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To Be Seen

Icarus Films • 26m

Directed by Alice Arnold • Documentary • 2005 • 30 minutes

TO BE SEEN is a study of visual culture, of urban culture and an exploration of an age-old urban cultural phenomenon, street art.

The subculture of street art is significant because it is an embodiment of subversive content, which is rare in today's culture of consumerism and political amnesia. It functions as a way of 'taking back the streets,' when public spaces are increasingly privatized-through security cameras, Business Improvement Districts, and the profusion of corporate marketing.

"In the spectacle of a perpetual mass mediation, here is the coded language of community that works secretly outside of our blindered consumerism. If you think these kids are criminals, watch this movie to hear the true eloquence and intelligence of their discontent."—Paper Magazine

Tags
'taking back the streets, advertising, alice arnold, american studies, americas, anette baldauf, art, art and architecture, business, business improvement districts, commodity, communication, communication and media studies, consumerism, corporate marketing, culture, dan witz, doc, documentary, dvd, environment1, ewen, expository, faile, film, graffiti, icarus films, labor and economics, marc schiller, marketing, michael defeo, ovid, ovid_ca, political amnesia, private, privatized, public, s_0002, s_0020, s_0034, s_0048, s_0263, s_0280, s_0306, security cameras, sharon zukin, short, skewville, social studies, sociology, street, street art, stuart ewen, subversive, swoon, the, the wooster collective, title_t, title_tuvwxyz, to be seen, united states, urban, urban studies, vandalism, video, visual, world regions

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