Voices in Aerosol
Youth Culture, Institutional Attunement, and Graffiti in Urban Mexico
- 304 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Voices in Aerosol
Youth Culture, Institutional Attunement, and Graffiti in Urban Mexico
About This Book
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 LeĆ³n, 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 (2000ā2018). Focusing on the midsized city of LeĆ³n, 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.
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Series Page
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Dedication
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- Introduction
- One. Frisson: Early Graffiti Writers Remapping the City
- Two. Noise: Desmadre in Neoliberal Geographies; Youth Voice against Zero Tolerance
- Three. Harmonization: Convivencia and Municipal Overtures to Writers
- Four. Amplification: Cultivating Acceptance through the Mural as Civic and Affective Form
- Five. Resonance: Urban Art and Good Vibrations
- Conclusion. Susurration: Cross-Border Institutional Attunements and Social Infrastructure; LeĆ³n as Global Example
- Notes
- Index