3 Leder - Atrium - Universitetet i Bergen

Norwegian graffiti 1. Scribble house in Bergen.Norwegian graffiti 2. Writings on an elevator in Fantoft.Dutch graffiti. Door number3, Amsterdam.22in France also created fertile ground forgraffiti expressions. But what lies behindthis human manifestation?FORCED URBAN SILENCE AND RE-TERRITORIALIZATIONOne of the many consequences of life inmodern cities is anonymity. Before theprocess of urbanization and countrysideto-citymigrations took flight (as early asthe 1800s in Industrial Revolution citieslike London, or more recently in other humansettlements), human life took placein a mostly rural background, where everybodyknew everybody. The baker, thepriest or the shopkeeper were all knownfaces. However, when the population ofa town went from the hundreds to thethousands or soaring into the millions,the character and identity and onenessof the individual felt the consequences:it became easy to get lost in a crowd ofmillions of human beings that happenedto share several square kilometers.In 1968, Andy Warhol stated that «inthe future, everybody will have 15 minutesof fame», and soon enough, the inhabitantsof various human settlementsstarting coming up with ways to reclaimwhat they had lost in the endless pool ofbuildings: an identity. Public opinion wasthe dominion of the media: newspapers,television, radio: the establishment decidedwhat was said, when it was said and bywhom it was said. Every evening, the suburbswere swept by the waves of soundfrom newscasts and editorial speeches,which held the truth, and communicatedit to the masses. Thus, communicationbecame a one-way situation, it could onlybe received. However, events were suddenlytaking place in the world, people