Abstract (eng)
This study examines the question of the use of urban space on the basis of 31 focused interviews with writers and street artists from Vienna and Berlin. Mental maps designed by the writers and street artists serve as additional material for an insight in their subjective image of the city. Qualitative content analysis (Mayring, 2007), combined with the stages of grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1996), forms the theoretical basis for data interpretation. The mental maps were analyzed according to the categories of Lynch (1965/2007).
They are roaming the streets at night; they are crawling through subway tunnels and are climbing rooftops. Wherever they are, writers and street artists are searching for hot spots to leave and spread their names. In doing so, they often ignore property boundaries and subvert the ruling sign-system (comp. Baudrillard, 1978). Space, after all, is a social product — and writers and street artists participate in this ongoing process, thereby, creating their own social space. By using the public space as a means of self-expression, graffiti artists claim their “right to the city” (Lefèbvre, 2003, S. 194). In this whole process, the need to assert and position one’s identity in the anonymous, urban space seems to be of central importance. By fathoming and finding possible uses of urban space, writers and street artists create their own space of action; their spatial perception and use(s) of public space are characterized by sensitivity and selectivity. In this respect, the reflection on social processes and problems represents one of the central phenomena of graffiti. As a matter of fact, graffiti is far more than mere vandalism: it is the expression of a critical, provocative and creative use of urban space.