The planned fifth Domain Analysis Clinic had as its focus graffiti and street art nomenclature.

The clinic was designed to look at literature that attempts to discuss and define graffiti, differentiating the historico-social definitions of early New York street writing practices with what has become known as graffiti, graffiti art, street art, public art, urban art, and other subgenres of these artforms and related public artistic interventions. Scholars and practitioners have written about the various ways graffiti is defined, discussed, practiced, and performed with attention paid to legality, surfaces, styles, and materials and how these affect the terminology used to describe each work. In lieu of being prescriptive, the goal of this research clinic is to assess how graffiti in all its varied forms is defined, described, and differentiated in the literature.

IKOS’ Portland home provides a rich backdrop for the study of both graffiti and street art.

This clinic was formed in November 2022 and is on hiatus at the moment.