Art at the Heart of the Zeitgeist

admin EXPERIENTIAL, OOH

The world of business has been likened to a societal barometer. The theory goes that in the world of commerce organisations looking for a competitive edge are more likely to become early adopters of new ideas and technologies.

If that is the case the appointment of Juan-carlos Morales as Chief Creative Officer at PwC Digital Services is certainly an interesting one, especially when he cites a book, Subway Art, as an early catalyst for his creativity.

Street Art, once constrained by the terms ‘graffiti’ and ‘tagging’, is an urban phenomenon that continues to polarise opinion. In the past those two camps were divided between those who saw it as vandalism and those who appreciated it as a form of expression, social commentary, protest and counter-culture.

Arguably, it is the most democratic of art forms since it requires few materials beyond aerosol paints, a few stencils, imagination and some chutzpah. Don’t let that fool you though – the results can be breathtaking.

Some street artists – like Sheffield-based Phlegm have branched out into the wild and incorporated other skills and materials in their work.

But sometimes, when you want to make a street art statement, all it takes is an inspiration and ink and paper!

In the UK Street Art has long been synonymous with Banksy, whose aerosol and stencil works have sold for six-figure sums and whose anonymous popularity spawned a temporary dystopian theme park, Dismaland. However, this diverse and expressive art form is a truly global phenomenon, adapted by locality and culture. It is also becoming increasingly mainstream and apart from its visual impact and appeal to the youth and innovators of all ages, Street Art has clear resonances with good advertising:

1. It makes a high-impact statement that becomes a talking point.

2. It evokes an emotional response from both its target audience and its detractors (at the time of writing, there is no vanilla street art!).

3. It is a catalyst for other creatives and inspires imitators.

4. It can be site specific, inspired by its location and environment.

5.  It can generate a positive reputation and a good rate of return for everyone involved.

6. It can establish a brand and its values.

If you’d like to see some of the interesting Street Art examples we’ve seen around the country during field work, go to our Field Force Pinterest board (click here).

And, thanks to Derek Thompson for the image above.