"Graffiti": Private Expression In Public Space

This paper attempts to anatomize the graffiti in public space via adopting combined research methods of qualitative"visual text analysis"together with a multi-dimensional interpretation of"public space". The paper sets out from a perspective where graffiti is viewed as a kind of"private expression"."Graffiti private expression"may find it difficult to obtain a comfortable resting place in"public space", since the two are forever entangled in a whirl of natural tension between each other. To explore this tension or other possible relations more comprehensively, this research place graffiti"text analysis"in the four-dimensional coordinates of"public space" covering"diachronic dimension"and"synchronic dimension","physical dimension"and"abstract dimension".This research holds that a"public space"may not only impose"stipulation"on graffiti expression, but also"release"the latter. Public space (and its various elements within) stipulate graffiti from all levels, including"self stipulation"driven by the public nature of public space (personal level),"group stipulation"(group and sub-cultural level), cultural stipulation (cultural level), and stipulation from"political, economic, social or other factors"collectively (comprehensive level). At the same time, a"public space"may also"release"graffiti by adding new contents into its"media and places", its"content, tools and forms", its"style", as well as its"spirit".On the other hand, graffiti too imposes an impact on"public space". Graffiti on the whole is apt to"deconstruct"and"construct"an already existing public space. They may also serve as a certain symbolic presence."Graffiti as a symbol"means that graffiti may become a geographical sign, or a symbol indicating the existence of a"public space". Graffiti per se is a process of symbol endowment which might be used"to perceive"and"to mark". The"signified"of graffiti texts may be the private emotions, private experiences or opinions, or privatized group common experiences. It may, to some degree, become a symbol of"the private"showing its"presence"in a vast"public space". In addition, graffiti expression promots the formation of certain parts of a new public space, yet by its nature it fails to undertake the mission of building"the public sphere".