8/13/2019 La Cultura Del Graffiti

1/3

1. Who is Pavel 183?

Pavel 183, also known as Pavel Pukhov; born 11 August 1983 in Moscow, where he currentlylives, is a Russian street artist.

The works of Pavel 183 range from murals spray-painted on public structures to combinationsof audio and video, at times accompanied by a political message. His works have beencompared with those of the British street artist Banksy, though Pavel himself doesn't thecomparison. Like Banksy, Pavel has chosen to keep his true identity a secret, revealing only afew biographical details on his website, including his birth and residence in Moscow and hisdegree in design

2. Who is Banksy?

Banksy previously believed to be one Robert or Robin Banks and born in 1974/5 in Yate,Bristol. He doesn't do interviews very often but was interviewed in 2003 by SimonHattenstone, a reporter for the Guardian newspaper. He described banksy as looking like a"cross between Jimmy Nail and Mike Skinner of the Streets" and turning up wearing scruffycasual jeans and t-shirt, sporting a silver tooth, silver chain and silver earring.

Banksy started doing graffiti when he was 14 years old but admits "I was quite crap with aspray can, so I started cutting out stencils instead." He has come a long way since spraying histag on the walls of bristol. He changed his stomping ground to Shoreditch in london where youwill find lots of his work on display, to holding exhibitions in Los Angeles.

Banksy has supposedly been photographed a few times but each photo appears to be a

different person to me so who knows?

3. What is The Graffiti culture?

Making: http://www.graffiti.org/faq/werwath/werwath.html

What truly motivates someone to write on a public wall, for others to see? Who is it that isdoing this, and why didn't they just grab a pen and a pad and keep it to themselves? Thesequestions have caught the interest of many sociologists, psychologists, and cultural

anthropologists. To get a better understanding of how graffiti culture came to be what it istoday, one first needs to step back and look over the basic elements of hip-hop culture,elements that may have been overlooked because of the diversity that it has today.

Research has shown that the identity of a person is a direct consequence of heredity andenvironment. From birth, a person does not choose the path they'll lead, but instead is guidedin one direction or the other through socialization that has been dictated by opportunitiesaround them. (Weiten) Someone may diverge from this and form their own unique identity,but the roots of that identity still hold true to their socialized selves. In a larger context, thiscan be loosely applied to an entire culture.

http://www.graffiti.org/faq/werwath/werwath.htmlhttp://www.graffiti.org/faq/werwath/werwath.html

8/13/2019 La Cultura Del Graffiti

2/3

The people who first began the hip-hop movement were at the bottom of the socio-economicpyramid. The founders of hip-hop were not born into wealth, but instead were expressing their

jealousy towards those who were. In essence, graffiti is an indirect result and a modernresponse to the class struggle in America that has been going on for generations.

In a class system, one naturally wants to move to the top and maintain that position. Amajority of people born into a free-market society are indoctrinated with capitalistic values,and to them it is seen as a positive and constructive thing to gain wealth and maintain vastamounts of capital that will extend beyond that person or society's lifetime. This is a basicsurvival instinct, and has been proven throughout history: the pyramids of Giza, the RomanEmpire, or the practice of ascribed wealth, to name a few examples.

Unfortunately, urban lower-class youth are often completely disenfranchised from anyopportunities to move up the ladder and attain wealth. Instead, they are locked into a socialsituation in which they work full-time to make ends meet and have very little left over. Even

worse, constant struggle to just meet basic needs encourages them to spend their free time(and money) doing things that are entertaining and not necessarily constructive.

Luckily the instinct to remain alive that each person has cannot be dismantled so easily.Although older people who have been locked into these situations for a long period of timemay grow apathetic and find such forms of expression meaningless, the youth have yet to becompletely changed by their environment, and can still be influenced by their hereditarysurvival instinct. They still want to attain or create something that people will remember themby, something that will keep their message living beyond the grave. (Esposito) Taking this ideaand adapting it to their urban environment and available resources explains the basic

reasoning behind why they would choose to write something for the public to see. Spray paintand permanent markers were chosen especially because they were much more difficult tocensor.

Devon D. Brewer, a sociologist who has studied graffiti extensively, claims that "there are fourmajor values in hip hop graffiti: fame, artistic expression, power and rebellion." (Brewer 188)Although artistic expression can be applied to any form of art, the other three values are fairlyunique to hip-hop and symbolize the envy of disenfranchised youth. Upper-class youth areoften born with power and fame, since these are things that come with ascribed status.Rebellion is something that rich youth often take for granted as an alternative to their current

way of life, without realizing that many people who are locked into a certain economicsituation are not afforded that alternative without risking further hardship or even death. Likethe story of the forbidden fruit, lower-class youths have been denied these opportunities alltheir lives, so they want them even more than the rich do.

These motives can be used to explain the origins of graffiti, but they do not thoroughly definegraffiti today, now that it has spread beyond its original socio-economic barriers. Reiteratingthe opening point, culture is formed in a very similar way to the way a person's identity isformed. To this effect, a culture is constantly changing, just like a person. What allowed thischange to occur was creating new and improved technology that allowed different types of

people to experience hip-hop culture.

8/13/2019 La Cultura Del Graffiti

3/3

Graffiti changed because more and more people connected with the rebellious spirit of hip-hop. Middle- and upper-class youths, especially in suburbs, have lots of free time to do as theywish. Although this liberty often creates and encourages a materialistic consumer culture, atthe same time the youth are afforded many more chances for educating themselves. Especiallyin the suburbs, this education is causing a conflict. (Ferrell 30) Suburban youth are educatingthemselves to the point where they reject the sterile, superficial culture of their surroundingsand look for an alternative way of life with more meaning. Specifically, many turn to hip-hopand graffiti.

4. How does Pavel choose to remain?

Pavel 183 chose to remain Anonymous, like Banksy.

5. According to the narrator what kind of time is living Russia?

Russia is experiencing a time of dissatisfaction with the political and social order

6. How does he see his work?

Pavel 183 says: I dont see my work as politic. I think, all in Russia is politic

7. What does Pavel say is more important for him?

He says: The society is the most important

8. What does Pavel use to work?

He works with wasted findings, filling them with fizzy guns

9. What is he creating with the abandoned concrete slabs?

Pavel 183 is doing in the concrete slabs of the box version of favorite chocolate of Russia

10. What does the say about Pavel's work?

It is very simple, very accessible. It is really very beautiful.