teaching art movements: street art

      Street art is art, specifically visual art, developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, sculpture, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art, and street installations. Typically, the term street art or the more specific post-graffiti is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art.

Traditional street painting on a whole new level. 

      Artists have challenged art by situating it in non-art contexts. ‘Street’ artists do not aspire to change the definition of an artwork, but rather to question the existing environment with its own language. They attempt to have their work communicate with everyday people about socially relevant themes in ways that are informed by esthetic values without being imprisoned by them. John Fekner defines street art as "all art on the street that’s not graffiti".

Riverdance flashmob in Central Station Sydney.

      Whereas traditional graffiti artists have primarily used free-hand aerosol paints to produce their works, "street art" encompasses many other media and techniques, including: LED art, mosaic tiling, murals, stencil art, sticker art, "Lock On" street sculptures, street installations, wheatpasting, woodblocking, video projection, and yarn bombing. New media forms of graffiti, such as projection onto large city buildings, are an increasingly popular tool for street artists—and the availability of cheap hardware and software allows street artists to become more competitive with corporate advertisements. Much like open source software, artists are able to create art for the public realm from their personal computers, similarly creating things for free which compete with companies making things for profit.

Yarnbombing

 

      Traditional graffiti also has increasingly been adopted as a method for advertising; its trajectory has even in some cases led its artists to work on contract as graphic artists for corporations. Nevertheless, street art is a label often adopted by artists who wish to keep their work unaffiliated and strongly political. Street artists are those whose work is still largely done without official approval in public areas.

      For these reasons street art is sometimes considered "post-graffiti" and sometimes even "neo-graffiti." Street art can be found around the world and street artists often travel to other countries foreign to them so they can spread their designs. Read more . . .

Street Art Documentary:

• Rock Fresh (2004), a documentary film about the challenging world of the graffiti artist
• RASH (2005), a feature length documentary by Mutiny Media exploring the cultural value of Australian street art and graffiti
• Bomb It (2008), a documentary film about graffiti and street art around the world
• Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), a documentary created by the artist Banksy about Thierry Guetta
• Roadsworth: Crossing the Line (2007), a documentary film about the legal struggle of Montreal street artist Roadsworth
• Street Art Awards (2010), opening of the street art festival in Berlin
• [Las Calles Hablan] (2013), Las Calles Hablan, a feature length documentary about street art in Barcelona