Sticker art explained

Sticker art (also known as slaps in a graffiti context)[1] is a form of street art in which an image or message is publicly displayed using stickers. These stickers may promote a political agenda, comment on a policy or issue, or comprise a subcategory of graffiti.[2]

Sticker artists use various types of stickers, from eggshell stickers to free paper stickers, such as the United States Postal Service's Label 228 or name tags.[3] Part of their popularity in street art comes from being a faster, and therefore safer, option in illegal graffiti.[4]

History

The first recognized example of sticker art in the USA is Andre the giant has a posse by Shepard Fairey, created in 1989.[5] The first European (and non-American) sticker art project is I Sauri, started in 1993.[6]

Solo One was one of the first graffiti artists to use stickers with tags on them in 1999.[7] Since 2000, many graffiti artists and street artists, like Katsu or Barry McGee incorporated stickers in their production, using them as an alternative to tagging and bombing, or as autonomous art projects.[8]

Creation

Sticker artists may hand-draw stickers, print them using a commercial printing service or at home with a computer printer and self-adhesive labels, or have them made commercially.[9]

Any kind of blank sticker can be used for sticker art. Label 228s are often used with hand-drawn art, and are quite hard to remove, leaving a white, sticky residue. Eggshell stickers are popular a type of sticker created specifically for street art. They are named because an attempt to remove them results in tiny pieces breaking off, like an eggshell.[10] Eggshell stickers are made of a mixture of paper and plastic which protects them from the elements. Eggshell stickers longevity allows sticker art to be a part of many urban landscapes.

Exchange

Unlike other forms of graffiti which are created on public surfaces, stickers are portable before being "used" and many graffiti artists ("writers") trade stickers, and more popular artists sell their stickers.[11] Graffiti shops often have places for writers to exchange stickers, and global stores allow for worldwide sticker exchanges[12] [13] which lets artist have their work put up in places they may never visit themselves.[14]

Sticker art is sometimes a collectable item[15] with some collections being in the 10,000s of stickers.[16] Within graffiti culture, it is considered good manners for collectors to put up at least some of the stickers received in an exchange.[17]

Sticker art exchanges also allow large numbers of artists to collaborate on a single sticker, or multiple stuck together.[18]

Artists

Artist Cristina Vanko refers to her "I am Coal" project as "smart vandalism."[19] Vanko uses stickers to identify objects that are coal-powered, spreading awareness of global climate change.[20] [21]

The artist Cindy Hinant created a series of projects from 2006 to 2009 that combined the tradition of sticker collecting[22] and sticker bombing in works that reflected on feminine representations in popular culture.[23] [24]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Book: Brown . Michelle . Routledge International Handbook of Visual Criminology . Carrabine . Eamonn . 2017-07-06 . Taylor & Francis . 978-1-317-49754-7 . en.
  2. Marecki, Piotr (2014). Stickers as a Literature - Distribution Platform. NYC: The Trope Tank. p. 2.
  3. Book: Cooper , Martha . Going Postal. 2009-03-28. Mark Batty Publisher. 9780979966651. New York; London. en.
  4. Book: Elsner . Daniela . Films, Graphic Novels & Visuals: Developing Multiliteracies in Foreign Language Education : an Interdisciplinary Approach . Helff . Sissy . Viebrock . Britta . 2013 . LIT Verlag Münster . 978-3-643-90390-7 . en.
  5. Web site: Andre the Giant Has a Posse. 21 July 2015.
  6. Web site: I Sauri (Italy). 13 October 2018.
  7. Book: Ferrell . Jeff . Cultural Criminology Unleashed . Hayward . Keith . Morrison . Wayne . Presdee . Mike . 2016-04-15 . Routledge . 978-1-135-30984-8 . en.
  8. Web site: Exploring pop culture's subversive sticker art culture. 26 August 2015.
  9. Book: Brown . Michelle . Routledge International Handbook of Visual Criminology . Carrabine . Eamonn . 2017-07-06 . Taylor & Francis . 978-1-317-49754-7 . en.
  10. Viljoen . V.A. . Spocter . M. . 2021-10-08 . An exploratory foray into visual street art and graffiti in south African cityscapes . Proceedings of the Biennial Conference of the Society of South African Geographers and the Southern African Association of Geomorphologists . Researchgate.
  11. Web site: Graffiti Stickers Used For Good At UGLY Gallery . 2023-08-29 . www.wbur.org . en.
  12. Web site: Sticker Exchange . 2023-08-29 . www.streetfame.net . en.
  13. Web site: Sticker Trading . 2023-08-29 . Redbelly Culture . en.
  14. Web site: Sticker Bombing: The Effects of Stickers on the Graffiti Culture . 2023-08-29 . Machine Studio . en.
  15. Web site: Hatch Sticker Museum . 2023-08-29 . Atlas Obscura . en.
  16. Web site: Kurutz . Steven . 2009-07-30 . Artist Michael Anderson Creates Graffiti-Sticker Mural for the Ace Hotel Lobby -- New York Magazine - Nymag . 2023-08-29 . New York Magazine . en-us.
  17. News: Lefrak . Mikaela . 2019-02-04 . Stickering is an increasingly popular art form for D.C. artists, particularly women . The Washington Post . 2023-08-19.
  18. Web site: Eliason . Robert . 2020-03-17 . Art travels around the world with sticker packs . 2023-08-29 . BenitoLink . en-US.
  19. News: Student art project is vandalism for a cause. 4 April 2011. The Herald-Times. 7 March 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120320000018/http://www.whas11.com/news/local/Student-art-project-is-vandalism-for-a-cause-86760522.html. 20 March 2012.
  20. Web site: Making Engaged Art: Response and Intervention on Climate Change. The Canary Project. 4 April 2011.
  21. Book: Bierut. Michael. Friedman. Thomas. Morris. Edward. Siegel. Dimitri. Green Patriot Posters. 2010. Metropolis Books. 978-1-935202-24-0.
  22. Web site: Bent. Gala. Interview With Cindy Hinant. Asthmatic Kitty. 20 November 2014. August 2, 2007. Cindy Hinant’s installations are luridly colorful collections of objects that seem to gather and spill out of otherwise ignored corners. Some of her materials are masses of bright and shiny stickers, girliness with the volume on ten.. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129102430/http://sidebar.asthmatickitty.com/archives/913. 29 November 2014.
  23. Book: Zucker Saltz. Lizzie. Crafting Romance. 2009. Athens Institute of Contemporary Art. Athens. 5.
  24. News: Watt-Grade. Susan. Cindy Hinant: Cascades. 20 November 2014. Nuvo. September 19, 2007.

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