Visions of protest: graffiti

This free course, Visions of protest: graffiti, introduces students to contrasting understandings of graffiti. It draws on a wide range of graffiti examples, including mystery zebras in Hackney, fish graffiti in Morecambe, 'tags' in a Milton Keynes underpass, a McDonald's advert and exhibits at a highly established art gallery, the Tate Modern. Students will consider different arguments for and against the perception of graffiti as a form of art or as vandalism and explore how graffiti has been used as a form of communication and as an articulation of protest.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1  What is graffiti?
• 1  What is graffiti?
• 2  What is art?
• 2  What is art?
• 3  Vandalism or art?
• 3  Vandalism or art?
• 4  Looking after public space
• 4  Looking after public space
• 5  Graffiti as a form of communication
• 5  Graffiti as a form of communication
• 6  Graffiti as a form of popular protest
• 6  Graffiti as a form of popular protest
• 7  Why did the Hackney zebras work?
• 7  Why did the Hackney zebras work?
• 8  Graffiti goes mainstream
• 8  Graffiti goes mainstream
• 9  Graffiti in advertising
• 9  Graffiti in advertising
• Conclusion
• References
• Acknowledgements