Commissioned art and street art. I’ve done both, and would love to reflect a little on their similarities and differences. 

 

Similarities:

• They both involve paint

• They both involve beautification

• They both involve the desire to change

• They both involve noticing

• They both involve reflecting

• They both involve art

• They both involve design

• They both involve collaboration

• They both involve exertion

• They both involve color

• They both are a form of resistance 

• They both are a form of meditation

• They both are creative 

• They are both rewarding

• They both make me proud

• They both excite me

• They both impact other people

• They are both stressful

 

Differences:

• They are different forms of permission

• One is legal, one is illegal

• One has harsh consequences, one doesn’t

• One resists against government, the other abides by it

• One resists current power systems, one abides by current systems of power

• One asks for forgiveness, another permission

• One highlights that current rules and power structures are not always beneficial, the other does not comment

• One requires approval from the older generation, the other doesn’t

• One is within the system, the other is outside it 

• One comes with exhilaration, one comes with excitement

• One is more stressful than another

• One feels more special than the other

 

By making these lists, I’ve realized that, for me, both of these art forms are forms of resistance and activism, but just against slightly different things. Commissioned art is more simple: a resistance against blandness and the lack-of-ability-to-change attitude. Street art is all that and more, it is resistance against our current power structures and systems that designate an ugly pole as illegal to paint, illegal to beautify. That is why the street art is more enticing, exciting, exhilarating. It feels more real to me, more natural, more important. Street art is a resistance against everything that is wrong about society.

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