SÉQUENCE 2 - ARTIVISM

PART 2

Corrigé - Graffiti and activism

1. Activity 1: Reverse Graffiti

C. You can read the following messages on the wall: “CUT CO2 FROM CARS –
GREENPEACE” and “MERKEL & SARKOZY – DRIVING CLIMATE CHANGE –
GREENPEACE”. What do you think is the message conveyed by these graffiti?
Reverse graffiti is a new form of street art that is used more and more frequently. You can read the two
messages on the wall: “CUT CO2 FROM CARS – GREENPEACE” and “MERKEL & SARKOZY – DRIVING
CLIMATE CHANGE – GREENPEACE”.
These messages were very likely to have been written by Greenpeace activists or militants after
protests that took place in April 2009 in Brussels, Belgium.
Using reverse graffiti may be an efficient way of attracting the attention of passers-by to environmental
or political issues. Indeed, using harmful chemical paint could lead people to think their message is not
adapted whereas cleaning the pollution up can be seen as a powerful way of blaming politicians for their
supposed lack of action towards climate change.
Moreover, their goal must be to get the passers-by to join their cause and get involved in the protection of
the environment.

2. Activity 2: Counterculture or mainstream culture?

A. Famous street artists and their work

Girl with balloon is an iconic piece of art by Banksy, an anonymous British artist whose work
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can be seen around the world. His messages are often satirical and political.

Darryl McCray painted graffiti on an elephant in the Philadelphia city zoo in 1971 on which he
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wrote: “I’m Cornbread and I’m alive” to stop rumours of his death.

Keith Haring was an American artist whose pop art and graffiti-like work became a symbol
for street art culture in the 1980s.
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His drawings look like chalk outlines of figures or dogs. He addressed political and societal
themes in his later work.
My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love (or Fraternal Kiss) was painted on the Berlin
wall by Dmitri Vrubel, in 1990.
5 It depicts Leonid Brezhnev (Russian) and Erich Honecker (German) in a fraternal embrace,
reproducing a photograph from 1979 during the 30th anniversary celebration of the
foundation of the German Democratic Republic.

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 OBEY was designed by Shepard Fairey, an American street artist who became widely known
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during the 2008 U.S. presidential election for his Barack Obama «Hope» poster.

4 Posters were used for propaganda during World War 2.

B. Detailed comprehension
Video 1:

Watch the whole video

Extract 2 (video 3):

Transcript:
Beginning with the tags of the 1960s, a novel overlap of celebrity and anonymity hit the streets of New
York City and Philadelphia. Taggers used coded labels to trace their movements around the cities
while often alluding to their origins. And the very illegality of graffiti-making that forced it into the
shadows also added to its intrigue and growing base of followers.

a. New York City and Philadelphia were the two main cities where the movement grew.
b. Tags often alluded to the origins of the taggers. It could have referred to their racial origins or their
neighborhood.
c. Celebrity, anonymity and illegality are the three nouns used to sum up the movement.
Extract 3 (video 4):

Transcript:
The question of space and ownership is central to graffiti’s history.
Its contemporary evolution has gone hand in hand with counterculture scenes. While these
movements raised their anti-establishment voices, graffiti artists likewise challenged established
boundaries of public property. They reclaimed subway cars, billboards, and even once went so far as
to paint an elephant in the city zoo.
Political movements, too, have used wall writing to visually spread their messages. During World War 2,
both the Nazi party and resistance groups covered walls with propaganda. And the Berlin Wall’s one-sided
graffiti can be seen as a striking symbol of repression versus relatively unrestricted public access.

a. Space and ownership are the two key issues we need to take into consideration to understand how graf-
fiti has evolved.
b. Its evolution followed the counterculture movements.
c. They painted on public property, subway cars, billboards – which are large panels for advertising – and
even on an elephant in a zoo. They wanted to reclaim the streets but also to rebel against rules imposed
on them by society and the government.
d. Both groups used the streets to spread their propaganda.
e. The Berlin Wall, erected after WW2, became the symbol of repression: as graffiti covered the west face
of the wall, whereas people could not have access to the east face.
f. Alors que le mouvement contestataire de la contre-culture prenait son essor, les artistes ont choisi la
rue pour exprimer leur protestation envers le gouvernement mais aussi envers les règles, lois et tradi-

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 tions qui leur étaient imposées. C’est ainsi qu’ils ont repris possession de la rue en taguant les murs,
les panneaux publicitaires ou même un éléphant dans un zoo.
Ce n’était pas la première fois que la rue devenait instrument de contestation. Pendant la seconde
guerre mondiale, déjà, tant le parti Nazi que les groupes de la résistance utilisaient la rue comme outil
de propagande, placardant les murs de posters ou slogans. Plus tard, le mur de Berlin devint un sym-
bole de la répression : tandis que la face ouest était couverte de graffitis et peintures murales, la face
est était protégée militairement et donc inaccessible.

