Buildings as unsolicited drawing surfaces: an Atlas of Athenian inscriptions

Abstract

Buildings come from drawings, but what happens when buildings are turned into drawing surfaces for unsolicited graffiti writings? Moreover, what happens when the drawings come together in a curated and designed book object? The chapter addresses this line of inquiry through a critical reflection upon An Atlas of Athenian Inscriptions: A Book of Drawings of Writings and Writings on Drawings. It explores the physical and conceptual space of drawings and book objects by archiving the writings produced in three plus one specific situations in Athens, coming from different key places and eras of the city's contemporary political history.

The Atlas resituates images, thus is capable for creating innovative relationships, deciphering particular correlations and producing new meanings, while allowing us to make sense of, navigate in, and reconstruct the graffiti landscape through characteristic surface environments. The aim of this project is to introduce ‘atlasing’ as a design method while ensuring that graffiti in Athens are not exploited and erased from memory once erased from buildings by institutions and individuals that seek to undermine their critical potential. It attempts to shift the focus from the esthetic dynamism of graffiti—its most commonly misused characteristic—to the politics of site-specificity and preservation.