Abstract - Dan Wever

Our public spaces, as defined by Jurgen Habermas’ theory of the “Public Sphere,” are increasingly being invaded by private influences. In modern society, the private sector has colonized public spaces by flooding visual environments with advertisements, the simulacra of products. Street art, a burgeoning art movement, combats this colonization by placing artwork in the streets and other private areas, consequently creating an antagonistic tension between the iconography of the advertisements and the street artwork. Antagonism in the streets causes these images to be “ephemeral,” a condition that makes them not just something that the public is forced to “read” but can also “write” over. There are three essential characteristics of street art: site-specificity, the Situationist concept of “detournement,” and the interaction/participation of the public. Site-specificity involves situating the art piece in a context in which it cannot be ignored, the streets, thus invigorating the public. By rearranging the imagery of advertisements, detournement turns the content of an advertisement into a critique of the situation of the modern capitalist city. And interaction/participation is essential in maintaining a healthy democracy, and thus is integral to the practice of street art. These three elements combined enable street art to create a democratic public sphere by facilitating a public dialogue among the inhabitants of the city, the public.

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