1. Blender
2. CADMAPPER

Hackney Wick
London

Mapping Exercise

Hackney Wick Graffiti map

When we type in Hackney Wick into Google images, almost all the photos shown have some sort of graffiti in it. As the gentrification process has hit Hackney really hard since the Olympics, I was curious as to why there was so much graffiti which usually represents not only a street culture but it is also a reflection of a local creative community. I knew that there was that community but that most have been kicked out which results in this scene slowly dying to give way to families. In order to contest this illusion that the community is still there by not only keeping but encouraging graffiti, I decided to go see this graffiti scene by myself. What I quickly came to realise was that the majority of the walls were either covered with anti-spray painting or were commissioned by big business to artists, which are not part of the tag and graffiti scene. A few strategic walls, such as in front of the station and on the main street have been open to tag and graffiti. However, if the tag was sprayed anywhere else, the piece was systematically removed.  This map shows all the different sorts of graffiti and shows this irony and superficiality on this aspect of the culture in Hackney Wick.

            




       Removed


             
       Tags



        Anti-spray paint


           
         
         Throw-ups


             
         Art Submissions