Extract 4 (video 5):

Transcript:
As the counterculture movements associated with graffiti become mainstream, does graffiti, too,
become accepted?
Since the creation of so-called graffiti unions in the 1970s and the admission of select graffiti artists
into art galleries a decade later, graffiti has straddled the line between outside and inside the
mainstream. And the appropriation of graffiti styles by marketers and typographers has made this
definition even more unclear.
The once unlikely partnerships of graffiti artists with traditional museums and brands have brought
these artists out of the underground and into the spotlight. Although graffiti is linked to destruction, it
is also a medium of unrestricted artistic expression.
Today, the debate about the boundary between defacing and beautifying continues. Meanwhile, graffiti
artists challenge common consensus about the value of art and the degree to which any space can be
owned. Whether spraying, scrawling, or scratching, graffiti brings these questions of ownership, art,
and acceptability to the surface.

a. ý Since the 1980s, street art has been exhibited in museums and art galleries.
 Graffiti can now be tagged inside buildings.
 Street artists want to remain anonymous.
ý Graffiti is used for advertising.
b. Graffiti also represents an unrestricted form of artistic expression.
c. The debate is on whether graffiti is “defacing or beautifying” cities. It does not seem clear whether
­graffiti should be considered as vandalism or art.

C. Language skills: phonology

a. Listen to the first 30 seconds of the video again or listen to the pronunciation of the following words
online: www.macmillandictionary.com. Then, underline the stressed syllables of each word. What do
you think is the rule?
Creation / Admission / Appropriation / Definition
Creation / Admission / Appropriation / Definition
The stress falls on the syllable preceding the ending <-ion>.
b. Classify the following words from the video according to the pronunciation of the letters in bold:
Brought / out / underground / although / about / boundary

/aʊ/ /əʊ/ /ɔ:/ (UK)   / ɔ/ (US)

out / underground / about / although Brought
boundary

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D. Graffiti can now be seen in museums. Do you think it is the right place for
street art?
Did you use a variety of expressions?
Did you justify your answer?
Could you give different arguments?

3. Activity 3: Brandalism

A. Read the whole text and answer the following questions:

a. “Brandalism” combines “Brand” + “vandalism”.
A brand = a trademark
b. They target advertising. Indeed, street artists paint over advertisements on billboards.
c. “Brandalism” is a movement aiming at vandalizing outdoor billboards, that is to say painting over the
advertisements, in order to protest against their intrusion into public space.

B. Read the text again and try to understand details. Answer the following
questions:
1. Part 1:. Street art is illegal but street artists impose their artwork in the public space whereas
advertising is legal in the streets.

The paradox lies in the fact that street artists fight against something that is legal. They impose their
ideas and opinions just as advertisers push their products.
2. Part 2: Read the part entitled “Doing battle in the urban arena”.
1. While you can switch off your TV at home, it’s almost impossible for a passer-by to avoid reading
or seeing ads in the streets as they are everywhere.
2. Debt, propaganda, climate change, consumer values, cultural values and body image are some of
the issues tackled by this movement.
3. Part 3: Read the part entitled “Climate of consumerism”.
1. Poorer people rioted and some stole goods they wanted but could not afford.
2. They did not really feel concerned.

4. Part 4: Read the part entitled “Campaigning for clean cities”.

1. Complete the grid :

Place Sao Paolo

Date 2007
Purpose of Clean City Law “to combat water, sound, air and visual pollution”.
Ads They are forbidden.
Street art It has become legal.

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 2.  He accepted to work for “Outdoor Media Center”, an advertising agency.
 He is willing to help advertisers create more ethical advertising campaigns.
ý He will never let them take advantage of “Brandalism” to make more money.

C. W
 ould you rather see an advertisement or graffiti on billboards? Do you
think that street artists are right to vandalize advertising boards?
Did you justify your opinion? Check whether you have used expressions of contrast to oppose different ideas.

D. Language skills on phonology

• Advert /ˈædv3ːt/
• Advertisement /ədˈv3ːtɪsmənt/ (UK) /ˌædvərˈtaɪzmənt/ (US)
• To advertise /ˈædvətaɪz/ (UK) /ˈædvərˌtaɪz/ (US)
• Advertising. /ˈædvəˌtaɪzɪŋ/ (UK) /ˈædvərˌtaɪzɪŋ/ (US)

4. Activity 4: Production de fin de partie 2 : expression orale

Make sure you use the checklist in order to assess your work.

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