Introduction
What do all of the following images have in common? Look closely.
Did you notice him? Meet Oscar. He exists on the streets of Old Town San Juan, Puerto Rico. His image reappears along sidewalks, through windows, perched on balconies, and on the walls of buildings. His image is not an isolated piece of street art. The full-body cut out of Oscar is part of a larger, politically-charged movement that uses street art to grab attention and promote awareness in public places. Oscar López Rivera, whom the image is of, is a Puerto Rican nationalist currently imprisoned by the United States. But Oscar is also out on the streets. Oscar is simultaneaously in jail as well as in public spaces in the urban environment and fabric of San Juan. The project is called Oscar En La Calle.
In the Spring of 2015, I travelled to San Juan, Puerto Rico and resided in Viejo San Juan (also called Old Town and Old San Juan), the oldest, colonial part of the port city for one week. Experiencing a new city, I was consistently reminded of the Bottom-Up Urbanism seminar, specifically in regards to street art and human interaction with the urban environment as Oscar's face reappeared throughout San Juan's streets. This curated webspace is an exploration, critique, and application of bottom-up urbanism practices including cities within cities, street art, and the use of space - both tangible and intangible. I hope to add to the discussion of Oscar En La Calle as well as the larger urban theory and discourse.
In the Spring of 2015, I travelled to San Juan, Puerto Rico and resided in Viejo San Juan (also called Old Town and Old San Juan), the oldest, colonial part of the port city for one week. Experiencing a new city, I was consistently reminded of the Bottom-Up Urbanism seminar, specifically in regards to street art and human interaction with the urban environment as Oscar's face reappeared throughout San Juan's streets. This curated webspace is an exploration, critique, and application of bottom-up urbanism practices including cities within cities, street art, and the use of space - both tangible and intangible. I hope to add to the discussion of Oscar En La Calle as well as the larger urban theory and discourse.
Who is oscar?
My first encounter with Oscar was unexpected. The following photo was taken outside a bar in Viejo San Juan. This is where I was first able to learn more about Oscar and his image. Sitting at eye level, this particular image of Oscar included a description in both English and Spanish - telling of who the intended audience is. Because San Juan is predominantly Spanish speaking, the presence of an English translation suggests the intended audience includes English-only speakers, likely tourists. There is also a Facebook symbol on his sleeve, directing to an online space for communicating the movement's message.
|
"Oscar López Rivera es un nacionalista puertorriqueño y uno de los líderes de las FALN (Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional). En 1981 López Rivera fue sentenciado a 55 años en una prisión federal por conspiración sediciosa, uso de la fuerza para cometer rho, transporte interestatal de armas de fuego y conspiración para transportar explosivos con la intención de destruir propiedad gubernamental. En 1988 fue sentenciado a 15 años adicionales por conspirar para escapar de prisión."
|
"Oscar López Rivera is a Puerto Rican nationalist. In 1981, López Rivera was convicted and sentenced to 55 years in federal prison for seditious consiracy and other charges stemming from his participation in the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), a Marxist-Leninist organization which sought to transform Puerto Rico into a communist state during the 1970s. He is the longest-incarcerated advocate FALN member. In 1988 he was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison for conspiring to escape from prison. While some calll him a terrorist, others call him a political prisoner."
|
WHERE is Oscar?
Physically, Imprisoned. Oscar is both everywhere and nowhere. Oscar López Rivera is currently imprisoned in the state of Indiana by the U.S. federal government. He was convicted for 55 years under the charges of "seditious conspiracy" and again for 15 more years for conspiring to escape from prison. Originally imprisoned in 1981, his release-year is in 2051, 70 years later. Oscar is known for being the longest-imprisoned FALN member, and Puerto Rican communities have continuously protested his prison sentences.
