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The Street Art World

Bengtsen, Peter LU orcid (2014)
Abstract
In recent years, street art has become embedded in popular culture and received growing attention from the art market and art institutions. Work by street artists has entered galleries, auction houses and museums, and some artists have been given the opportunity to create large-scale sanctioned public art projects. Simultaneously, widespread photographic documentation of street artworks and the circulation of images online have provided artists with a potentially global audience.



The Street Art World investigates street art as a relatively newly established field within contemporary art. With the American sociologist Howard S. Becker’s notion of “art worlds” as a central point of departure, the book seeks to characterise... (More)
In recent years, street art has become embedded in popular culture and received growing attention from the art market and art institutions. Work by street artists has entered galleries, auction houses and museums, and some artists have been given the opportunity to create large-scale sanctioned public art projects. Simultaneously, widespread photographic documentation of street artworks and the circulation of images online have provided artists with a potentially global audience.



The Street Art World investigates street art as a relatively newly established field within contemporary art. With the American sociologist Howard S. Becker’s notion of “art worlds” as a central point of departure, the book seeks to characterise street art by studying and participating in the everyday interaction among the artists, gallerists, collectors, critics, curators, bloggers and street art enthusiasts that make up the social environment (the street art world) in which the term street art is continuously given its meaning.



Major themes addressed in the book include:



(1) The social construction of the meaning of the term street art and the resulting difficulties in formally defining what street art is.



(2) The often contradictory attitudes within the street art world towards art history and the institutions of art.



(3) The relationship between street art, the art market and the institutional art world.



(4) The relationship between street art and public art.



(5) Street art’s potential to affect the viewer’s perception of public space, and the possible challenges the increasing digital mediation of street art may pose to bringing this potential to fruition.



While the book presents central characteristics of the street art movement, it also acknowledges that it is not feasible to pin down the nature of street art once and for all, since street art is a product of complex social processes. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • professor Miles, Malcolm F., Plymouth University, England
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
public space, contemporary art, art market, gadekunst, gatukonst, Faile, Banksy, public art, graffiti, street art, urban art, street art world, The Street Art World
pages
243 pages
publisher
Almendros de Granada Press
defense location
Sal 314, Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper, Biskopsgatan 7, Lund
defense date
2014-06-14 10:00:00
ISBN
978-91-7473-868-1
project
The Street Art World
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
590e2d2e-dc7b-459a-ac02-402774061a20 (old id 4392026)
alternative location
https://www.academia.edu/6999602/Bengtsen_P._2014_._The_Street_Art_World
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:15:58
date last changed
2019-03-08 02:25:30
@phdthesis{590e2d2e-dc7b-459a-ac02-402774061a20,
  abstract     = {{In recent years, street art has become embedded in popular culture and received growing attention from the art market and art institutions. Work by street artists has entered galleries, auction houses and museums, and some artists have been given the opportunity to create large-scale sanctioned public art projects. Simultaneously, widespread photographic documentation of street artworks and the circulation of images online have provided artists with a potentially global audience.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The Street Art World investigates street art as a relatively newly established field within contemporary art. With the American sociologist Howard S. Becker’s notion of “art worlds” as a central point of departure, the book seeks to characterise street art by studying and participating in the everyday interaction among the artists, gallerists, collectors, critics, curators, bloggers and street art enthusiasts that make up the social environment (the street art world) in which the term street art is continuously given its meaning.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Major themes addressed in the book include: <br/><br>
<br/><br>
(1) The social construction of the meaning of the term street art and the resulting difficulties in formally defining what street art is.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
(2) The often contradictory attitudes within the street art world towards art history and the institutions of art.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
(3) The relationship between street art, the art market and the institutional art world.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
(4) The relationship between street art and public art.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
(5) Street art’s potential to affect the viewer’s perception of public space, and the possible challenges the increasing digital mediation of street art may pose to bringing this potential to fruition.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
While the book presents central characteristics of the street art movement, it also acknowledges that it is not feasible to pin down the nature of street art once and for all, since street art is a product of complex social processes.}},
  author       = {{Bengtsen, Peter}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-7473-868-1}},
  keywords     = {{public space; contemporary art; art market; gadekunst; gatukonst; Faile; Banksy; public art; graffiti; street art; urban art; street art world; The Street Art World}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Almendros de Granada Press}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{The Street Art World}},
  url          = {{https://www.academia.edu/6999602/Bengtsen_P._2014_._The_Street_Art_World}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}