Street Art - Art

This week for art we have started looking at street art. Street art is quite popular in Christchurch as since the earthquake the town hasn't been looking too well. There are many different murals painted around the city that kiwis see and look at in awe at these murals and wonder why people have painted this. Our task was to find some street art around Christchurch that we liked and answer some questions. 

1) Why do we look at street art? Why do we stop when we see it? What is our reaction?People look at street art because we don’t expect to see something on a wall, you normally expect to see nothing but seeing bright colours on a wall surprises you and draws your attention. People stop when they see street art because they don’t expect to see it and want to check the little details they might have missed. They also stop to see it because they want to see what the entire photo looks like, they might have only seen one part of the photo but need to see the whole picture to understand why it is placed there. Our reactions are normally being in awe and surprise because most street art in New Zealand are on big walls that look like it was printed on. You normally are in awe because the art looks very good or generally surprises you when you first see it. You are also surprised because you don’t expect to see art that well done on something on a wall, you normally expect to see that in an art gallery but seeing it in front of you as you walk or drive is amazing.

2) Why do we need and use visual symbols around us?In order for everyone to have an easier way to communicate, it’s especially good since the coronavirus has been going around and we all need to have social distancing. I think symbols are just quick easy messages just without a voice. It’s like a silent way of talking to someone but you convey it in thoughts but it just comes to you. A symbol is can also be a hidden message like an art piece, sometimes there are hidden meanings which inspired the artist to paint /spray/draw that design.

3) What are examples of common visual symbols in our environment? (collect examples for the drawing - think about what you might be able to use in making artworks later on as you do)
In public, some examples would be... a stop sign, traffic lights, give way signs, road symbols, road cones and billboards. I would say these because you get a message from them, even if they have text on them, you can still receive a message from it. You can also find symbols all around you, like in science and in stores. 

What kinds of mural images add interest to the city? Different styles of the murals help gain people’s attention like I find the spray-painted murals the most interesting. I think the murals with the most meaning are the ones with stories behind them. Especially ones they represent history (like world wars) which gain most attention because it can give an understanding to people around and give the city a part of history (like if we had an earthquake mural in Christchurch.)

Interpret how they express different ideas than other visual signs and/or advertising.
They come up with an idea or a photo in their head and they have to plan it out so it will gain others attention. It is different from visual signs/advertising because all of that is a very common, everyday thing. Where murals have a lot of meaning and work into them which forces a story behind the artwork.

What does good street art do for the community?
Good street art covers walls or places that seem dull and add colour onto them so that people will want to look at them and see what the art could be about. Street art can also get people attracted to a town which also couldn’t do that well, for example, a town that isn’t known isn’t getting enough visitors and can’t run business that well adds a few murals on a wall, people pass by and see the murals they will want to see what it is and want to take photos of the mural. More people will come and pass by, they could be hungry, tired or bored and see some things in the town that can please their interests. This means that more people come and businesses can flourish again. It can also make an area look better than it did about.

What were you meant to learn?
That all art has a meaning even if it’s on a wall in the city, you have to respect it and you might try to learn its story. It gives us an understanding of how to apply many different ways of being creative. We learnt that all art is different and even if the artist did make a mistake you wouldn’t have known because that’s how artworks are. So I would sum this up by saying that mistakes in art really aren’t mistakes they could make things better or worse.

What did you enjoy about this process?
We enjoyed looking at all of the different varieties of all the street arts/murals. It was so cool seeing things look so realistic and sometimes seeing cool creative ideas go into making a boring old wall have some personality. We also really enjoyed recognizing the street art we have seen around Christchurch City.

What do you think you will do next?
I think next we will be thinking about what we want to create and research some things important towards our city. Afterwards, we will probably choose groups and work on different ways to shade and tone some of our artwork.