Full Description
Winner-Visual Communication Division Outstanding Book Award, National Communication Association (NCA)
How a city government in central Mexico evolved from waging war on graffiti in the early 2000s to sanctioning its creation a decade later, and how youth navigated these changing conditions for producing art.
The local government, residents, and media outlets in LeÓn, Mexico, treated graffiti as a disease until the state began sponsoring artistic graffiti through a program of its own. In Voices in Aerosol, the first book-length study of state-sponsored graffiti, Caitlin Frances Bruce considers the changing perceptions and recognition of graffiti artists, their right to the city, and the use of public space over the span of eighteen years (2000-2018). Focusing on the midsized city of LeÓn, Bruce offers readers a look at the way negotiations with the neoliberal state unfolded at different levels and across decades.
Issues brought to light in this case study, such as graffiti as a threat and graffiti as a sign of gentrification, resonate powerfully with those germane to other urban landscapes throughout the Western Hemisphere and beyond. Combining archival work, interviews, considerations of urban planning, local politics in Mexico, and insights gained by observing graffiti events and other informal artistic encounters, Bruce offers a new lens through which to understand the interplay between sanctioned and unsanctioned forms of cultural expression. Ultimately, Voices in Aerosol builds a strong case for graffiti as a contested tool for "voicing" public demands.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Introduction
Chapter One. Frisson: Early Graffiti Writers Remapping the City
Chapter Two. Noise: Desmadre in Neoliberal Geographies; Youth Voice against Zero Tolerance
Chapter Three. Harmonization: Convivencia and Municipal Overtures to Writers
Chapter Four. Amplification: Cultivating Acceptance through the Mural as Civic and Affective Form
Chapter Five. Resonance: Urban Art and Good Vibrations
Conclusion. Susurration: Cross-Border Institutional Attunements and Social Infrastructure; LeÓn as Global Example
Notes
Index
