Graffiti, Street Art, and Murals

Historical Context

• Global Roots

  • Ancient graffiti (ex., Pompeii, Mayan temples)

  • Political wall writing across history

• Modern Graffiti Movement

  • 1960s-70s New York City

  • Connection to hip-hop culture

  • Marginalized youth, urban neglect, identity assertion

• Expansion into Street Art and Murals

  • 1980s-90s Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring

  • 2000s Banksy and global street art

Graffiti as Identity

• Social invisibility

  • When people feel:

    • Unheard

    • Unrepresented

    • Excluded from official narratives

What separates these forms?

• Graffiti

  • Focuses on name, identity, repetition, and visibility. Often illegal, anonymous

• Street Art

  • Image-based, often political or symbolic. Legal or illegal

• Murals

  • Large-scale, typically sanctioned or commissioned. Narrative or commemorative. Tied to community identity.

Psychological Theories

• Identity and Self-Expression

  • Identity Development (Erikson)

    • A lifespan model of development, emphasizing how social relationships shape our sense of self

    • 8 stages, with a psychosocial crisis, that must be resolved

    • Generativity versus Stagnation

  • Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner)

    • People derive part of their identity and self-esteem from group membership

  • Reactance Theory (Brehm)

    • When people feel their freedom is restricted, they are motivated to restore it

  • Arousal and Sensation Seeking (Zuckerman)

    • People differ in the amount of stimulation they need or want and hence in their “sensation-seeking.”

  • Deindividuation Theory (Diener)

    • In large groups or anonymous situations, individuals lose self-awareness, personal identity, and inhibitions, leading to impulsive, aggressive, or deviant behavior