I first became interested in graffiti while conducting a
research project on urban decay. For this project I used graffiti to denote
urban decay due to it often taking the form of vandalism. However, upon further
analysis, I started to question many of the assumptions I originally had on the
social function of graffiti. Was graffiti a sign of criminal activity, or was
this a reductionist view on a far more complicated topic?
By the time
I neared the end of my undergraduate, I had become familiar with the work of
theorists such as Gramsci, Fanon, Althusser, and Foucault. Their work on
hegemony, culture, and power profoundly influenced me both as a research and as
a politically active student. I became equipped with the theoretical knowledge
needed to not just answer the questions I previously had, but to begin asking
new and more difficult question: not just if
graffiti had a more nuance social function, but how said function may relate to other aspects of society and why graffiti was not being represented
as such in much of the discourse surrounding it. I began to examine graffiti
not just as a social or cultural phenomenon, but as a political one as well.
It is hard
to say what I did on a weekly basis during my research due to the fact that
this would often change. One week I may be meeting with my mentor and going
over relevant literature. Other weeks I would be contacting participants and
conducting interviews. The next, I may be transcribing and coding interviews
for analysis. Once the majority of the research itself was completed, I was
trying to balance writing the paper itself with preparing the presentation of
my research. While at times hectic, I must say that the unpredictability of
research is one of the more interesting parts and has prepared for future
occupations where I may need to exhibit a willingness to tackle tasks with a
certain level of flexibility and adaptability. Truly, I have found that
research rarely ever goes as
originally planned.
My work on
graffiti did not happen in isolation. Through my work as a scholar and an
activist, I have ceased to focus on just understanding the world around me, but
now also question how I may and, in fact, will inevitably change it. Just as
graffiti is a nuanced social artifact laced with symbolism, power structures,
and reflections on the reification/challenge of ideology, my work too is a
social artifact that will have its own effects. Thus, I have come to view my
role as a research less as if I will
have a political impact and more on what said impact will be and what ends I
would want to direct it towards. One example, which I think can be seen as
representative of my work on graffiti, is to work towards strengthening public
enfranchisement and democratic tendencies in society. To understand the importance
of critically examining political discourse and understanding what this may say
about the power structures in place that facilitate or prevent it.
