Department of Computer Science & Software Engineering
The University of Western Australia
Last modified: 17 July 2020
Modified By: Michael Wise
One key modern artefact is 'graffiti' - which is found in almost every urban centre in the world. 'Graffiti' is, in fact. comprised of several distinct mark-making practices including tags, pieces, throw ups, murals, latrinalia (https://www.theurbanlist.com/perth/a-list/street-art-perth), street art, and more. Graffiti is also surprisingly old - found in Pompeii (see https://kashgar.com.au/blogs/history/the-bawdy-graffiti-of-pompeii-and-herculaneu ) , the catacombs and beyond. Archaeologists are increasingly studying graffiti in terms of its various meanings ((https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4419-0465-2_551 ) .
But there is a gap in the scientific study of graffiti. Precise mapping of graffiti areas, combined with good quality photographs that can be tagged and simultaneously uploaded to a central online repository to which further information can be added, is needed (see http://grafarc.org/).
An app that can be loaded onto a smartphone to capture co-ordinates, images, voice recordings - and which can synchronously be shared by a team of recorders working in the city, would be enormously valuable in understanding when, why, how people make graffiti in Perth. Some graffiti makes great murals and art - other is vandalism that costs taxpayers in WA $600,000-00 year (https://www.goodbyegraffiti.wa.gov.au/)
| Department of Computer Science & Software Engineering The University of Western Australia Last modified: 17 July 2020 Modified By: Michael Wise |
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