A Subculture in the Public Space

Subcultures are everywhere. It is easy to see thousands of different subcultures in one city. Our group walked around Austin, Texas, specifically Guadalupe St/’The Drag’ and the surrounding West Campus area, to observe the graffiti and street art subculture.

Subcultures are best defined as “a group united by a set of concepts, values, symbols, and shared meaning specific to the members of that group distinctive enough to distinguish it from others within the same culture of society.” (Conley, 83)

Graffiti  artists are a group of people who strive to be different and who set themselves apart from the culture through their art. Forms of graffiti have been said to have become their own code of communication. To the outside eye, a lot of what we see may not evoke any emotion in us, but to those who are cultured in graffiti it is “signifying the interiority, skills, and risks” embodied by artists. (Rahn, 165)

Not only do graffiti artists have their own language, such as referring to something as a "tag", but they have similar artifacts and rituals. Obviously, all of these artists are painting across the city, partaking in the same type of activity. Along with that, the artists are all using spray paint to make their mark.

-Our group observed this object of the subculture: a can of spray paint along Guadalupe St-

Graffiti artists take a lot of time working to bring a dead spot to life, and strive to make a city more their own by taking over public space. They seem to be trying to make the city theirs by tagging their name in places, trying to rise from being a subculture to something more.

As our group observed graffiti and street art, two names kept popping up: Kasper and Suckey. The more we explored the areas, the more it seemed like the two were in competition. Every time we saw one name, the other was not far from it. Many graffiti artists are striving for fame and takeover of a certain area, and this frequently can involve competition.

-Here we observed the white graffiti tag of 'Kasper' above the window where the black graffiti tag of 'Suckey' is also visible-

By being expressive in public places, graffiti artists try to gain respect and reputation. In most instances, graffiti is done at a place where it is not allowed, and in places where there is a lot of foot traffic already, or where iconic art is already. This is provoking people to pay attention to the graffiti and in a sense feel dominated by this person.

- We observed graffiti on street signs, garbage cans and architecture: items necessary for the public.This helps the artists show their domination of the space.-

It is also important to note that the term ‘graffiti artist’ is often used to encompass both those who create street art and graffiti tags. While there are clear differences between street art and graffiti, they both fall under this same subculture.