Symbolically, Viejo San Juan. Oscar is very physically in a jail cell in American federal prison in Indiana, but he is also symbolically in streets of his home in Puerto Rico. The same image of Oscar reappears every few blocks in Viejo San Juan, sometimes more than once on the same building or along the same sidewalk. In this sense, he is also on the streets, en la calle. While his physical body is not visible to anyone in the general public, his image is visible to everyone walking the public streets of Viejo San Juan. The map below shows Viejo San Juan, where Oscar symbollically exists on many streets and sidewalks.
Digitially, Webspace. There is another space Oscar exists: online. On the image of Oscar outside the bar, there is a Facebook symbol. It is located in the bottom right corner of the his image above, on his sleeve. Suggesting a Facebook page or group, I searched "Oscar En La Calle" and immediately found an open, public Facebook group and "requested" to "join." My request was approved by the group's moderator and I was given access to all posts, photos, and member names and granted the ability for me to post and interact in the group
Without access to the Facebook group, called "Oscar En La Calle", this project would have been limited. The group creates a space for sharing, interaction, collaboration and discussion of Oscar En La Calle. The ability to post questions, photos, statements, and interact with already-posted content by "liking", commenting, or "sharing" further generates a third kind of space for awareness and involvement with Oscar as a prisoner, a criminal, street art, and political movement. Members of the Facebook group use the hashtag #OscarEnLaCalle, connecting any and all posts with the tag on other social media platforms. Though there is a formal group for Oscar En La Calle on Facebook, the hashtag exists and is easily searchable on other social media sites like Instagram and Twitter. Below, and throughout the rest of this webspace, are images that others have posted of Oscar En La Calle. All credit is theirs, and I am thankful for their addition to my understanding and ability to discuss Oscar En La Calle as it relates to Bottom-up Urbanism and use of space in the city.
#OscarEnLaCalle is not unique in its harnessing of webspace to spread urban practices. The digital and shareable presence of urban phenomenon is further explored by a peer of mine in the Bottom-Up Urbanism seminar. Katherine Bright defines, explores, and critiques what she calls "sharable urbanism." For further understanding of an interactive, public, and online urban environment, visit her curated space here.
Without access to the Facebook group, called "Oscar En La Calle", this project would have been limited. The group creates a space for sharing, interaction, collaboration and discussion of Oscar En La Calle. The ability to post questions, photos, statements, and interact with already-posted content by "liking", commenting, or "sharing" further generates a third kind of space for awareness and involvement with Oscar as a prisoner, a criminal, street art, and political movement. Members of the Facebook group use the hashtag #OscarEnLaCalle, connecting any and all posts with the tag on other social media platforms. Though there is a formal group for Oscar En La Calle on Facebook, the hashtag exists and is easily searchable on other social media sites like Instagram and Twitter. Below, and throughout the rest of this webspace, are images that others have posted of Oscar En La Calle. All credit is theirs, and I am thankful for their addition to my understanding and ability to discuss Oscar En La Calle as it relates to Bottom-up Urbanism and use of space in the city.
#OscarEnLaCalle is not unique in its harnessing of webspace to spread urban practices. The digital and shareable presence of urban phenomenon is further explored by a peer of mine in the Bottom-Up Urbanism seminar. Katherine Bright defines, explores, and critiques what she calls "sharable urbanism." For further understanding of an interactive, public, and online urban environment, visit her curated space here.
This is a screenshot of a post on the Facebook group. Rosca Izquierda shared an image of a group of people with multiple Oscar cut-outs to be put on the streets. There are 39 "likes" and 11 "shares." In these ways, group members may interact with Oscar in a digital, free, and public space. Perhaps even more depictive of the significance of online interaction, one of the comments by Jose C. Gomez Mercado facilitates a very physical interaction. Mercado expresses interest in obtaining one of the images because he lives in the United States. The subsequent comment by the original poster offers a phone number for contact information. Posted by Rosca Izquierda on the Oscar En La Calle Facebook group. |
oscar as street art.
