Art through the Colors of Graffiti: From the Perspective of the Chromatic Structure
Graffiti is a general term that describes inscriptions on a wall, a practice with ancient origins, ranging from simple drawings and writings to elaborate pictorial representations. Nowadays, the term graffiti commonly describes the street art dedicated to wall paintings, which raises complex questio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/9/2531 |
| _version_ | 1827717814616588288 |
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| author | Claudia Feitosa-Santana Carlo M. Gaddi Andreia E. Gomes Sérgio M. C. Nascimento |
| author_facet | Claudia Feitosa-Santana Carlo M. Gaddi Andreia E. Gomes Sérgio M. C. Nascimento |
| author_sort | Claudia Feitosa-Santana |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Graffiti is a general term that describes inscriptions on a wall, a practice with ancient origins, ranging from simple drawings and writings to elaborate pictorial representations. Nowadays, the term graffiti commonly describes the street art dedicated to wall paintings, which raises complex questions, including sociological, legal, political and aesthetic issues. Here we examine the aesthetics of graffiti colors by quantitatively characterizing and comparing their chromatic structure to that of traditional paintings in museums and natural scenes obtained by hyperspectral imaging. Two hundred twenty-eight photos of graffiti were taken in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The colors of graffiti were represented in a color space and characterized by several statistical parameters. We found that graffiti have chromatic structures similar to those of traditional paintings, namely their preferred colors, distribution, and balance. In particular, they have color gamuts with the same degree of elongation, revealing a tendency for combining similar colors in the same proportions. Like more traditional artists, the preferred colors are close to the yellow–blue axis of color space, suggesting that graffiti artists’ color choices also mimic those of the natural world. Even so, graffiti tend to have larger color gamuts due to the availability of a new generation of synthetic pigments, resulting in a greater freedom in color choice. A complementary analysis of graffiti from other countries supports the global generalization of these findings. By sharing their color structures with those of paintings, graffiti contribute to bringing art to the cities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:09:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a5f6828be5e94f3982231d402a8e8312 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:09:43Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-a5f6828be5e94f3982231d402a8e83122023-11-19T23:03:11ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202020-04-01209253110.3390/s20092531Art through the Colors of Graffiti: From the Perspective of the Chromatic StructureClaudia Feitosa-Santana0Carlo M. Gaddi1Andreia E. Gomes2Sérgio M. C. Nascimento3Neuroscience for Human Development, Rua Dr Homem de Melo, 697/5154, Sao Paulo 05007-001, BrazilExperimental Psychology Department, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 05508-220, BrazilCentre of Physics, Gualtar Campus, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, PortugalCentre of Physics, Gualtar Campus, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, PortugalGraffiti is a general term that describes inscriptions on a wall, a practice with ancient origins, ranging from simple drawings and writings to elaborate pictorial representations. Nowadays, the term graffiti commonly describes the street art dedicated to wall paintings, which raises complex questions, including sociological, legal, political and aesthetic issues. Here we examine the aesthetics of graffiti colors by quantitatively characterizing and comparing their chromatic structure to that of traditional paintings in museums and natural scenes obtained by hyperspectral imaging. Two hundred twenty-eight photos of graffiti were taken in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The colors of graffiti were represented in a color space and characterized by several statistical parameters. We found that graffiti have chromatic structures similar to those of traditional paintings, namely their preferred colors, distribution, and balance. In particular, they have color gamuts with the same degree of elongation, revealing a tendency for combining similar colors in the same proportions. Like more traditional artists, the preferred colors are close to the yellow–blue axis of color space, suggesting that graffiti artists’ color choices also mimic those of the natural world. Even so, graffiti tend to have larger color gamuts due to the availability of a new generation of synthetic pigments, resulting in a greater freedom in color choice. A complementary analysis of graffiti from other countries supports the global generalization of these findings. By sharing their color structures with those of paintings, graffiti contribute to bringing art to the cities.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/9/2531color aestheticscolor statisticscolor calibrationcultural heritage and artgraffitispectral imaging |
| spellingShingle | Claudia Feitosa-Santana Carlo M. Gaddi Andreia E. Gomes Sérgio M. C. Nascimento Art through the Colors of Graffiti: From the Perspective of the Chromatic Structure Sensors color aesthetics color statistics color calibration cultural heritage and art graffiti spectral imaging |
| title | Art through the Colors of Graffiti: From the Perspective of the Chromatic Structure |
| title_full | Art through the Colors of Graffiti: From the Perspective of the Chromatic Structure |
| title_fullStr | Art through the Colors of Graffiti: From the Perspective of the Chromatic Structure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Art through the Colors of Graffiti: From the Perspective of the Chromatic Structure |
| title_short | Art through the Colors of Graffiti: From the Perspective of the Chromatic Structure |
| title_sort | art through the colors of graffiti from the perspective of the chromatic structure |
| topic | color aesthetics color statistics color calibration cultural heritage and art graffiti spectral imaging |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/9/2531 |
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