Self Expression Nation, My City Begins

 

Self Expression Nation...

        

        Photographing the continuation of my city all together, from the "graffiti" houses,

template houses, and the buildable typography and graffiti boxes / buildings. With little 

additions such as town squares with some different typography as "murals". 

It was very neat to see them all together and set up in a different way than before, and

awesome to see how they all are adding up together. What couldn't nearly be possible without the help of others contributions, especially the variety that is created from so many different people. The houses are so interesting and creative, and so cool to look at all together.

Typography Boxes

 

Typography Boxes / Buildings

    Wanting to create more typography for this project I decided to create typography on boxes 

I had lying around instead of using canvas's. I did not think much of it at the time but the thought of building these boxes such as the house templates seemed to be a great idea, I could even scan them flattened as I could do with the house templates as well.

So here are some scans of the typography boxes, and some of the flat house templates scanned too show them together.

Typography Boxes / Buildings

House Templates

House Template, Village

 

Template Houses!

For this, I found house templates to eliminate having 

to fully build the houses at first, to be able to let others 

"decorate" or "graffiti" the house first and then be fully built.

After printing the templates on multicolored card stock, I had given

one to everyone in the seminar room to do what they had wanted with them,

resulting in very different houses, which was very interesting, a very different variety 

than just the houses I had created.

I photographed them outside in the grass, to look as if they were in a real setting, and 

I find the multiples colors and variety's of houses to be very satisfying!

House Template

Graffiti Houses

Graffiti Houses

Before Paint

Midway

Finished Front and Back 

    At first I was a little confused on the direction to go with my thesis project but during my panel it was suggested for me to make, paint, and photograph birdhouses. Although I love birdhouses I wasn't fully hooked. 

    The first class of this semester it was mentioned to create fairy houses, or just houses of sorts, to maybe be put in actual locations in the public such as Elf land in Summerville that was "mysteriously" placed on an abandoned empty lot. I really liked this idea and upon more discussion I mentioned I wanted to incorporate Graffiti somehow. Someone mentioned to create urban buildings with graffiti as well as the fairy houses. 

    Although that idea had me thinking, I don't really believe graffiti should be contained to just urban areas so I experimented with creating a stereotypical suburban house with graffiti incorporated. To comment on the strict rules of property value and how frowned upon it would be if this was a reality in our modern day. Coming from my own experience of painting my own fence with graffiti and my parents being told we would have to take it down upon selling the other side of the house because it "promoted graffiti." 

    When my parents then refused stating this was art to them, and who says it isn't art. We were able to win and keep it up. I thought this was very interesting and wanted to comment on this. So when I brought this in it was mentioned what graffiti means to me could mean a lot of different things to other people so they suggested I create houses for others to "graffiti" as well. 

    So for my second house I created A stereotypical barn for just the seminar class to "graffiti." So I have added the barn before the "graffiti" from the class and after.

Before

Front

Back

"Graffitied"

I noticed people drew different things when I mentioned the word "graffiti", and most were more prone to draw in the place I had drawn initially out of respect for me until I mentioned they could draw anywhere. Also noticing some drew there names as I had and others drew symbols etc. For my next house I am going to let my family "graffiti" a house with no instruction and see what their results may be as well. :) This was a very interesting experiment.

For my third house I let my family "graffiti the house, and it was very interesting to see what they came up with as well, with no art background other than what I tell them everyday, other than that they are not associated with art. Everyone wanted to be involved and I got to hear stories of why they drew what they did on the houses, as well as learning what they might write as graffiti if they had went down this path :)

Before Family "Graffiti"

After

Finished Front