Digital graffiti

The street art community has established an online presence that chronicles its past and unites it present. It could also define the future of graffiti…

Graffiti demands your attention. Sprayed onto walls, street furniture or public transport, it’s an unusually physical form of communication. Unlike the advertising billboards with which it shares the streets, graffiti is usually applied without permission, a distinctly unlicensed medium.

The work of street artists draws sharply contrasting reactions: some see it as vandalism, while others take a more benevolent view that acknowledges the creativity of its practitioners. To the latter, sizeable group, graffiti is cool. Despite the efforts of some media-savvy companies to muscle in and use street art to sell product, the scene has successfully remained independent, with its own culture and language.

That independence makes the street art movement a natural for the internet, which so effectively enables individuals to pool their expertise