Surfaces taught me everything I know about cities. Our streets and public walls are covered with posters, signs, art and graffiti, yet we rarely think about their collective role in shaping social values.
Join me for a morning of interviewing walls, a method I developed in my research on graffiti, urban surfaces and the right to the city. In this two-hour workshop, we will explore how urban walls and surfaces offer insights into communities and public life, by reading the messages, materials, and images displayed in the city.
The workshop has two parts: we begin with an indoor discussion of urban visual culture and public walls, and explore the wall interview method. Then we develop a wall interview together, and put it to the test on the streets of Melbourne in the second part of the workshop.
How are urban surfaces designed and managed to support values of public order and private property? How are these subverted by creative and political voices? And who should decide what cities look like?
Walls speak. Are you listening?
