Is graffiti art? Or vandalism? - Kelly Wall

Kratka istorija grafita - Keli Vol (Kelly Wall)

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

Spray-painted subway cars,

Ispisani sprejom vagoni,

tagged bridges,

obeleženi mostovi,

mural-covered walls.

zidovi prekriveni muralima.

Graffiti pops up boldly throughout our cities.

Grafiti odvažno izranjaju duž naših gradova.

It can make statements about identity, art, empowerment, and politics,

Mogu da budu iskazi o identitetu, umetnosti, ohrabrivanju i politici,

while simultaneously being associated with destruction.

a da istovremeno budu u vezi sa uništavanjem.

And, it turns out, it's nothing new.

I izgleda da to nije nikakva novina.

Graffiti, or the act of writing or scribbling on public property,

Grafiti, odnosno umetnost pisanja ili žvrljanja po javnim površinama,

has been around for thousands of years.

postoji već hiljadama godina.

And across that span of time,

I tokom tog vremena,

it's raised the same questions we debate now:

povlačila je isto pitanje o kome trenutno raspravljamo:

Is it art?

da li je to umetnost?

Is it vandalism?

Da li je to vandalizam?

In the 1st century BCE, Romans regularly inscribed messages on public walls,

U prvom veku p.n.e., Rimljani su redovno ispisivali poruke na javnim zidovima,

while oceans away,

dok su okeanima daleko

Mayans were prolifically scratching drawings onto their surfaces.

Maje izdašno urezivale crteže po svojim površinama.

And it wasn't always a subversive act.

I nije to oduvek bio subverzivan čin.

In Pompeii, ordinary citizens regularly marked public walls with magic spells,

U Pompeji su obični ljudi redovno obeležavali javne zidove magičnim činima,

prose about unrequited love,

prozom o neuzvraćenoj ljubavi,

political campaign slogans,

sloganima političkih kampanja,

and even messages to champion their favorite gladiators.

pa čak i porukama bodrenja svojim omiljenim gladijatorima.

Some, including the Greek philosopher Plutarch, pushed back,

Neki, uključujući grčkog flozofa Plutarha, usprotivili su se,

deeming graffiti ridiculous and pointless.

smatrajući grafite smešnim i besmislenim.

But it wasn't until the 5th century

Ali tek u petom veku

that the roots of the modern concept of vandalism were planted.

je posejano seme modernog koncepta vandalizma.

At that time, a barbaric tribe known as the Vandals swept through Rome,

U to vreme varvarsko pleme, poznato kao Vandali, krstarili su Rimom,

pillaging and destroying the city.

harajući i uništavajući grad.

But it wasn't until centuries later that the term vandalism was actually coined

Ali tek je zapravo vekovima kasnije skovan termin "vandalizam"

in an outcry against the defacing of art during the French Revolution.

kao vapaj protiv skrnavljenja umetnosti tokom Francuske revolucije.

And as graffiti became increasingly associated

A kako su grafiti sve češće povezivani

with deliberate rebellion and provocativeness,

sa namernim buntovništvom i provokativnošću,

it took on its vandalist label.

uz njih je prirasla etiketa "vandalizam".

That's part of the reason why, today, many graffiti artists stay underground.

To je delimično razlog zašto danas mnogi umetnici grafita ostaju u ilegali.

Some assume alternate identities to avoid retribution,

Neki uzimaju lažne identitete kako bi izbegli kazne,

while others do so to establish comradery and make claim to territory.

dok drugi to rade kako bi osnovali družine i obeležili teritoriju.

Beginning with the tags of the 1960s,

Počevši sa oznakama 1960-ih,

a novel overlap of celebrity and anonymity

novo preklapanje slave i anonimnosti

hit the streets of New York City and Philadelphia.

je stiglo na ulice Njujorka i Filadelfije.

Taggers used coded labels to trace their movements around cities

Obeleživači su koristili kodirane oznake kako bi pratili svoje pokrete po gradovima

while often alluding to their origins.

često aludirajući na svoje poreklo.

And the very illegality of graffiti-making that forced it into the shadows

A sama ilegalnost pravljenja grafita, koja ga je proterala u senke,

also added to its intrigue and growing base of followers.

takođe je doprinela njegovoj misteriji i rastućoj bazi sledbenika.

The question of space and ownership is central to graffiti's history.

Pitanje prostora i posedovanja je centralno za istoriju grafita.

Its contemporary evolution has gone hand in hand with counterculture scenes.

Njegova savremena evolucija je išla ruku pod ruku sa kontrakulturnom scenom.

While these movements raised their anti-establishment voices,

Dok su ovi pokreti podigli svoje glasove protiv establišmenta,

graffiti artists likewise challenged established boundaries of public property.

umetnici grafita su na sličan način izazivali utvrđene granice javnih poseda.

They reclaimed subway cars,

Preuzimali su vagone,

billboards,

bilborde,

and even once went so far as to paint an elephant in the city zoo.

a jednom su čak otišli toliko daleko da su obojili slona u zoo vrtu.

Political movements, too,

Politički pokreti su takođe

have used wall writing to visually spread their messages.

koristili pisanje po zidovima kako bi vizuelno širili svoje poruke.

During World War II, both the Nazi Party and resistance groups

Tokom II svetskog rata, i Nacistička partija i pokreti otpora

covered walls with propaganda.

su prekrivali zidove propagandom.

And the Berlin Wall's one-sided graffiti

A grafite samo s jedne strane Berlinskog zida

can be seen as a striking symbol of repression

neki vide kao upečatljiv simbol represije

versus relatively unrestricted public access.

naspram relativno nesputanog javnog raspolaganja.

As the counterculture movements

Kako kontrakulturni pokreti

associated with graffiti become mainstream,

u vezi sa grafitima postaju mejnstrim,

does graffiti, too, become accepted?

da li i grafiti postaju prihvaćeni?

Since the creation of so-called graffiti unions in the 1970s

Od stvaranja takozvanih sindikata grafita 1970-ih

and the admission of select graffiti artists into art galleries a decade later,

i prijema odabranih umetnika grafita u umetničke galerije deceniju kasnije,

graffiti has straddled the line between being outside and inside the mainstream.

grafiti su opkoračili liniju između spoljašnje i unutrašnje strane mejnstrima.

And the appropriation of graffiti styles by marketers and typographers

A prisvajanje stila grafita od strane trgovaca i tipografa

has made this definition even more unclear.

je još više učinilo ovo određenje nejasnim.

The once unlikely partnerships of graffiti artists

Nekad neverovatno partnerstvo umetnika grafita

with traditional museums and brands,

sa tradicionalnim muzejima i brendovima,

have brought these artists out of the underground

izvelo je ove umetnike iz podzemlja

and into the spotlight.

u žižu interesovanja.

Although graffiti is linked to destruction,

Iako grafite povezuju sa uništavanjem,

it's also a medium of unrestricted artistic expression.

oni su takođe medij nesputanog umetničkog izražavanja.

Today, the debate about the boundary

Danas se rasprava o granici

between defacing and beautifying continues.

između skrnavljenja i ulepšavanja nastavlja.

Meanwhile, graffiti artists challenge common consensus about the value of art

U međuvremenu, umetnici grafita izazivaju opšti konsenzus o vrednosti umetnosti

and the degree to which any space can be owned.

i o stepenu do kog prostor može da se poseduje.

Whether spraying, scrawling, or scratching,

Bilo sprejom, škrabanjem ili urezivanjem,

graffiti brings these questions of ownership, art, and acceptability

grafiti iznose ova pitanja o posedovanju, umetnosti i prihvatanju

to the surface.

na površinu.