Oscar, looking over tilted eyeglasses, captures the attention of pedestrians in his white sweatshirt, khaki pants, and sneakers. His placement in the built environment is not random. The presence of Oscar is meant to grab attention. Oscar's image is meant to capture the gaze of passersby who would ordinarily walk right past the urban space and not notice anything. On the website of the Movimento Independista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH) - one of the the supporting groups behind Oscar En La Calle and advocates for Puerto Rican independence - their mission for Oscar En La Calle is clearly highlighted and speaks directly to the placement of his image in urban space. Below is their quoted manifesto in Spanish:
"Queremos que la imagen de Oscar esté presente en todos los rincones de Puerto Rico las 24 horas del día. Estaremos pegando su imagen en los lugares más transitados en tamaño real aprovechando la aportación gráfica donada por artistas plásticos y también la ampliación de fotos tomadas del archivo de imágenes de Oscar." [1]
Translated to English, the MINH calls for Oscar's image to be in every corner of Puerto Rico for 24 hours of every day. Even more interesting and specifically related to bottom-up practices of graffiti and street art, is the assertion that Oscar's image should be in the "busiest" and most transited places of the city. This directly informs strategy and placement, not only of Oscar En La Calle, but also of larger street art and urban place-making practices as a whole.
Spot Theory.
For decades, broken windows theory[2] has dominanted public discourse and understanding of the placement of low-level crime like graffiti. Broken windows theory holds that the presence of low-level crime is a direct indicator for the presence of higher-level crime. So, low-level crime like a broken window indicates to potential criminals that it is a space uncared about by the community and encourages high-level crime to take place in the same space. It was championed and implemented by the now-Chief of Police of NYC, William Bratton. In policing practice, broken windows theory targets low-level crimes and claims to prevent higher level crime. While this calls for an even larger discussion of crime trends across the country that cannot be discussed on this webspace, broken windows theory is challenged by a newer theory, Spot Theory, to explain the placement of low-level crimes like graffiti or unsanctioned street art like Oscar's image in Viejo San Juan.
Spot Theory, published by Jeff Ferrell and Robert Weide, offers a different explanation for the implications of graffiti presence. Spot Theory[3] is grounded in understanding graffiti writers' motivation, asserting that "above all, graffiti writers seek recognition, and in order to get the recognition they crave, they need people to see their graffiti" (page 51). Three factors inform the placement of graffiti: visibility, location, and risk. Writers want their art to be seen by other graffiti writers as well as the public. Choosing spots to write on that are well-known in a graffiti community, but perhaps secluded from the general public, could increase their fame and inform their practice. If secluded, these spots offer a more private time and place to paint more intricate graffiti. Other chosen spots are those widely in the public eye. To write graffiti in a higher risk place also earns credential in a graffiti community, as Ferrell and Weide hold - both prolific graffiti writers for years.
Specifically in regards to the placement of unsanctioned street art like Oscar En La Calle, Ferrell and Weide offer a reason that is identical to the declared reasoning on the MINH website.
Spot Theory, published by Jeff Ferrell and Robert Weide, offers a different explanation for the implications of graffiti presence. Spot Theory[3] is grounded in understanding graffiti writers' motivation, asserting that "above all, graffiti writers seek recognition, and in order to get the recognition they crave, they need people to see their graffiti" (page 51). Three factors inform the placement of graffiti: visibility, location, and risk. Writers want their art to be seen by other graffiti writers as well as the public. Choosing spots to write on that are well-known in a graffiti community, but perhaps secluded from the general public, could increase their fame and inform their practice. If secluded, these spots offer a more private time and place to paint more intricate graffiti. Other chosen spots are those widely in the public eye. To write graffiti in a higher risk place also earns credential in a graffiti community, as Ferrell and Weide hold - both prolific graffiti writers for years.
Specifically in regards to the placement of unsanctioned street art like Oscar En La Calle, Ferrell and Weide offer a reason that is identical to the declared reasoning on the MINH website.
Writers select "particular types of urban audiences and visibility. Most attractive are areas of the city where heavy and diverse human traffic provides the largest potential audience for a writer's graffiti." (page 53)
The phrases "heavy and diverse human traffic" and "largest potential audience" resonate with the reasoning behind the placement of Oscar En La Calle. Importantly, spot theory does challenge broken windows theory. This is significant to a larger understanding and discipline of the city, policing, and bottom-up practices.
