Sticker art (also known as slaps in a graffiti context)[1] is a form of street art in which an image or message is publicly displayed using stickers. These stickers may promote a political agenda, comment on a policy or issue, or comprise a subcategory of graffiti.[2]
Sticker artists use various types of stickers, from eggshell stickers to free paper stickers, such as the United States Postal Service's Label 228 or name tags.[3] Part of their popularity in street art comes from being a faster, and therefore safer, option in illegal graffiti.[4]
History
The first recognized example of sticker art in the USA is Andre the giant has a posse by Shepard Fairey, created in 1989.[5] The first European (and non-American) sticker art project is that by Piermario Ciani, initially started in the 1980s within the Trax project and more intensely starting from 1991,[6] as also documented by a catalogue published in that year.[7] Solo One was one of the first graffiti artists to use stickers with tags on them in 1999.[8] Since 2000, many graffiti artists and street artists, like Katsu or Barry McGee incorporated stickers in their production, using them as an alternative to tagging and bombing, or as autonomous art projects.[9]
Creation
Sticker artists may hand-draw stickers, print them using a commercial printing service or at home with a computer printer and self-adhesive labels, or have them made commercially.[10]
Any kind of blank sticker can be used for sticker art. Label 228s are often used with hand-drawn art, and are quite hard to remove, leaving a white, sticky residue. Eggshell stickers are popular a type of sticker created specifically for street art. They are named because an attempt to remove them results in tiny pieces breaking off, like an eggshell.[11] Eggshell stickers are made of a mixture of paper and plastic which protects them from the elements. Eggshell stickers longevity allows sticker art to be a part of many urban landscapes.[12]
Exchange
Unlike other forms of graffiti which are created on public surfaces, stickers are portable before being "used" and many graffiti artists ("writers") trade stickers, and more popular artists sell their stickers.[13] Graffiti shops often have places for writers to exchange stickers, and global stores allow for worldwide sticker exchanges[14][15] which lets artist have their work put up in places they may never visit themselves.[16]
Sticker art is sometimes a collectable item[17] with some collections being in the 10,000s of stickers.[18] Within graffiti culture, it is considered good manners for collectors to put up at least some of the stickers received in an exchange.[19]
Sticker art exchanges also allow large numbers of artists to collaborate on a single sticker, or multiple stuck together.[20]
Artists
Artist Cristina Vanko refers to her "I am Coal" project as "smart vandalism."[21] Vanko uses stickers to identify objects that are coal-powered, spreading awareness of global climate change.[22][23]
The artist Cindy Hinant created a series of projects from 2006 to 2009 that combined the tradition of sticker collecting[24] and sticker bombing in works that reflected on feminine representations in popular culture.[25][26]
↑ Bent, Gala (August 2, 2007). "Interview With Cindy Hinant". Asthmatic Kitty. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014. Cindy Hinant's installations are luridly colorful collections of objects that seem to gather and spill out of otherwise ignored corners. Some of her materials are masses of bright and shiny stickers, girliness with the volume on ten.
↑ Zucker Saltz, Lizzie (2009). Crafting Romance. Athens: Athens Institute of Contemporary Art. p.5.
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