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Description of the space: The so-called "Flex Hall of Fame" was one of the first places in Vienna where spray painting was legal. Sprayers have been allowed to express themselves legally here since 1994. In sprayer jargon, a hall of fame is a place, commonly a wall, that is usually very large and particularly suitable for spraying. In the Viennese scene, the Hall of Fame at Schottenring is still a well-known meeting place today. Although the Flex nightclub only moved to the Danube Canal in 1995, it is usually referred to as the "Flex Hall of Fame". Since 2005, the area has also been a part of the City of Vienna's "Wienerwand" project, an initiative of over 20 legal walls for spray painting throughout Vienna. Today, new graffiti can be admired on the wall almost every day, reflecting the fast pace of change in graffiti art. The location is also frequently used for workshops and practice. A short introduction into the history of the location: The history of the wall at the Danube Canal is closely interwoven with the history of the entire graffiti scene in Vienna. In 1994, under the government of the then mayor Helmut Zilk, it became the first legal area for spray painting (Hettinger/Wogrin 2023, p.150). However, the beginning of the graffiti scene and the writing movement in Vienna dates back to the 1980s. Maike Hettinger and Stefan Wogrin, from the graffiti archive spraycity.at, point out that the oldest "sgraffito" in the Vienna area dates back to Roman times in the 4th century AD and depicts a child's drawing entitled "Julia & Petronia" (Hettinger/Wogrin 2023, p.17). In addition, the name "Kyselak" is also mentioned historically, an employee of the Court Chamber Archives in the Empire (Kaiserreich) who left his writing behind on all his travels - a first form of writing, tagging, is one of the most widespread forms of graffiti in which the focus is on writing fonts.. The use of graffiti writings as a political medium was already used in the interwar period and during the Second World War, as documented from inside the flak towers (Hettinger/Wogrin 2023, p.23). Another well-known "graffiti" is the engraving of the resistance group "O5", which can still be seen today on the west façade of St. Stephen's Cathedral (ibid.). However, the beginnings of the scene, as we know it today in places like the Danube Canal, can only be traced back to the late 70s and early 80s. Writings have always served as an expression of one's own creativity, political criticism and the desire to have a say in the design of public space. A key event was the Arena occupation in 1976, which called for the creation of a self-managed youth and cultural center. Graffiti art was also used to express these demands (Hettinger/Wogrin 2023, p.26). In 1982, the well-known Austropop singer Hansi Lang sang about becoming active with a spray can in his song "Keine Angst" (Hettinger/Wogrin 2023, p.31). The scene became bigger and better known in 1984, when a breakdance hype popularized the graffiti aesthetic that is still known today. An event that has shaped the scene to this day was a campaign organized by Galerie Insam together with the magazine "Wiener" in June 1984, in which the well-known New York writers DELTA 2, ERO, PHASE 2 and RAMMELLZEE were invited for a residency. In an advertising campaign by "Wiener" (Ringhofer, 2018), a tramline set of the J line was made available to be painted by the New York sprayers (Hettinger/Wogrin 2023, p.40f.). The location of today's "Flex Hall of Fame" was also painted by DELTA 2 & PHASE 2 (p.44) and thus served as the initial event for the later legal release of the wall. In the following years, under Helmut Zilk, there were several arrests and conflicts between sprayers and the police, which led to several court hearings, but also to the planning of 20 legal places where people were allowed to paint (Hettinger/Wogrin 2023, p.65). The graffiti scene continued to grow, and paintings on subway and suburban trains followed. The Danube Canal, or more precisely the wall on Schottenring, which until then had been considered a gray area, was finally officially approved by Mayor Zilk and Deputy Mayor Laska in 1994. Other walls in the area of Brigittenauer Brücke and Donauinsel gradually followed (Hettinger/Wogrin 2023, p.150). In 1995, Club Fex moved to its current location right next to the Hall of Fame, which also helped to create a real meeting place for the youth culture and graffiti scene that still exists today. In 2001, Stefan Wogrin finally launched the graffiti archive spracity.at, which has been documenting Vienna's walls on an almost daily basis ever since. In 2005, the "Wienerwand" project was launched, an initiative of the City of Vienna for youth culture, which makes graffiti art possible in a non-criminalized setting by providing 22 walls in public places throughout Vienna to encourage young artists to exercise their creative freedom. The walls are marked with a relief of the "Viennese Dove". "[...] The Wienerwand project, with the establishment of new legal graffiti areas, is intended to support the practice of art and promote dialog between writers and the public. In many cities, graffiti is seen as a purely criminal act that can only be countered by rigorous bans. We are convinced that tolerance and a discussion supported by all sides is the better way." (Wiener Wand (o. D.): [online] https://wienerwand.at/) Analysis of the ludic space: The Flex Hall of Fame represents an open public space which is freely accessible all through the day and year cycle. This characteristic becomes important as an extension of the core idea of “freedom” that both street artists and so called bombers share as a central value. There are many ways people use this site, from being passive observers (locals going on a walk at the canal, tourists…) to actively changing it either as a free way of expression through political statements, nonchalant art and tags or as paid commissioned artists. There are also workshops and team buildings held at the location so it connects and affects a wide range of public. The idea of freedom is also stated in J. Huizinga’s definition of play elements (Huizinga, 1949, p. 8) as playing a central function in constituting play. However the concept of legal graffiti walls is controversial within the community as for some it represents co-option and commodification of the graffiti form. The site poses a dichotomy of accessibility and gentrification, as it on one side allows all kinds of people to experience the flow state of painting but on the other the city capitalizes on a form that used to be classified as vandalism through tourism. If observed through Lefebvre’s text The Right to the City (1996) we could see how graffiti shapes the day to day street politics as an ultimate expression from the underground. The question that legalized walls ask us is whether they aren’t a tool of state/city control over the street policy - to ensure that the graffiti stays only in its designated areas and keeps the rest of the city clean. Huizinga, Johan (1949): HOMO LUDENS A STUDY OF THE PLAY-ELEMENT IN CULTURE Lefebvre, Henri (1996): THE RIGHT TO THE CITY Hettinger, Maike/Stefan Wogrin (2023): Graffiti Wien #1: 1984-1999, spraycity.at. Ringhofer, Anneliese (2018): Die Kunst der Straße – Graffiti in Wien, Wiener Online, [online] https://wiener-online.at/2018/05/02/die-kunst-der-strasse-graffiti-in-wien/. Spraycity e.U. (2023): LEGAL WALLS WIEN - SPRAYCITY.AT, SPRAYCITY.AT, [online] https://spraycity.at/legal-walls-wien/.
