shortly before the implementation of the plan, the City Hall reached an agreement with the artist’s heirs and MACBA whereby the surface was transferred to a new support, preserving the original paint. A restoration team hired by the Ajuntament de Barcelona began the process of transferring the mural in September 1992. The transfer was later deposited at MACBA.
A proposition to move the entire wall stone by stone was discarded due to its state of disrepair, and because the option was seen as having an archaeological character that went against the spirit of Haring’s original work."
(http://www.macba.cat/en/todos-juntos-podemos-parar-el-sida-1465)
The image below shows painted type on the left, probably with use of stencils, and on the right side a large scale definition of the spanish verb 'ravalejar'. This piece is pasted in several areas of El Raval, a district in Barcelona which conveys an insecure image. The piece is a kind of joke for the locals, and is a campaign intending to bring new visitors to the district by creating this new term 'ravalejar' which intended to "create a brand personality for the neighbourhood: a way of life, of feeling, of doing things. The verb represents the edgy attitude and nervous energy of the Raval, is deliberately ill-defined and meant to be interpreted in an individual way. To ravalejar, simply visit and take in the atmosphere of the Raval and have fun in the wide range of bars and clubs".
(http://geographyfieldwork.com/Ravalejar.htm)
Some other typographic artwork I found on the streets of Barcelona are shown below, as it's in a different language I've been looking more at the style and composition of the pieces, the first seems to be more of an engagement with the audience to look at and read certain words, with enough variation in letterforms for the eye to travel back and forth across the canvas. Someone has also sprayed over the piece, which shows the temporary nature of street art pieces as a finished artwork, different from the protected work in galleries. The second image seems to be more of a restriction or warning sign, due to the colours used and symbol in the centre, and it's placement below a fence of barbed wire and at the top of a wall.
In the North West of England I found some typographic work on the shutters of shops by the seafront. Clearly done with spray paint and using the whole canvas to fill with colour
Also used to advertise or promote the shop itself, with lettering mirroring the shop name:
In Liverpool, Bold Street there is a painted sign to promote a coffee shop:
By using a waved, irregular aesthetic it reflects the steam of coffee especially with the dividing lines between the two sections of text. This piece was large scale in the middle of two shops and was quite engaging with the contrasting colour against a dark wall and handmade aesthetic. Roughly the same size as a bus stop advertisement but simple with clear message.
Also saw an amateur street art stencil on the side of a bin. Language typical of Liverpudlian, humorous and informal / colloquial language and home made finish/quality. Still aimed at audience especially with message that uses medium away from television; there are other forms of outlet to get information and see things
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