Meek Digging For Change Analysis

Art can serve many purposes in life. It can be a hobby or form of therapy and self-expression for the artist themselves. It can be used simply as decoration. Or it can be used to entertain and captivate and audience. However, more importantly, art can be used to convey a message that words cannot. Artists can use paintings, photography and sculptures to make a statement that would be inexpressible through vocabulary. Meek is an artist from Australia that paints graffiti illegally on buildings all over Melbourne. Since graffiti is a crime most graffiti artists tend to keep their identities a secret. In order to protect his identity he does not sign his work by his actual name. Professional graffiti is a very powerful form of art. It catches everyday citizens off guard and grabs their attention. Most professional graffiti is designed to make a political statement. I chose a piece by Meek entitled “Begging for Change”. This work of art can be interpreted in many ways. In “Begging for Change” Meek is suggesting the lack of help money provides in solving problems, the …show more content…
It depicts a life size homeless man sitting on the ground holding a sign. In big letters the sign reads “I want change”. If you look closer you can see the smaller letters above that say “Keep your coins”. Meek strategically positioned this painting of a homeless man in two ways. The first, being that the man is sitting where a typical homeless person would sit, out of the way and under some sort of shelter for protection. The second, being placed where large numbers of people would see it. Thousands of people in big cities rely on the subways to get them to and from work and to various destinations. By placing the painting here, Meek ensured people would see it. Also by placing it in an urban setting, it ensured its relevance to the people living there. Most homeless people are found in inner cities rather than rural