Description
Book SynopsisHow 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 León, 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 (2000–2018). Focusing on the midsized city of León, 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, reso
Table of Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- Introduction
- Chapter One. Frisson: Early Graffiti Writers Remapping the City
- Chapter Two. Noise: Desmadre in Neoliberal Geographies; Youth Voice against Zero Tolerance
- Chapter Three. Harmonization: Convivencia and Municipal Overtures to Writers
- Chapter Four. Amplification: Cultivating Acceptance through the Mural as Civic and Affective Form
- Chapter Five. Resonance: Urban Art and Good Vibrations
- Conclusion. Susurration: Cross-Border Institutional Attunements and Social Infrastructure; León as Global Example
- Notes
- Index
