Pixação: protest and transgression

Abstract

This article realizes a critical discourse analysis of the pixadores, analyzes the semioticdiscursive formations of some curitiban pixadores in order to define the semiotic-discursive practice of pixação. The pixação is a graffiti style unique to Brazil, a culture of alternative urban writing based in the execution of signatures over all city and beyond. The pixadores associate pixação to sign, mark, dirt, but mainly to protest and transgression. Ideology mark discourse and practice among pixadores therefore the pixação is a ritual that transgresses the visual image of most public spaces in cities throughout Brazil. The characteristic aesthetics of pixação transgresses and diverges to the hegemonic aesthetic so this practice is criminalized.