Robin's+EE

__ Research question __ Ok, initially the question I was thinking of was something like… “Has the commercialisation and profiteering of street art reduced its validity as an art form????” but I’ve changed my mind slightly and now I want to focus on something along the lines of “has the act of using/selling/displaying street art in a location different to that one intended reduced its validity as an art-form”; as this includes more aspects such as museum exhibitions etc.

The move to a less loaded/judgmental research question is a good one! Now you need to narrow your focus to a specific artist or group of artists in an accessible location (Rome? Manchester?) GM
__ Research so far __ So far, my research has consisted mainly of internet forums, discussion, articles and videos. I tried to keep these resources as international as possible so they are from places like Portugal, Brazil, France, USA and UK. I really like street art and have a rather substantial collection of books. I went through them all and some are very useful (one is about street art prints) but others are more like photo albums and have less writing. On top of that I recently watched “Exit through the gift shop” a film produced in collation with banksy that documents the history of modern street art. === Again - you must focus on work that you can view at first hand. If you are going for an Italian focus you should probably include reference to [|Mimmo Rotella] ===

Some further mention of other transposed site specific art would also establish a broader context (church alta rs in galleries)
__ Research I plan to undertake __ Well, this summer I plan to visit some street art exhibitions in and around Manchester [|www.streetart.co.uk] has a list of SOME exhibitions but there are others around and about. I want to take some surveys as well but I’m worried I’ll get STABBED UP, but I’d target people with different backgrounds from different social sectors. OH and i have been looking at more text-based books on amazon. I’ve probably forgotten something but whatever I’ll update this later. You should have targetted some specific exhibitions by now __ Specific Research __ When visiting exhibitions I plan to approach curators (hopefully without scaring them), But another group of people I want to talk to are the artists themselves. NOW THIS WO’T HAPPEN WITH THE BIG PLAYERS but less known (but still prolific) artists, like vihls, buff monster, bild, give contact details on their websites. So I’ll pester them that way. I’ll try talking to critics too (I’ll have to look for relevant ones though). == Speaking to a range of relevant people is useful, but you need to narrow your focus to 2 or 3 artists at most and be able to refer to the visual qualities of specific artworks - this is a VA extended essay so must focus on visual qualities and how they reflect social and cultural issues. ==

__ POSSIBLE HYPOTHESIS __ WEEEEELL, After the research I’ve done so far it’s safe to say that there are motives on both sides of the argument but I feel that the use/display/selling of street art in an unintended location eliminates motives behind the reasons for street art. I feel that these actions declassify the work as street art. Moreover, it represents street art falsely and nullifies intended meanings and messages.

**ROB: Lazarides Gallery (Banksy, Invader etc etc):**
[]

here is my last draft of my essay. I know now that i need to FOCUS more on three or four pieces and look at the first "wave" of street art (habasquiatring, basquiat) I just want you to know that, despite, perhaps doing a bit wrong that i have been trying hard.

=== **Okay Robin you have been trying hard. However you have ignored much of the advice I gave you above! You must avoid over-reliance on subjective personal opinions and focus instead upon specific examples that both support and challenge the viewpoints that are emerging as a result of a balanced exploration of your research question. as you will see from them Morganized version I give you quite a few suggestions. However the most important thing treated in our to narrow your focus down to accessible artworks.** ===



=== **As the Manchester plan doesn't seem to have worked out you should proceed instead with Street Art located in Rome. Fortunately I should be to introduce you to a curator who has worked with Invader and possibly a couple of other museum curators here in Rome. You are going to have to get off the Internet, get an all day Metro pass and travel around the city with your camera seeking out Invader's Trail of pieces. The fact that he sold a map of his locations as an artwork in its own right is a very interesting bridge between his gallery pieces and those located in weird and wonderful spaces in the city of Rome. Are you ready for the adventure?** ===

**The rest you can find for yourself....**
**// How does relocation from an urban environment to traditional gallery and museum spaces, impact upon the form, function and validity of ‘Street Art’? //**  Ok Rob – in light of the recent interview I think that you should return to what you have written (which is mostly very good, if somewhat lacking in specific evidence/examples) and chop it all up to fit the section headings that I have suggested: Keep the interview as a continuous critical thread and be ready to accept grey areas – don’t expect a clear answer! Paulo’s interview itself was thrilling, but inevitably full of contradictions… You do need to keep this within the scope of a Visual Arts EE – that means more images and careful dissection of those images – including formal description- otherwise this becomes an anthropological study of the artists’ politics rather than an art-focussed study of their work and the contexts in which is created and exhibited.
 * ** Part 1: Form, Function & Validity (explaining main forms of street Art, how it is created and why?) **
 * ** Part 2 From Basquiat to Banksy: The transition from street to gallery spaces (you can work this out for yourself!) **
 * ** Part 3 InvaderRoma (A case study of a specific blurring of street/gallery distinctions) **
 * ** Conclusion **