Abstract

In Dublin, on my first international trip in 2014, I realized that there was a database of cultural information that surrounded me almost every time I went for a walk - the city walls. Those walls, painted by brush or spray by the grandest to the humblest of artists, held a treasure trove of indicators of aesthetics, lifestyles, and feelings. For graffiti artists who often risk legal repercussions, street art is a form of expression that appropriates, or re-appropriates, a certain space. Since that trip to Dublin, I have maintained this point of view: that to better understand a city one should not ignore these “art exhibitions in the street”, noting and appreciating what is authorized and what is not. During my study abroad in Santiago de Chile, I developed a scientifically organized and sentimentally driven analysis of this cultural expression through the medium of Santiago's walls, and the product was a collection of 186 sites categorized and described by qualitative and quantitative observations. The report recognizes all manner of street art, from murals to unintelligible "tags", as valuable and socially inclusive sources of cultural information, and promotes these as legitimate forms of expression in the public space. Viewing street art this way provides a valuable alternative perspective into the day-to-day life of a city and its inhabitants.