1 - A Set of Premises for the Scrutiny and Interpretation of Graffiti and Street Art

Summary

As a preamble to the detailed discussion on copyright issues pertaining to street art and graffiti throughout contemporary contexts, a series of broad premises is detailed in the present chapter. These are meant to both familiarise the reader with key aspects of the phenomena of graffiti and street art and lay the groundwork for the subsequent unraveling and understanding of specific cases. Also noteworthy is the evidence that both graffiti and street art have been studied by multiple disciplines, from sociology to visual culture, from psychology to cultural criminology; these diverse perspectives reveal the wealth and breadth of material for scrutiny and decipherment that graffiti and street art are able to provide; yet it simultaneously requires an articulated, holistic reading of these various perspectives. It is this articulated reading that the present chapter attempts, weaving conceptual, historical, semiotic, and semantic readings into what may be regarded as an essential set of assets for the more prompt navigation through the chapters to follow.