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Graffiti and Street Art As Non-Normative Placemaking

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Graffiti and Street Art As Non-Normative Placemaking Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 4-2018 Deviance Fluidity on the Urban Landscape: Graffiti and Street Art as Non-Normative Placemaking Alyson M. Mabie Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Human Geography Commons, and the Physical and Environmental Geography Commons Recommended Citation Mabie, Alyson M., "Deviance Fluidity on the Urban Landscape: Graffiti and Street Art as Non-Normative Placemaking" (2018). Master's Theses. 3411. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3411 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEVIANCE FLUIDITY ON THE URBAN LANDSCAPE: GRAFFITI AND STREET ART AS NON-NORMATIVE PLACEMAKING by Alyson M. Mabie A thesis submitted to the Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Geography Western Michigan University April 2018 Thesis Committee: Dr. Lucius Hallett, PhD, Chair Dr. Gregory Veeck, PhD Dr. Benjamin Ofori-Amoah, PhD Dr. Jesse Smith, PhD © 2018 Alyson M. Mabie DEVIANCE FLUIDITY ON THE URBAN LANDSCAPE: GRAFFITI AND STREET ART AS NON-NORMATIVE PLACEMAKING Alyson M. Mabie, M.S. Western Michigan University 2018 Graffiti is recognized as an illegal deviant act. Sociologically, deviance is defined by the audience perceiving the act, rather than inherent in the act itself. In this context, deviance is subjective and fluid. This paper explores the spectrum of graffiti from criminal vandalism to celebrated art form in the context of its placement on the urban landscape. The fluidity of deviance is reflected in the concentration of different types of graffiti in different locations. The spatial distribution of graffiti writing, street art, and the equally illegal guerrilla marketing stickers, which mimic graffiti placement and street art styles, were collected in two gentrifying neighborhood commercial districts in the southeast quadrant of Grand Rapids, MI. Data of vandalism incidents were collected in 2014 and 2017 using a GPS device and analyzed using ArcGIS. The character of the neighborhoods was further explored through fieldwork. The analysis of neighborhood characteristics and graffiti location and type over time is used to illustrate how graffiti and deviance are delineated. Graffiti writers were interviewed to assess perspectives on urban space. Results indicate graffiti and street art to be non-normative methods of placemaking. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Let me start by thanking my incredibly patient family – my husband, Andrew, who I will never be able to thank enough, and my daughters, Eleanor and Isolde, who kept coming back no matter the countless times I told them to go away because mom is working. I must thank my committee. My advisor, Dr. Lucius Hallett, for his enthusiasm and for bringing me back down to earth, just as he promised. Dr. Greg Veeck, who’s genuine commitment to his students and incredible work ethic has truly shown me something to aspire to. Dr. Benjamin Ofori-Amoah, for always listening with an open mind and challenging me (and never kicking me out of his office). Finally, thank you to Dr. Jesse Smith, who’s course on the social psychology of deviance shifted the course of this thesis. A very special thanks to Rev and 2ND. To my earlier mentors Dr. Roy Cole and Dr. Kin Ma at Grand Valley State University, and Dr. Mike S. DeVivo at Grand Rapids Community College (Geography lives!). To Dr. Stefano Bloch at the University of Arizona, Greg Anderson, Gayle R., Foster, April, Aaron, Paul, Mike, Walt, Adam and Keen Studios, and my babysitting team; Mom and Bob, Karen and Angelo, Emily, Amy, Grandma and Grandpa Scooter, and Derek and Rachel. Thank you. Let it be known I hereby publicly acknowledge that I am eternally grateful, and no doubt indebted to my younger brother, Maxwell. He has offered so much support and energy over the years, and it only cost me a few beers and a little whiskey. Thank you forever. Alyson M. Mabie ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 Statement of Purpose .............................................................................................................................. 3 Aim and Scope ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................................................ 7 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 7 II. BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................. 9 History of Graffiti and Street Art .......................................................................................................... 9 Graffiti Writing ...................................................................................................................................... 12 The “Evolution” of the Graffiti Writer ............................................................................................ 18 Street Art ................................................................................................................................................ 19 Gang Graffiti .......................................................................................................................................... 25 Guerilla Marketing ................................................................................................................................ 26 Graffiti and the Sociology of Deviance .............................................................................................. 28 III. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................................................... 35 iii Table of Contents—Continued Political and Social Tension ................................................................................................................. 35 Graffiti, Street Art, and Place............................................................................................................... 38 Ties to Gentrification ............................................................................................................................ 40 Graffiti and Street Art as Placemaking .............................................................................................. 41 IV. METHODS ....................................................................................................................................... 44 Study Area ............................................................................................................................................. 44 Eastown Area Today ........................................................................................................................ 50 Research Design .................................................................................................................................... 55 GIS Methods .......................................................................................................................................... 55 GPS Data Collection and Analysis...................................................................................................... 56 Interviews ............................................................................................................................................... 58 V. RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................... 62 GIS Results ............................................................................................................................................. 62 Results of Interviews ............................................................................................................................ 70 VI. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................ 75 Setbacks of Deviant Subculture Research .......................................................................................... 76 Gentrification and Graffiti ................................................................................................................... 78 Nonnormative Placemaking ................................................................................................................ 80 iv Table of Contents—Continued REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................ 85 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................................
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