Sticker art (also known as sticker bombing, "sticker slapping", slap tagging, and sticker tagging) 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 an a subcategory of Graffiti.[citation needed]
This form of street art allows graffiti tags to instantly be placed anywhere accessible, with a much lower risk of apprehension and less damage to the target surface than is possible with other types of street art, such as wheat-pasting posters or spray paint.
Many different types of stickers are used to create sticker art. Inexpensively-purchased and free stickers such as "hello my name is" name tags or the United States Postal Service's Label 228 are often used with hand-drawn art. The Label 228 sticker is quite hard to peel off, and leaves a white, sticky residue. This is another reason that graffiti artists use them. Sticker artists can also easily design and print thousands of stickers at low cost using a commercial printing service or at home with a computer printer and self-adhesive labels. Most well known artists print their designs onto adhesive vinyl. Most adhesive vinyl has an aggressive permanent adhesive and all are waterproof and fade resistant. A handful of these artists raise the bar by printing their designs on destructible adhesive vinyl such as B.N.E. (artist) and early Obey Giant[1] "Has A Posse" have done. Destructible adhesive vinyl is near impossible to remove from the surface it is adhered to once applied. If destructible adhesive vinyl is tampered with harshly it simply cracks and chips away in tiny increments making it extremely tedious to handle and remove. Artist Cristina Vanko's "I am Coal" project uses stickers to identify objects that are coal powered, spreading awareness of global climate change.[2][3] Using sticker art, or street art, to inform the public of social and political issues is known as "smart vandalism."[4] Vanko also appeared in the 2011 Derek Cutting short film, Cristina's Walk[5], where she played a penitent streetwalker destitute after a long day.
Many sticker artists also trade stickers with other sticker artists to get their stickers distributed worldwide and often their work will be stuck up in locations they themselves have never visited. Trades are sometimes arranged personally (often through social networking sites) or via online sticker trading sites such as http://www.stickertrading.com .
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- IZASTIKUP:A Unique Collection of Stickers Compiled by Bo130, Microbo and The Don. Drago Media (2005) ISBN 978-88-88493-33-6
- Claudia Walde: Sticker City. The Paper Graffiti Generation (Street Graphics / Street Art). Thames & Hudson, 2007. ISBN 978-0500286685
- PEEL: The Art of the Sticker by Dave & Holly Combs. Mark Batty Publisher (2008). ISBN 0979554608
- Stickers: Stick Em' Up by Mike Dorrian & David Recchia. Thames & Hudson (2002). ISBN 9781861542472
[edit] References
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