Research Questions/Intro
There are three main research questions that I am looking at when making this project. The first question is, What is the difference between street art and graffiti? When looking at this question I want to focus on what makes each of them unique as well as what the legality of both forms of art is.
The next question I want to look at is, how has street art changed over time? I want to know how it has evolved and shifted throughout the years in order to see the importance of it at various points in time.The last question I want to answer is, what have the influences on street art been? Specifically I want to look at what the actual point of the art has been besides for entertainment. Things like using this art as a form of both personal and political expression and using art to speak out against tyranny is what I’m looking for. This is especially important to look at in Argentina because there were many years under dictatorships where people did not have free speech.
Narrative/Overview
My topic for this assignment is street art in Buenos Aires. One of the main reasons I thought this topic would be great to look at is that there is such a wide-ranging audience that would be interested and could find meaning in it. This topic would appeal heavily to teachers and professors in both history and art. History professors could use this street art as a lens to view the history of Argentina in a different light which would also be a more engaging way to look at it than by straight lecturing. Art professors would likely focus more on the actual art itself and what forms it is painted in. I believe that community organizers could also benefit from this project by using it to start street art campaigns in other cities. I believe this would be particularly effective in cities that have a graffiti problem. I think this is a great idea because it could take youth involved in illegal graffiti and give them a legal outlet where they would paint something meaningful and desirable to the city.
The first question that I sought to answer was the difference between street art and graffiti. Upon doing research it became clear that there are a few main differences that separate the art forms that are otherwise fairly similar. Their similarity comes from the fact that graffiti has inspired street art. The first main difference, however, is that graffiti is illegal while street art is generally allowed and even commissioned. This is important because while both are forms of artistic expression, they end up differing because of resources and in the case of graffiti attempting to do it without getting caught. This creates the second main difference between the two. Street art tends to be far more elaborate, thought out, and perfected over a long period of time. While graffiti is done quickly and is usually far simpler. This creates a difference in subject matter too. Street art is known for its beauty but also for being a form of political expression, where images are meant to portray something deep going on in society. Graffiti is usually just letters, tags, or quickly drawn images that have minimal meaning to anyone besides the artist.
The next question I looked at is how has street art changed over time in Buenos Aires in particular. What I didn’t realize was how intertwined that question was with my other main question, what has inspired street art in Buenos Aires? Street art has changed significantly over time, but that change IS the inspiration for most of the street art in the city. Basically, all of the major issues that have affected people in Argentina over time have been what has truly inspired some of the most memorable street art.
The first example of this is that from 1976-1983 Argentina was under control of a military dictatorship. The military took power in 1976 following the removal of Isabel Peron, the president at the time. In the beginning there was actually some support for the military to take over at all levels of society because people had come to question the government under President Peron. The main goal of the military was in some ways to limit and remove democracy because they felt civilian rule would ruin the country. In order to maintain legitimacy and remove opposition they launched the “Dirty War”. Dirty War tactics were to get rid of political opponents while also covering up any wrongdoings. It was around this time that the people of Argentina really became oppressed. They had no ability to speak out against the government or to voice their personal opinions. They had no outlet to express themselves and had virtually no civil freedoms. This is part of the reason that people turned to expressing themselves through street art which was kept on the down low during the dictatorship but absolutely exploded following the end of it. In addition to the extreme lack of freedom given to people, this regime was also responsible for the death or disappearance of many thousands of people throughout their years in power. This tragedy has continuously inspired street art both at the time and afterwards. At the time, people used it as a way to express their feelings against the regime. In the many years since, people have paid homage to the victims by painting street art in their honor to keep their memory alive. This can be seen through The Madres of the Plaza de Mayo, who demonstrated in protest against the military dictatorship to return children that had disappeared. The symbolism of The Madres has continued to be prevalent in street art. Another example of how changing times and struggle has been the main influence on street art can be seen in 2001. In that year Argentina was going through an economic crisis and many people were going through hard times. The 2001 crash affected all levels of Argentine society as the economy shrunk, unemployment soared, and millions fell into poverty. This inspired many people to use street art to make money as well as spread their messages about their struggle and how things might be made better.
In addition to struggle, another main influence to street art has been important figures. There have been both heroes and villains portrayed to either condemn or give thanks to respectively. One recent example is that there has been a bunch of street art commemorating Diego Maradona, one of the best soccer players in history who was Argentinian and passed away in 2020. All of this information has really outlined what street art in Buenos Aires is all about and how important it has been to people throughout the city. There are many ways that someone could expand on the research that I have done here. One way would be to dive far deeper into the art itself, meaning they would look at not just a few images but hundreds. Looking at hundreds of pieces of street art would provide a lot of information on commonalities between them and would also provide a good overview on Argentine history itself.
Primary Sources Annotated Bibliography
photo found on Flickr and approved for common use
My first Primary source is the image seen above. It was painted by Nestor Portillo and many other artists that assisted him. It is called Education or Esclavitud, which translate to education or slavery. It attempts to highlight the struggle of teachers and educators in the country. This shows how political expression is one of the main inspirations for street art in the city.
