WHAT DOES THE CITY OF IPASIA HAVE TO TELL US ABOUT GRAFFITI? POSSIBLE READINGS OF “INVISIBLE CITIES” OF ÍTALO CALVINO AND SÃO PAULO / SP

Abstract

The urban tissue of the city of São Paulo provides us a spectrum of possibilities of conceptual, symbolic and interdisciplinary readings, in which spray graffitis constitutes an important visual element in the city. As we walk through the city, we observe in the buildings, walls and in the built spaces phrases and monochrome symbols that blend with the landscape of the city. The objective of this article is to construct articulations between the invisible city of Ipásia, from the book "Invisible Cities" by Ítalo Calvino, and the spray graffitis from the city of São Paulo, addressing the nexus evidenced in the printed symbologies in both their territories and practices. The theoretical-methodological perspective is supported by reference linked to the interpretation of symbols, the imaginary, the subjectivities, structured in the semiotics of the symbolic environment and in phenomenology. The symbols in the form of spray graffitis are, in a way, part of the experience of visiting / living in São Paulo. Among imagery representations, memories and resignifications, Ipásia and São Paulo dialogue with the real urban and the imagined.