Urban Art Mapping and How to Deal with Hot Spots

The Vagabundler Project

  • Gunther Michels Vagabundler Collective, 60433 Frankfurt, Germany
Keywords: Archiving, ; Berlin; Graffiti documentation; Legalisation; Localisation; Networking; North Side Gallery; Spot history; Street art photography; Urban art mapping

Abstract

This paper presents the non-commercial online graffiti archive “Vagabundler”, which holds numerous articles, interviews and city maps on urban art. The text explains the archiving system developed by the Vagabundler Collective, with examples from Buenos Aires in Argentina, Montréal in Canada and Berlin in Germany. Finally, the North Side Gallery in Berlin serves as an example to highlight the potential political influence of documentary evidence in legalising graffiti creation. 

Author Biography

Gunther Michels, Vagabundler Collective, 60433 Frankfurt, Germany

Gunther Michels (°1982) is a journalist and reporter located in Frankfurt, Germany. After earning a diploma in social science at the University of Frankfurt and studies in politology, philosophy and psychology, Gunther entered the world of journalism. He now works as an independent reporter but is also the head of a newspaper resort of the local monthly newspaper called ‘Journal Lokal’. He runs a radio show at the independent station Radio X, and he is the founder of the noncommercial online urban art archive Vagabundler, which provides photos, interviews and maps. One of his fundamental aims is to preserve human creations in a documented way accessible to everybody. https://vagabundler.com; http://radiox.de.

Published
2024-09-06
How to Cite
Michels, G. (2024). Urban Art Mapping and How to Deal with Hot Spots. GoINDIGO, 22-32. https://doi.org/10.48619/indigo.v0i0.973