In this light, and contrary to what the broken windows model would predict, Snyder (2009) has documented greater concentrations of graffiti in New York City's trendy, low-crime Soho neighborhood than in a peripheral and higher-crime Brooklyn neighborhood... When choosing streets on which to paint, writers concentrate on those streets with the most pedestrian and vehicular traffic. More traffic means more audience exposure, more risk, and more status." (pg 53)
Oscar En La Calle is important to the discussion of low-level crimes like graffiti and unsanctioned street art. The MINH's mission statement offers evidence for Ferrell and Weide's spot theory. Oscar's image is meant to be seen in public, well-transited places.
cities within cities.
As Oscar seizes the attention of an unsuspecting pedestrian on the streets, something else is occurring. Alison Young offers a critical interpretation of the presence and effect of street art in her book Street Art, Public City: Law, Crime, and the Urban Imagination [4]. She describes street art as captivating, capturing, and seizing of attention, almost in a violent way. The grabbing of a passerby's gaze is not peaceful, nor is it meant to be. It is supposed to take away someone's attention. Noticing street art, then, can be seen as a moment of awareness. One is forced to stop and realize that there are others using the built environment in different ways than oneself.
Alison Young calls this cities within cities. In any urban space, citizens are using, interacting with, changing, and touching the city in their own ways. Street art is a result of this. While one person may view the light pole as simple urban infrastructure meant to provide light, another may interpret it as a canvas for graffiti or street art. Towards a third space perspective, this space is symbolic of another city within: "a public city, whose existence is organized around a commons of the image" (page 57). Young writes:
Alison Young calls this cities within cities. In any urban space, citizens are using, interacting with, changing, and touching the city in their own ways. Street art is a result of this. While one person may view the light pole as simple urban infrastructure meant to provide light, another may interpret it as a canvas for graffiti or street art. Towards a third space perspective, this space is symbolic of another city within: "a public city, whose existence is organized around a commons of the image" (page 57). Young writes:
A citizen is "forced to reconsider one's purely practical and rather indifferent relationship to the street, and a curiousity to explore the work develops." (pg 44)
Young uses phrases like "freeing experience" and "unsolicited aesthetic interjection" that can dangerously become overly romanticized especially in the context of Oscar's image - which, when noticed, spurs a stronger sense of discomfort and confusion than of a happy, positive feeling (page 44). Young's development of cities within cities, does push back and offer phrases like "grasped," seized," and "captured" to describe the moments when a citizen "notices the experience of other ways of being in the city" (pages 44-45).
This is extremely relevant to Oscar En La Calle. His image provokes a reaction. As an old man looking over his glasses an ongoing pedestrains, I myself felt uncomfortable by his presence. But this may have been the point. Reflecting on my curiousity to learn more about Oscar, I was motivated by my interest and confusion of a threatening, confusing image like Oscar.
I find the photo above to be a perfect image for the realization of cities within cities. The women with their hands up are obviously excited, happy, and proud to find Oscar's image. They pose for a picture with him. To them, he is a symbol of Puerto Rican nationalism and pride and a politically-charged statement. To others around them, it is unknown street art pasted on a piece of urban infrastructure. The man in the gray shirt specifically notices the women's pose, very clearly looking at them with a confused expression. This is a moment of realization of other uses and interpretations of the urban environment, other other urban inhabitants, of cities within cities.
OBEy GIANT MANIFESto & phenomenology.
Oscar En La Calle's presence and mission speaks closely to that of OBEY Giant's Manifesto. In 1990 Shepard Fairy released the OBEY Giant Manifesto, detailing the mission behind his OBEY sticker campaign as an "experiement in Phenomenology." This image, to the left, is a well-known piece present as street art across the globe. The OBEY Giant face is ambiguous but has developed a reputation and recognization as it became more and more omnipresent and popular. His manifesto offers more to be learned and applied to our understanding of street art and bottom-up urbanism. An excerpt from Shepard's manifesto is below:
|
"Phenomenology attempts to enable people to see clearly something that is right before their eyes but obscured; things that are so taken for granted that they are muted by abstract observation..."
