Conclusion on invasive viral art

Invasive viral art is the fullest realization yet of how the internet has become a public space and how street art and graffiti can adapt to infiltrate this new public space with art. Invasive viral art can take many forms. I think artists have only scratched the surface of what it can be, and the possibilities will continue to evolve alongside the internet. Every new online platform or upgrade to an existing platform creates new opportunities for engagement through invasive viral art. Some of the artists I’ve highlighted already see a clear connection to street art in their digital work, or they may not see the connections but they still involve themselves with both traditional street art or graffiti and invasive viral art. Other artists, it seems, are completely disconnected from street art and graffiti despite their treatment of digital space the same way street artists and writers treat the sides of buildings. For the artist who wants to engage with the most people, who wants to reach the public with the fewest layers of mediation between them and a large audience, who wants to distribute their work without anyone’s permission, invasive viral art is the way of the 21st century. On rainy days when we stay indoors, invasive viral art invades our screenspace. On sunny days when we walk around the city but we’re looking at our phones instead of the walls around us, invasive viral art still finds us. Ideas of what public space is have changed in the last decade, and so artists’ ideas of how to engage honestly and without mediation in public space must change too.

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