Cracks and Contestation: Toward an Ecology of Graffiti and Abatement

Abstract

This article argues that graffiti, through their vitality, illustrate the battle over urban enclosures and the valorization of private property. We focus on abatement—the act of removing graffiti—and by exploring graffiti and abatement we investigate mechanisms and ideologies that draw people into struggles over urban space. In this battle over space, where the state and capital attempt to assert control, a flick of paint serves as a threat as it opens up possibilities beyond the enclosure. From this vantage point there emerges an ecology of graffiti and abatement that is at once lively and dangerous.