Graffiti pixel: materialidade do gesto artístico

Abstract

This research, grounded in the author’s practice as an artist-teacher and the a/r/tographic methodology, investigates the connections between art and mathematics in the school context, using graffiti as an interdisciplinary language. The work addresses the discomfort with disciplinary fragmentation and the marginalization of practices such as graffiti, proposing a shift for schools to embrace this form of expression and its potentialities. Materiality is central, explored through stencil graffiti—a technique present in the author's trajectory since the 1980s—and pixel art, bridging the digital and the analog while articulating art and mathematics. The study discusses the sense of estrangement that graffiti and contemporary art provoke within the school environment, challenging norms and the “hidden curriculum.” It analyzes the history of graffiti in São Paulo, highlighting the visual arts strand (Alex Vallauri, Mauricio Villaça, Oseas Duarte) that emerged during the re-democratization period and the creation of cultural spaces, distinguishing it from the strand strictly linked to Hip Hop. The research details the stencil process, its reproducibility, and relationship with contemporary icons, as well as the evolution of the dot as a formative image element—from pointillism to the pixel. The investigation reflects on the author's personal relationship with stencil and the emerging analog pixel art. Based on the findings and the exploration of transposing pixel aesthetics onto physical supports, the term “analog pixel graffiti” is proposed to designate hybrid practices that merge digital and urban languages, grounded in materiality, gesture, and the presence of the body. The a/r/tographic methodology underpins the research, validating subjective experience and intertwining art, teaching, and inquiry. This work lays the foundation for future master’s level research, asserting art as a living and political practice within the school environment.