Street art and public space the subject of “Living Walls: The City Speaks,” coming in August by Catherine Fox

Art & Design

Street art and public space the subject of “Living Walls: The City Speaks,” coming in August

By Catherine Fox | Jun 23, 2010

Got a spare wall that could use some art? Monica Campana would like to talk to you. She and Blacki Li Rudi Migliozzi are the duo behind “Living Walls: The City Speaks,” a colloquium and exhibitions using street art to address urbanism and public space, and vice versa.

Doodles, a 22-year-old Californian, painted the first official "Living Walls" mural near Ralph David Albernathy Boulevard and White Street

Their ambitious project has attracted artists from three continents, who will join locals to participate in the August 13 conference and two exhibits at Eyedrum gallery. One is a large display of wheat-paste posters; the other is gallery-type artworks.

In a departure from the norm for graffiti art, the organizers are seeking permission from property owners to use their walls for the outdoor event. That’s where the volunteer wall-owners come in. You can send inquiries to livingwallsconference@gmail.com.

Jordan Siler and Jeff Ferrell will deliver keynote addresses at the August 13 colloquium, to be held at Georgia Tech. Siler, who runs the Public Ad Campaign, has engaged in guerrilla actions to call attention to the pervasive practice of mounting commercial ads illegally, and with impunity. Ferrell, a sociology professor at Texas Christian University, wrote “Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality.”

Migliozzi says he plans to use this bully pulpit to push for a municipal tax on advertisements in public spaces to fund public art, as promoted by the “Beautiful City” movement.

Campana and Migliozzi are still in fund-raising mode. Mint Gallery is hosting a silent auction, organized with Dashboard co-op, this Saturday, June 26. Dodekapus Art Collective is helping put on a carnival on July 2. For details on both, see the Living Walls Facebook page. You can make donations through Kickstarter.

3 Comments

Cynthia Gentry

1

I think this is one of the most fantastic things to come to Atlanta in a long time. I’m thrilled that this exists. Hopefully this will bring some respect to the good work that is out there. Just like parkour can make a city a playground, graffiti (the good stuff) can make a city a work of art.

23 Jun
Artisan

2

This is great. It is time we had this discussion in Atlanta.
There is a difference between street art and vandalism. Just because someone paints their name in 12′ high letters (Hense/Born/Toesucker/etc) on a wall does not make it art. If those ‘tags’ are on private building, without permission it is vandalism. Tagging is territory marking, and is fair game in the tagging world to get retagged. Graffiti artists tend to have more respect for established art, such as the Watershed Mural or other large artistic expressions even on unauthorized walls. The dilemma we have in Atlanta is: what is vandalism and what is art? What surfaces are fair game and what should be respected ‘as is.’ Is it really art to tag those large stone walls on Moreland Ave. south of Little Five Points? My opinion, No! It shows a high disrespect for public structures and the art of masonry. Moving on to Krog Street Bridge.. Here is a rotating show of skilled art, bad tagging, and shameless promotion. The neighborhood obviously embraces this structure as an open canvas. Unfortunately the rest of Dekalb Ave (Graffiti Alley) is fighting tags that vandalize private property and public retaining walls and the MARTA track columns. Then we have what I call ‘prefab graffiti’, those annoying plastic signs that popup on utility poles and along the public right of ways, such as greenspaces, all over town. The signs are pimping such questionable businesses as $99 carpet cleaning, work from home, affordable insurance and various mortgage scams. These signs are against state, county, and city ordinances, yet no one enforces it. Perhaps that is why our good politicians break these same laws in a year round campaign cycle. Our aspiring public servants are just as guilty as taggers when it comes to illegally defiling our public spaces. Even when they know they are breaking the law, they claim they have a ‘right to get their message out’, and therefore they can illegally clutter our greenspaces for over a year. I find these signs just as offensive as tagging. Amidst so much clutter it is hard to see the ‘Art.’

23 Jun
Artisan

3

See the rude discussion about this grafitti vandalism on City Hall East here:
http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2010/06/18/graffiti-atop-city-hall-east-cool-or-uncool
Makes me wonder about the aesthetics of ATL.

23 Jun

ArtsCriticATL.com

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