Tuesday, May 31, 2011

From Spray Can to Light: Graffiti Revisited



STREET GRAFFITI
This image is your typical street graffiti done in the streets using spray paint. If you look closely, you can notice the garbage bins that were also spray painted on to blend in with its surroundings. The vivid colors along with a surrounding we see everyday makes this graffiti so eye-catching. The whole side of the wall is covered in graffiti. In this specific piece, words are transformed into jumbled, bubbly and yet sharp cut shapes and are made into intriguing shapes. Sometimes we don't even know what they stand for but the meaning is still present. In a way, the images in this graffiti is sort of abstract; we don't really know what they are but we enjoy looking at them. Overall, i really liked this piece because of its vivid colors and because it makes the viewer use their imagination to capture the 
true concept and meaning of the graffiti.

LIGHT GRAFFITI

This light graffiti was done by German duo Cenci Goepel and Jens Warnecke. These two are famous for creating stark imageries that bring a ghostly quality to the beauty of nature, turning striking natural setting into backdrops for glowing forms made of moving light such as this piece. This subtle use of light painting in the snow-covered fjord of Norway makes the illuminated forms seems to blend in with their background in a way that brings the mind to unfamiliar landscaped on some far away planet. This white light orb blends in with the winter scenery. Overall, i think this piece is beautiful. It's amazing how the artists were able to blend the light painting with the snow-covered fjords. It's simplicity at its best.


COMPARING AND CONTRASTING
I think the only difference between light and paint graffiti is the equipment that it used. In street graffiti, spray paint is usually used while in light graffiti, some sort of light source is used. The two images I chose share the same concept; creating art and adding elements to a familiar background or scene and making it seem like a whole different place. Both images contain forms of art where the concept is unclear but the meaning is still present. It would mean a different thing to every person. Both artists express themselves through these particular pieces, therefore beauty in art is found through expression.