A new academic book on graffiti offers a far too uncritical look at the art form.
By Ben Adler
October 29, 2008
911 Graffiti Blog
A New York Transit Authority Number 1 subway car bearing the graffiti tag “Dani.” (AP Photo/NYPD)
© Frank H. Jump
In his review of Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York’s Urban Underground by Gregory Snyder, a sociologist and anthropologist at Baruch College in New York City – Adler asks:
So rather than attempting that, I wish that Snyder had devoted some space and energy to seriously examining questions he should have tackled: Can graffiti be harnessed as a force for social change? Do political pieces like this one [photo above] awaken the minds of the disengaged?
