Street Art

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

170 hours

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

From illegally spray-painted stencils to secret exhibitions in abandoned warehouses to exclusive multi-million dollar art fairs, this subject explores the rise of street art in the contemporary city.

The subject examines the diversity of artists, materials and political impulses that drive street art and graffiti and its shift from an illicit subculture to a mainstream practice. Using examples from Melbourne and other key cities such as New York, Rome and Berlin, the subject investigates how the meaning and impact of street art derive from spatial and social contexts and how street art can provide new ways of understanding a city, as well as broader debates about art, public space and urban development.

Students undertaking this subject will develop skills in identifying, mapping and designing street art in Melbourne’s laneways.

Students completing this subject will:

- Be able to identify a range of street art in a variety of urban contexts;

- Demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of materials and creative practices that comprise street art;

- Demonstrate an understanding of how the meaning of forms of street art is shaped by spatial and social contexts;

- Have developed skills in the mapping and design of street art.

Photographic documentation and 500 word (max) written analysis of examples of street art (week 5) - 20%

Short Essay- 1200 words (max) - (Week 10) - 30%

Mapping and Design proposals-Small Group Presentations and 1000 words summary of presentation. (Week 12) - 50%

Cubrilo, Duro et al (2010). King’s Way: The Beginnings of Australian Graffiti – Melbourne 1983-1993 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press)

Schacter, Rafael (ed.) (2013). The World Atlas of Graffiti and Street Art (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press)

Young, Alison (2014). Street Art, Public City: Law, Crime and the Urban Imagination (London: Routledge)

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Students completing the subject will develop generic skills in:

• research and inquiry, including analysing information and constructing an argument

• visual literacy, including the ability to analyse spaces and objects and articulate findings

• communication and interpersonal skills, through the development of collaborative proposals and presentations