Background Information
Communication is multifaceted and can be transmitted through a variety of forms (Chaffe 1993). Just like any human society, evolution of people’s values takes place quite rapidly. This is normally based on the communication systems that are utilised. These systems of communication normally target public spaces that most common dwellers have access to. Art is communicative, and it has a way of conveying hidden meanings to subjects that may be considered taboo such as the public opinion of a political view. This ensures that the public can understand aspects of the world that they could not gain access to through other means (Freedman 2003).
To begin with, people ask, what is art? Generally, the term art has been associated with a given class of creative personalities in society who use their rare skills to express what they have within them. This is usually used to inform, entertain, and critique various aspects of what goes on within a given society. In some of the cities across the world, art plays a key role in appreciating people’s culture, history, and life (Robinson & Heitman 2011). Furthermore, art has been used to enable people to express their fears, challenges, and the deep needs that they may be harbouring within them.
In the case of urbanites, street art has traditionally been utilised as a means of self-expression and also a means through which populations convey their messages. Because street art is universal in its reach, it should be viewed as a mass communication medium in a general sense (Chaffe 1993). As much as street art is expressive, it also advances mass communication in the urban centres. Street art is a traditional means of communication — it is utilised by a cross-section of collectives and the state to inform and persuade (Chaffe 1993). Essentially, the essence of this form of art is to attract wide attention by maximising open and visual spaces that may be available. In this sense, street art is usually aimed at enabling the readers or viewers to obtain simplified messages as they synthesise their thoughts and ideas to arrive at a given point.
Despite of all these characterisations, some countries have taken steps to view street art in a positive regard. For instance, in most countries, mostly Hispanic ones, where street art is a traditional means of communication, the states have utilised it as an avenue to inform and persuade people because it is a universal means of communication (Chaffe 1993).
Secondly, most analysts posit that it is a form of communication through which the relevance of cultivating the reading culture can be enhanced, consequently reducing the illiteracy levels within a given populace. In a general sense, street art, which is a form of public art, is visual in approach. In the current world, especially in post-industrial advanced democracies, the aspect of visual arts has been gradually gaining momentum since this has been what was reflected in many people’s daily life. For example, most cities are creating public spaces for this in the form of billboards, mural wall, and malls, to either advertise or carry out a form of awareness (Freedman 2003).
This form of visual art has become fundamental to the cultural transformation of political discourse, social interaction, and cultural identity that characterises the post-modern condition.
Aims of the Project
Owing to the fact, the street culture has been seen to be associated with negative ghetto culture; what stands out is that there are areas where it has been utilised to create positivity. In most cases, people who are attracted to this form of street engagement belong to certain age group. This is because young men can obtain a form of identity depending on which side of the divide they find themselves in. This implies that street culture together with street art is a favourable medium through which visual identity can be created for a given group. The research question asked by the study seeks to establish ways in which street art and visual art can be utilised to create favourable visual identity. The person who will utilise the findings of this study will include graphic designers, pop culture artists, and street artists.
Objectives
The objectives of this research are as follows:
- To evaluate the relationship between street art and visual identity;
- To establish the impact of street culture on urban influence;
- To investigate the use of street art on the achievement of values within social settings; and
- To establish the existence of street art within the given setting.
Methodology
There is no universally accepted approach to research within art and design, so the traditions within other disciplines should not be ignored. There are seven principal research procedures that have been applied to art and design research programmes. These include historical, philosophical (theoretical), experimental, comparative (cross-cultural), descriptive (using surveys, causal-comparative methods), naturalistic (interpretative, phenomenological, enquiry), and the practical (creative, expressive, or productive).
The approach that shall be utilised in this study is the naturalistic approach. In this approach, the researcher shall be involved in the collection of data in the actual area of study. This implies that the data shall be based on enquiry based on actual data collected and observed. In this method, basic operation phases that shall be used include the familiarisation with the field, collection of data, classification and analysis of data, confirmation of propositions, and the presentation of findings. Furthermore, types of data that shall be presented include descriptions of environment, descriptions of behaviour (behavioural data), natural language quotations, paraphrases of responses, analyses of documents, self-analyses (phenomenological data), and statistical analyses.
Outcomes
Owing to the fact, this study is naturalistic in nature, this implies that the presentations shall contain descriptive and rich detail, disclosing personal meaning of events to respondents, presenting wealth of primary data, emphasising an effective communication of audience needs, revealing the investigator’s feelings and attitudes, documenting the process of study, and presenting multiple values and perspectives.
The main aim of stating clear outcomes is to enable the audience to gain the total outcomes of the documents that have been described. For instance, the outcomes should enable the audience to interact with the data obtained and be in a position to extract relevant information as well as critique the information. It should also form the centre stage for further research in this area. In addition, the findings will be geared towards developing higher order thinking. For instance, through the cultivation of a positive visual culture, the images that shall be geared towards enhancing positivity within a society are going to enhance higher order thinking. This is both true for those who are engaged in developing visual images and for whom the information is intended for.
References
Chaffe, L, Political Protest and Street art:Popular tools for democratization in Hispanic countries, Greenword Publishing Group, Westport, CT, 1993. Web.
Freedman, K, Teaching Visual Culture:Curriculum,Aesthetics and the Social Life (Illustrated edn.), Teachers College Press, New York, 2003. Web.
Robinson, P, & Heitman, P D, Research themes for tourism, CABI, London, 2011. Web.