This weekend I’m planning on getting back to my graffiti cross-stitch project, as I start returning to Aida cloth and embroidery thread as the weather gets hotter and working with wool seems less inviting. The first piece from the project is currently being exhibited as part of MicroRevolt’s Needlecraft Art Show, both online as well as in the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. Although I posted this picture here when I finished it, you can see my contribution here. I am currently in awe of Mercedes Rodgers’ and Sarah Stollak’s works from the same show, as they, too, question what is “craft” and what is “art.”

This morning I stumbled across a well-timed article in The Guardian about the cultural importance of graffiti and how Melbourne painted over much of its graffiti when the Commonwealth Games came to town. The same is feared for London, as the 2012 Olympics are based in Hackney, a part of eastern London where graffiti is highly prevalent. I was surprised in the fall when I found several of the Banksy pieces in Shoreditch and Brick Lane that I had come to love were gone. In fact, the piece above is one of Banksy’s own works, which I recreated in cross-stitch as part of the questions I’ve been pondering as to whom does graffiti belong and how does it fit in in our cultural environment?

The Guardian notes, “modern street art is the product of a generation tired of growing up with a relentless barrage of logos and images being thrown at their head every day, and much of it is an attempt to pick up these visual rocks and throw them back…” I’m not so sure if I agree, as graffiti has been a mode of artistic expression longer than just the current generation, but do think that much of the artwork is based on frustration- as well as the reappropriation and reclamation of public space.

For years, I have been awed by graffiti and the questions it prompts- Who owns it? (The space as well as the work itself?) Who is the target audience? The juxtaposition of art and urbanity fascinates me to no end, as it has historically given a voice to those who feel they have none.

Again, from the same article, “the street art destroyed in Melbourne will survive on graffiti’s new best friend – the internet. The web has done wonders for graffiti; it perfectly reflects its transient nature, and graffiti is ludicrously overrepresented on its pages. The ability to photograph a street piece that may last for only a few days and bounce it round the world to an audience of millions has dramatically improved its currency.” I am thankful that the web could be an ally to the future of such work if cities such as London and Melbourne decide to whitewash local graffiti so walls can become uniform and cultural identity erased, but still can’t help questioning when creative and cultural production will be seen as truly important to our environments instead of just temporary examples of our collective frustrations, angers and questions.