STREET ART HOMEWORK

 Copy the following lesson in your exercise book (up to picture 5)

STREET ART

Street art: It’s the creating of visual things put up in public locations where they will be beautiful, funny or provocative. Independent public art, post-graffiti or neo-graffiti can be included in street art and can also be related to urban-art and guerrilla art.

A variety of techniques can be used:     -Graffiti

                                                           - Spray paint

                                                           - Stencil

                                                           - Wheat pasted

                                                           - Sticker

                                                           - Clean tag /Dusting tag or Reverse graffiti

                                                           - Street installations

                                                           - Sculpture

                                                           - Video projection

                                                           - Yarn Bombing

Page 80

On picture 1, a stencilled image on a supermarket wall in London. It’s made by Banksy and it condemns this supermarket for selling goods made by children. It’s a protest against child labour and criticizes big stores for selling controversial products.

On picture 2, an effective mural poster by Shepard Fairey on Hollywwod Boulevard, California. It’s useful for Obama’s campaign.

Picture3. It’s a very realistic sculpture located in front of a store in America and represents a woman whose head is in a bin liner (GB) / garbage bag (US). It’s pretty / I find it/ disturbing.

I think it criticizes consumerism / the consumer society, big shops throw too much garbage, people buy useless items / stuff and accumulate goods.

Picture4:

This graffiti made by Banksy is very provocative and funny. Drawing/ doing graffiti in town is illegal. As usual, Banksy stencilled his work of political and social commentary. This piece pays tribute to anarchist and women rights activist Emma Goldman who said”If voting changed anything it would be illegal”. OK, real graffiti (legal graffiti) does have the effect to change, however smaller and illegal one is better and more efficient! The piece is painted in bright red colour (check the symbol) and below the text, there’s Banksy’s signature: a stencilled rat in black & white with its left paw covered in red colour. Signing a tag is a way of marking your territory.

Picture5:

This clean tag (stencil + washer) by Moose Curtis appeared alongside a motorway in San Francisco. The author disapproves of driving cars instead of public transport. He praises nature, the forests and fights pollution. He’s probably an adept of president Macron’s slogan: Make our planet great again! And he is definitely an environment activist

How to describe an artwork ( or a piece)?
I have to admit that it’s not as easy to be in front of a piece of work and say some relevant things about it but still, what you can think about is the message, technique and location.
Now remember that you’ve already done the job when you had to describe a picture (useful for your A2 English oral test). Go back to your exercise books.
For instance on page 82 “art or vandalism” what you can say about Banksy’s piece after the usual introduction is that you can see two troublesome children. The young barefoot boy is standing on the back of an other one to reach a can of spray paint hidden a graffiti is a crime” sign. Street art is fuelled by rebel youth (symbol of youth: the future) and the sign puts forward the same remark: It’s beautiful but illegal! The artist is deliberately provocative, he’s against the SYSYTEM. No matter if it’s illegal, he’s ready to stand against the police even though, he doesn’t want to get caught. Believe it or not, 12 hours after Banksy finished his stencil, someone vandalised it!
“How to express your opinion” has already been done, go back to your exercise books and books on page 85
OK, your turn now: page 84; answer to questions 1& 2 then describe the image.