Chat with a street art-lover

Zofka (pictured R) has her own blog on 'street art'. Her photo blog presents three pages of images from around Athens and could be said to be a graffiti-lover’s dream. Here she speaks to Athens Street Art’s artastica about it and raises an interesting point regarding just how much the street art of each city says a lot about its residents.

The link to her photo blog is:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zofka/sets/72157594492655215/

artastica: How do you define 'street art'?
zofka: I define “street art” as human creativity expressed in any form through different media, openly and freely in an urban context.

a: why do you prefer to call it 'street art' rather than 'graffiti'?
z: I prefer this label to “graffiti” because the latter has inherited the notion of “scripture” and is predominantly linked to the medium of spray can – “spray can art” being, in my opinion, the closest synonym to "graffiti" – whereas “street art” includes all imaginable media whether it be spray cans, all kinds of paints, stencils, collages, chalk drawings, stickers, mosaics etc.

a: What drew you to capture these images of street art?
z: I have always been fascinated by street art which for me is one of the most universal and democratic forms of creative expression. I find street art to be one of the best and most direct ways to understand a culture and the mentality and political situation of a country. I have been travelling a lot lately and am amazed by the extent to which cultural differences are literally imprinted in the surfaces of the various cityscapes.

a: What do you believe this street art says about our city today?
z: I believe that in these times of indispensable global regeneration, Athens is crying out for a funkier, more positive aesthetic, a lighter, more humorous communal existence and the riddance from the complexes and stereotypes of the past. Through my photo-documentation of the Athenian street art, I am glad to notice that some change is already happening and am very optimistic about it.