I came across a very interesting paper while researching academic papers on street art for this project. The paper is called Conscientização through Graffiti Literacies in the Streets of a Sao Paulo Neighborhood: An Ecosocial Semiotic Perspective.
I am a great fan of Paulo Freire so once I saw the word “conscientização” (critical awareness) I just had to read this paper. The authors clarify that they consider graffiti a “literacy practice” with different messages that include words and semiotics which contain both social and cultural understandings (DaSilva Iddings et. al, 2011).
I was introduced to the theory of ecosocial semiotics. DaSilva Iddings et al. describe this framework as people shaping “their environment through the use of signs, and these signs in turn shaping them as part of the complex, dynamic, and nonlinear process in which the environment and its meanings are actively co-produced” (2011, p.5).
I found these two works about a 10-minute walk from each other in the McCaul/Beverley/ north of Dundas area in Toronto. Both seem to be from the same artist. I felt the messages were political in nature and directed to the citizens of Toronto however I can’t be sure. Unfortunately a web search did not reveal any info on the nature of these images or the person who created them but they are both a good discussion topic.
Image: Anna Rodrigues. Image taken on March 28, 2012 in the Beverley/north of Dundas St. area in Toronto.
Image: Anna Rodrigues. Image taken on March 28, 2012 in the Beverley/north of Dundas St. area in Toronto.
The directives are simple, two words each, but seem to convey so much. There’s also the water drops in both works that I feel are of important semiotic significance. It seems to make sense but at the same time I have no idea what the message is.
This reminds me of a statement I read in the paper I’ve quoted from through out this post: “The combination of these elements comes together to form ecosocial semiotic content, interpretable to some but less so to others. (DaSilva Iddings et al., 2011, p.6)
References:
DaSilva Iddings, A. C., McCafferty, S. G., & da Silva, M.,Lucia Teixeira. (2011). Conscientização through graffiti literacies in the streets of a são paulo neighborhood: An ecosocial semiotic perspective. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(1), 5-21.
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