Sociocultural analysis of graffiti in the context of visual culture education: Examples from Turkey, America, Germany and Iran

The social, cultural, political, and economic effects in which art education is involved have paved the way for the visual culturalization of art education. Within the scope of visual culture, both artworks and visual culture products directly produced by society can be found. Visual culture products of society encompass everything that reflects and exhibits visual qualities, such as artworks, architecture, and urban planning. The development of art education within the context of visual culture has made art education public, thereby allowing graffiti, a public art form, to be considered within the realm of visual culture education. In this context, the aim of this thesis is to investigate to what extent and how graffiti artworks contain sociocultural effects, and to analyze how different geographies manifest social reflections, political traces, economic situations, and artistic acceptances within graffiti artworks. The scope of the thesis titled "An Examination of Graffiti from a Sociocultural Perspective in the Context of Visual Culture Education: Examples from Turkey, the United States, Germany, and Iran" consists of graffiti artworks created in the United States, the country where the tagging culture originated and developed, Germany, where the protest attitude emerged, Iran, which provides a perspective on graffiti from an Eastern culture, and Turkey, a synthesis of both Asian and European influences. Graffiti artworks can vary significantly between countries. Each country's unique cultural, social, and political dynamics also influence graffiti art. Therefore, colors, compositions, typography, and themes used in graffiti artworks can differ according to countries. As a result, it has been observed that graffiti artworks in the United States generally employ vibrant colors and realistic representations, while in Germany, monochromatic and cool colors, gothic typography, and again realistic representation are preferred. In Turkey, themes reflecting its sociocultural structure are frequently observed, along with artworks that utilize realistic representation and contrasting colors. In Iran, the aesthetic structure of the Persian alphabet and cultural elements play a significant role in graffiti artworks. Through these investigations, it has been observed that different sociocultural structures, economic developments, and political views are reflected in graffiti art within each country.