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Club_Atlético_Boca_Juniors_Diego_Maradona.jpg
My second primary source is another piece of street art. This specific piece is a tribute to the late soccer star Diego Maradona who passed away in 2020. Diego was one of the most beloved figures in the country’s history. It outlines the fact that public figures are an inspiration to street art and also how important street art is to the people of Buenos Aires.
My third primary source was photographed in 2015 by my professor Dr. McCleary during one of her visits to Buenos Aires. That makes it a particularly unique and useful source, because I know exactly where the source is coming from and that it is usable for me. The only downside to this is that I have less written context or explanation of the image and have to work based on what I assume the image is about. The meaning of the written word is “no more evictions” which tells me this street art has political messaging from the artist, denouncing the number of people getting evicted when they are going through tough times. It could also speak to broader societal issues relating to why certain people are getting evicted. This is so valuable for me to include because I have spent a lot of research time focusing on people using their personal freedom of speech to send political messages through street art.
My last primary source was also a direct photograph taken by my professor Dr. McCleary in 2015. Which again makes this source extremely trustworthy and important to consider, while also having the drawback of limited context when compared to sources that explain the street art image in detail. This piece of street art stuck out to me compared to a lot of others for multiple reasons. The first reason was that it contained elements of realism because the girl painted in this art looks realistic and not cartoonish. It also stuck out to me because the girl seems like a normal everyday person as opposed to a celebrity or hero. Another thing that also stood out to me was that this street art painting was photographed in the subway. This is vital because it is in a highly trafficked area where many people would pass it every day.
Secondary Sources Annotated Bibliography
Gleeson , Bridget. “Buenos Aires’ Past, as Told through Street Art.” BBC Travel, BBC, 27 May 2013, https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20130524-buenos-aires-past-as-told-through-street-art.
The first secondary source that I looked at is a BBC article titled, “Buenos Aires’ past, as told through street art” written by Bridget Gleeson. This article aims to show how street art has showcased Argentina’s history and culture. The article discusses the street art that was inspired by the death/disappearance of thousands of Argentinians during the years the country was under the control of a military dictatorship. It discussed how there was political messaging that went against the dictatorship in street art. It also discusses street art inspired by the economic crisis in 2001. Lastly it discusses how important figures have also been consistently turned into street art. This article provides good information and has street art images embedded which makes it more trustworthy than if it wasn’t showing the art it discussed.
Lu , Seres. “The Struggle between Graffiti and Street Art.” Columbia.edu, http://www.columbia.edu/~sl3731/graffitiART/
My second secondary source is an article titled, “The Struggle Between Graffiti and Street Art” written by Seres Lu. This article’s primary goal is to explain the difference between graffiti and street art which is perfect because it was one of my research questions. It accomplishes this perfectly and provides an abundance of detail on what the differences are. The article explains that the main differences are the legality, detail, style, and subject matter. The article provides quotes from experts and statistics which make it a trustworthy and reliable source. The only downside to this article is that it focuses on Brooklyn as opposed to Buenos Aires, but the difference between the two styles is not specific to only one city.
Gomez, J. F. (2001). Military Rule in Argentina, 1976-1983: Suppressing the Peronists. Retrieved December 15, 2022, from https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA390747.pdf
This secondary source is a graduate student’s thesis from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001. It is a trustworthy source because it is a well written thesis that was approved for distribution and had accurate references and footnotes. This source was crucial for me to look at because it gave me almost the whole history of Argentina’s Military dictatorship. It started on pages 1-6 with an introduction to the issue and the history of how they came to power. This was crucial for me to understand the history behind it and to provide background in my overview. I also focused on the beginning of the third chapter pages 22-27 that introduced the opposition to the military dictatorship. This was important because it showed me what kind of people fought against the government and what their mindset was. This relates to my issue because street art has been used as a way for people to spread their personal beliefs and understand how this government impacted people.
Carranza, Mario E. “Poster Child or Victim of Imperialist Globalization? Explaining Argentina’s December 2001 Political Crisis and Economic Collapse.” Latin American Perspectives, vol. 32, no. 6, 2005, pp. 65–89. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30040267. Accessed 15 Dec. 2022.
This secondary source is a journal article written by Mario Carranza in 2005. This journal article goes into depth on Argentina’s economic collapse in 2001 and shows why everything happened and how it affected the country as a whole. I primarily looked at page 33 of this journal article where it gave specific statistics that showcased how dire this situation was. It was important to look at all of this because it is another tragic part of Argentina’s history that inspired street art.
Glossary
Street art
Street art is a form of artwork that is displayed in public on surrounding buildings, streets, trains and other publicly viewed surfaces.
https://www.undergroundgallery.no/blogs/blog/what-is-street-art
Graffiti
usually unauthorized writing or drawing on a public surface.
https://www.merriam-webster.com
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