Blog Post #3- Vandals or Visionaries?

             Within Mary Beth Willard's analysis entitled "Vandals or Visionaries? The Ethical Criticism of Street Art", Willard thoughtfully examines the shortcomings within the ethicist model and the autonomist model when considering street art. I am extremely interested in this point and agree that neither model properly takes into account the complexities nor the greater significance that street art represents. 
             One of Willard's points that I found to be compelling was her example of Christo and Jean-Claude's "The Gates". This work is an incredible example of work that is made to interact with the street within a limited time period. It's meaning and value exist only within the space. The Gates have become an extremely well-known piece and are highly regarded. What The Gates artist's possessed that most street artists do not have is funding, social standing, and respect for their work. A great deal of thought-provoking street art has been cast down because of its association with vandalism. Destruction of property is, of course, not what we are suggesting when considering the true value in street art. But it still seems that people higher up on the social ladder have a degree of dictation as to what will and will not be tolerated, even if the higher-ups are artists or museum curators who celebrate art. As Willard says, " To be of the streets meant to be excluded, and liberated, from institutional structures" (100). The idea that street artist's work is ethically flawed because it simply exists creates a social hierarchy obstacle that attempts to tie sever the endless process of art-making and cut it at its life source; the canvas. Alternatively, saying that the canvas of choice has no political or social meaning is naive at best. 

              All in all, street art should be viewed in a separate category, away from vandalism and away from fine art. It has a welcoming character that allows the masses to enjoy it, while simultaneously creating questions. Street art has the ability to transform traditional spaces. For this reason, I believe the general public, as well as government officials, should review and reasses both the ethicist and autonomist models of yesterday.