Beauty on the Walls: Graffiti and Street Art as a Social Movement

This thesis is an observation of contemporary graffiti and street art and how they unfold as a social movement in Dublin. It discusses Marxist theories of aesthetics and popular culture. It uses interviews with graffiti and street artists, activists, writers and teachers along with visual materials and a number of case studies to identify the internal tensions, the drive for doing the work and the meaning it holds for those involved in the movement. I have identified tensions between ideas around beauty and aesthetics, commercial forms of art and I have highlighted the movement as an attempt at direct action and a social platform for communication and self expression at grassroots level