As the end of our trip now rears its ugly head, I look back on my Santiago experience and think of some of the major differences between what I’ve seen and experienced here versus back in Colombus. The large amount of plant life penetrating the cities here, the language barrier, the weird trash pick-up baskets, and (what stuck out most to me) the amount of street art here. It seems that everywhere you turn there is some moral, tag, or scribble; and no surface is safe. It’s on buildings, street signs, the road, benches, and literally all of the bus windows. The people here are creative and it shows through the marks they’ve made on their environment. Over the week I’ve seen lots of reoccurring tags in different locations through the city. Whoever did each of them has that innate desire to leave something personalized and recognizable for others to see. Even though it may not connected to their name what matters to them is knowing they have this entity out there that everyone can see that is inherently theirs. Art is all about creating and making something outside of yourself that evokes something in other people who see it. What better gallery than a cityscape that millions of people live and work in? Back home grafetti is certainly more frowned upon back home. But I’m a person that thinks that any art opposed to no art is usually good art. I think it adds interest and depth to santigo. It makes the large city feel more personal and connected. It helped me to recognize the cultural perspectives of the people here through their own handiwork on their city.
