#scientific text

Nuart Journal – #1 Space is the Place

“Nuart Journal is a forum for critical commentary on urban art, defined as broadly as possible to include all aspects of both independently sanctioned and unsanctioned art in public space that does not fall under the general rubric of traditional public art practice. Nuart Journal includes traditional peer-reviewed academic papers as well as more experimental modes of research. It is a site for scholars, artists, curators and independent researchers to publish articles, conversations, reviews, projects, and opinion pieces on street art and related topics.”

Current critical and academic debates on graffiti can occasionally be found in magazines and more frequently in books from the scene, usually framed by traditional content of these kind of publications: a whole lot of photos. For example with the German “Zugriff” magazine the shift from focusing on photographic content to high-quality scientific articles was successfully made first in 2013.

Just like the mentioned forerunner, the new Nuart Journal from Norway does not exclusively pay attention to graffiti, but does also include urban art, street art and other similar art forms as its main topic. On 112 pages the 2018 Journal functions as a peer-reviewed forum to publish texts, essays, theories, etc. from international authors often with an academic background. The first issue is separated into three main parts:

I. Original articles • Subversive weeds: Bio-activist strategies in urban interventions by Christel Pedersen • Street art, graffiti and the moral right of integrity: Can artists oppose the destruction and removal of their works? By Enrico Bonadio • Street art and photography: Documentation, representation, interpretation by Ulrich Blanché • Heritage protection for street art? The case of Banksy’s Spybooth by Susan Hansen

II. Experimental and visual essays • From Peterhof Station to Crescenzago: Agit-Trains and Grifter’s Code by Lachlan MacDowall • Blunting broken windows: Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic dreams by Raphael Soifer • Unexpected beauty in urban decay by Jonna Tolonen • Kurskaya Wall by Oleg Kuznetsov

III. Interviews and talks • Aesthetic destruction: At home with Ian Strange by Jan Zahl • Art in the streets: Place, genre and encounter by Alison Young • Sticking it to the Man: The visual activism of Dr. D by Adrian Burnham • Turning the white cube inside out by Pietro Rivasi and Andrea Baldini • The future of art is urban by Nicolas Whybrow

Survival guide. This is how I do it. by no means perfect, but a collection of what saved my ass SO MANY TIMES. 

0.1 Newbies to scientific reading: Reading scientific texts will take you FOREVER compared to any other type of reading. Practice makes it easier.

0.2. I feel you. 

0.3. Get some coffee/water/tea; music, sth like rainymood.com, or earplugs for maximum silence. You'll be here a while. better make it comfy. 

1. TEXT STRUCTURE is your best friend. Every paper has an intro and a conclusion. Find those. Read those. You now know what to expect. If that's still too complicated, google "Abstract (insert name of text here)". 

1.1. If you have no more time & it's just a lesson preparation, this will have to do. You're probably fine. If you have to write a paper on the text(s) in question / more time, see below: 

2.1. Have to write an essay? Get an empty sheet of paper. In the margin, you will write the current page number you're on (SAVES YOUR ASS when you have to cite shit. And I s2g if you don't cite properly I'll personally come to your house and end you). 

2.1.1 Now read and annotate the most important words/concepts/quotes. Paraphrase, if possible, for better understanding. KEEP ANNOTATING YOUR PAGE NUMBER IN THE MARGIN. for a ~ 20 pg text it should take you no more than 1-3 A4 pages (varies strongly).

2.2. Have to prepare for a lesson/exam? Alternatively, draw a mind map w/the title/central concept in the middle (extracted from step 1.). Less fuss, less time, better grasp on the global concept.

3.1. Finished? Write 1-2 sentences or so about what the text is about at the bottom/top of the page. (to be used to introduce your text in your essay/ to make sure you have some basic concept of the shit you just read/ for future reference etc..) It's easy as hell to get lost in a scientific text.