Book: Urban surfaces, graffiti, and the right to the city
Surfaces have taught me most of the things I know about cities – and this is the knowledge I tried to capture in my book. The story in the book evolves from an evaluation of the material appearance of surfaces and inscriptions, into an interpretation of their political and symbolic significance.
I examine where signs appear, what enables them to be there or, on the contrary, what hinders their presence, and what mechanisms are developed to enforce these regulations.
Can a wall “ask for” street art more readily than for public notices, advertising messages, or graffiti tags?
What makes a surface attract or reject specific types of signage?
How can surfaces and inscriptions be transformative agents in struggles for spatial justice?
And who should decide what cities look like?
Highlights: a theory and methodology of urban surfaces (#surfacestudies – you heard it here first!), a critical history of #graffiti and #streetart, an overview of how the law deals with walls and inscriptions in cities, a wall interview, a #manifesto for the right to the surface, and a bunch of delightful colour photographs…
You can order the book from the Routledge website with 20% off using the code ESA33.