The FIRST AIM OF PHENOMENOLOGY is to reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment. The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the product or motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with the sticker provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer’s perception and attention to detail. The sticker has no meaning but exists only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker. Because OBEY has no actual meaning, the various reactions and interpretations of those who view it reflect their personality and the nature of their sensibilities." [6]
The FIRST AIM OF PHENOMENOLOGY is to reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment. The OBEY sticker attempts to stimulate curiosity and bring people to question both the sticker and their relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing advertisements or propaganda for which the product or motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with the sticker provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer’s perception and attention to detail. The sticker has no meaning but exists only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker. Because OBEY has no actual meaning, the various reactions and interpretations of those who view it reflect their personality and the nature of their sensibilities." [6]
The manifesto speaks directly to Oscar En La Calle, suggesting the presence of street art and slap tag "stimulate curiosity" with their unknown meaning and occupation of space in the urban environment. To unsuspecting observers, the street art may mean whatever one interprets it to be. Phenomenology, as Fairey describes it, allows the observer to interpret and interact as one may. For Oscar's image in the streets of San Juan and beyond, observers like me may be confused and unsure of its meaning. While some may glance away and others will notice the Facebook symbol on Oscar's sleeve, the point of the Oscar En La Calle campaign is to draw attention, to "bring people to question" and "cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning."
From creating this webspace, I hope to add to the discussion of street art and bottom-up urbanism practices as well as the larger Oscar En La Calle project. Its purpose and practice have allowed me to apply greater urban studies phenomenon to the streets of the built environment I walked and interacted with in San Juan. Even on such a short trip, I could not escape thoughts of urban place-making and bottom-up practices discussed in the seminar, and the aim of this webspace is meant to be reflective of that. Questions or comments about this curated space and its content are welcome at [email protected].
REferences.
[1] Movimento Independista Nacional Hostosiano. Escrito por Comité Pro Derechos Humanos de Puerto Rico (CPDHPR). Lunes, 12 de Enero de 2015. <http://minhpuertorico.org/index.php/actividades/3221-comite-pro-derechos-humanos-de-puerto-rico-cpdhpr>
[2] Wilson and Kelling, "Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety" Classics of Criminology, page 54.
[3] Jeff Ferrell and Robert D. Weide. 2010. Spot Theory, City: analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action. 14:1-2, pages 48-62.
[4] Alison Young. "Chapter 2: Cities within the City," Street Art, Public City: Law, Crime, and the Urban Imagination. 2014. Published by Routledge. Pages 41-57.
[5] "Andre the Giant has a Posse" by Shepard Fairy. Image via
<http://www.obeygiant.com/free>
[6] Shepard Fairy. OBEY Giant Manifesto.<http://www.obeygiant.com/articles/manifesto>
[7] OBEY GIANT image. Image via <http://www.thegiant.org/wiki/index.php/Obey_Giant>
[2] Wilson and Kelling, "Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety" Classics of Criminology, page 54.
[3] Jeff Ferrell and Robert D. Weide. 2010. Spot Theory, City: analysis of urban trends, culture, theory, policy, action. 14:1-2, pages 48-62.
[4] Alison Young. "Chapter 2: Cities within the City," Street Art, Public City: Law, Crime, and the Urban Imagination. 2014. Published by Routledge. Pages 41-57.
[5] "Andre the Giant has a Posse" by Shepard Fairy. Image via
<http://www.obeygiant.com/free>
[6] Shepard Fairy. OBEY Giant Manifesto.<http://www.obeygiant.com/articles/manifesto>
[7] OBEY GIANT image. Image via <http://www.thegiant.org/wiki/index.php/Obey_Giant>