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From Social Deviance to Art: Vandalism, Illicit Dumping, and the Transformation of Matter and Form

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  • Mark Tano Palermo

    (The Law Art and Behavior Foundation, 00198 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

In this article, assemblage art is presented to visually underscore social discourse relevant to urban vandalism and illegal dumping. The waste emergency, brought about, in part, also by illegal dumping and littering, is experienced on a daily basis across the globe in industrialized and less-industrialized countries alike. Likewise, vandalism is so pervasive in some areas that we have come to normalize it as intrinsic to urban life. The pieces presented here serve as attention-inducers. Destroyed or dumped things are assembled into new forms which symbolically and “totemically” represent [contemporary] collective identity. While the poetics of the art presented is not political, nor was the art created for social purposes, its social impact or social and criminological connection with deviance is a consequence of the “where” the assembled parts were found. The matter collected is transformed and its shapes and its source can now be seen and confronted, rather than avoided. Broken parts become a new whole, and also herein lies another symbolic connection with the world of deviance as far as the obvious possibility for change and transformation, relevant to broken lives and broken communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Tano Palermo, 2020. "From Social Deviance to Art: Vandalism, Illicit Dumping, and the Transformation of Matter and Form," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:9:y:2020:i:6:p:106-:d:373967
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. H. Peyton Young, 2015. "The Evolution of Social Norms," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 359-387, August.
    2. Dur, R. & Vollaard, B.A., 2013. "The Power of a Bad Example – A Field Experiment in Household Garbage Disposal (Revision of TILEC DP 2013-006)," Other publications TiSEM 09b384df-9e66-4a3f-8126-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Eefje Steenvoorden, 2015. "A General Discontent Disentangled: A Conceptual and Empirical Framework for Societal Unease," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 85-110, October.
    4. Elster, Jon, 1989. "Social Norms and Economic Theory," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 99-117, Fall.
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