Blog Review: Streetsy (Street Art and Graffiti)

http://www.streetsy.com/

Streetsy is a group blog that has been around since 2005 and it introduces viewers to graffiti and street art around the world. The blogger’s name is Jake Dobkin and his office is posted in Prince Street near the Lower East Side, which has plenty of art museums and street art. I can attest to this statement because my high school happens to be located in that area. Simply getting off the F train station and walking around the neighborhood is a spectacle in of itself. There are displays of artwork on nearly every corner of each block.

While there are no ads on the site, it is very neat and orderly. It is easy to navigate through the site and is updated every other week. Members of the Streetsy blog take pictures of street art as they explore certain neighborhoods and post pictures onto the site. Bloggers introduce the artwork describing its medium, location, and possible meaning or interpretation along with the picture. There aren’t too many comments on the posts. You may find that members like or reblog the post to show their appreciation of a particular street art. There are a little over 6,500 current members posting a total of nearly 640,000 photos. Street art is very nuanced and can be considered to be chaotic at times. Many artists use a wide range of colors, making their masterpiece pop out. Often times artists will dedicate their work to a specific cause. Whether it be a memorial for an important person or a political satire for contemporary times.

I learned that street art derives from graffiti. This is an interesting point because I have always thought that the two could be used interchangeably. However, street artists premeditate upon their artwork plan beforehand while graffiti artists are more spontaneous. Both must work to stay under the radar, however, which is why many street and graffiti artists choose to work only at certain times of night when they are hidden within the darkness. There is debate as to whether or not street art should be taken as a serious mode of art. Opponents argue that street art is illegal and should hardly be considered artwork because graffiti is viewed as a sloppy and fast-paced medium. Meanwhile supporters counter this argument by mentioning that street art can be proven to be aesthetic and memorable. Many people stop and admire works of art on the street, even taking pictures of or with the artwork in the background to post on their social media account for an easy income of likes.

-Thomas Kim