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[Music]
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graffiti might seem like a modern
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invention but in the remains of the
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Mayan city of tial pictures of jaguars
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snakes and deities can be found
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scratched onto buildings the
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archaeological sites at herculanum and
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Pompei feature graffitied word games
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grocery lists and animal drawings and
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just like I may or may not have written
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Sarah was here on my locker in high
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school this guy named patus commemorated
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his visit to Pompei by signing an amp
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theater column it goes to show that the
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desire to create art in public spaces
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regardless of permission is nothing new
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and you probably don't have to go far to
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find some in your own
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Community but what drives us to create
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less than legal art and what do we learn
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when we pay closer attention to it hi
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I'm Sarah urist green and this is Crash
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Course art history
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[Music]
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in our last episode we talked about
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official public art work that's formally
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approved to be made in public spaces it
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often involves permits funding and
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specific rules about size content and so
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on Independent public art on the other
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hand is a bit less sanctioned check out
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this mural of a Seas snake by David
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Pinon who goes by the name sahare 1 it's
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a beautiful public mural that reflects
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Mexican history and culture but no one
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paid him to create it on the side of
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this building I mean I would this is way
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better than a sad blank wall Javier
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abara The Scholar who coined the term
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independent public art argues that the
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unregulated nature of the form
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inherently resists the status quo for
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example while a commissioned mural may
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be painted on the side of a single
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building an independent artist might
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create a work that stretches across
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multiple properties as if to say boundar
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schm foundaries
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the more recent incarnation of this type
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of art began in the late 1960s when
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artists in cities like New York and
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Philadelphia began spray painting their
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names or tags onto buildings this mostly
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text-based graffiti gave way to an
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exploration of new Styles and techniques
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in the 70s as artists covered Subways
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with large-scale works that branched
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into the development of street art a
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more open-ended image heavy form of
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independent public art now to create art
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on public property without permission is
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technically illegal which is why when
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you think about graffiti and Street
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artists you might imagine them working
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in secret ready to make a quick escape
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and the struggle between vandalism laws
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on one hand and the age-old human desire
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to represent ourselves in public on the
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other it leads to a quality that most
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independent public art shares
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impermanence artists create in public
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knowing full well that their work can
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get taken down or covered up by
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authorities the very next day they also
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know that their art can change with
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added contributions from other community
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members and for many artists the
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impermanence is the point they want
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their art to grow and evolve with the
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community like with this installation
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chalk by Jennifer allora and guo Cadia
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the pair bring humanized chalk pieces on
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tour around the world in each location
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they invite locals to create marks on
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the streets and walls the work is
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collaborative bringing people together
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at a specific place and moment in time
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to make their Mark the art is found less
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in the chalk scribbles themselves than
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in the act of community creation the
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fleeting nature of independent public
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art allows for works that are Innovative
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interactive and just plain fun like
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Joshua Allen Harris's Inflatables these
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sculptures made of plastic bags are tied
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to City subway grates a space that's
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often overlooked even avoided the bags
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blend in like trash and until a train
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passes below spitting exhaust into the
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air then the sculptures come to life as
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a polar bear or a centar surprising the
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viewer before deflating again but
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independent public art can also
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communicate far more serious points and
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give voice to political movements
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although much of this work is considered
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vandalism at the start public opinion of
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it can shift over time for example art
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illegally painted on the west side of
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the Berlin wall during the cold War now
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lives in museums and public spaces
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around the world the East Side Gallery
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in Berlin which displays more than 100
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of the Wall's original murals is visited
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by more than 3 million people each year
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for a more contemporary example consider
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this mural made in Minneapolis near
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where George Floyd was murdered by
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police in May 2020 the painting shows a
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portrait of Floyd within a sunflower
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which one of the artists kadex Herrera
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described as a symbol of Life longevity
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and the black lives matter movement on
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either side of Floyd's head are enormous
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letters that spell out his name they
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radiate outward as if he's calling out
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to viewers inside the black Halo likee
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flower that surrounds his head are the
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words say our names with an extensive
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list of victims of racialized violence
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the painting was designed by Herrera
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Greta mlan and Zena Goldman but
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completed by the Minneapolis Community
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who contributed to the mural to show
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their support of the black lives matter
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movement the mural also became a site of
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public mourning with visitors leaving
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flowers notes and other tributes and
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this is just one example of many
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independent public artworks created in
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response to Floyd's death not only in
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Minneapolis but all around the globe the
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urban art mapping project out of the
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University of St Thomas in Minnesota has
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digitally cataloged these artworks
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allowing what might have been
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impermanent to be documented for
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Generations this archive records a
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historical moment and also helps us
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better understand the present for
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example Scholars who studied the
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collection found striking differences in
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street art made closer to intense
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protests rather than farther away
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artists near protests tended to make
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work that was more raw and direct while
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the farther out they went the more art
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focused on broader ideals like change or
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Unity so by preserving artwork made
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independently and not just work that was
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formally approved we can gain a richer
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understanding of both history and the
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current moment but when independent
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public art ends up in museums Galleries
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and digital collections it blurs those
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divisions we set up at the beginning of
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this video suddenly something that
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started as Rebellion has been welcomed
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into the mainstream perhaps no one
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understood that Journey better than
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American Artist Jean Michelle
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basat in the late 1970s when basat was
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about 17 he burst onto the street art
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scene spray painting buildings with the
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tag s m o to critique the commercial art
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world the tags pronounced so a Shand for
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S but that Gallery in Fine Art World
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they loved him by his early 20s he'd
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become a huge celebrity still as he
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began to paint on stretched canvases and
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show in galleries his work continued to
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reflect his origin as a street artist
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like in this piece horn players an
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homage to Jazz musicians Charlie Parker
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and dizy Gillespie basat uses elements
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of street art like outlined figures
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handwritten and crossed out words but he
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also takes inspiration from more
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traditional art forms and widely
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renowned artists for example horn
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players is a trip tick a three-part
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format common in European religious art
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like 15th century alter pieces and the
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figures themselves Echo those in
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Picasso's famous work three musicians in
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a single work basat brings together a
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centuries long artistic tradition modern
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black musicians pushing the limits of
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jazz abstract art of the early 20th
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century and street art which challenges
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the status quo by its very existence and
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that my friends is how you enter my
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personal Canon of significant artists
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cue the Canon Cannon
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soot perhaps better than anyone
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encompasses the many contradictions of
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independent public art today his work
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began as a rebellion and a conversation
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with the public about pop culture and
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its many issues it was often fleeting
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getting removed by authorities or
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painted over by other artists and yet
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bat's art managed to speak to people in
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the streets and the art world and so
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does independent public art today we see
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it in museums digital archives and even
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mainstream music and of course all
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around us and it teaches us things about
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history and the present independent
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public art might not be legal but that
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doesn't mean it's not important it's an
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integral part of the communities it
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emerges from and of the broader human
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story sometimes it brings color and life
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into a forgotten part of the city other
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times it provides a voice to a political
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movement or inspires Global
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activism in any case people in the
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mainstream art world and Beyond are
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increasingly paying attention to this
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diverse art form that has the power to
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change our
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world next time we'll be unpacking the
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complex debate around originality in art
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I'll see you there thanks for watching
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this episode of crashcourse art history
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which was filmed at the Indianapolis
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museum of art at newfields and was made
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with the help of all of these mostly
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law-abiding people if you want to help
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keep crash course free for everyone
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forever you can join our community on
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patreon
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[Music]