Author: aobstler

I love Schnabel’s film Basquiat. I saw it years ago before even becoming an art history major and was immediately mesmerized by Basquiat as a character. I then wrote my “Theories and Methods” paper last year on the film and the ways in which it perpetuates Vasari’s myth of the “artistic genius.” Although I love Schnabel’s Basquiat, it definitely glorifies the New York art scene. In contrast, the documentary on Basquiat, Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat shows a devastated New York. While watching this documentary, I was shocked by the extreme poverty shown in the film. Basquiat shows Jean-Michel as living on the streets, but those scenes help to boost his image as a “struggling artist;” they do not show the reality of New York City in the 70s.

The documentary uses images of the devastated streets of SoHo to illustrate the impact of art in the area. The poverty of SoHo allowed for artists to work in the area and collaborate on street art. Since no one cared about the lower east side, graffiti artists such as Basquiat could get away with writing all over the neighborhood; the poverty of the lower east side allowed for the subculture of graffiti to thrive.

I found “Kitchen’s Closed” to be a really interesting chapter to read given the context of this class. At first, I really struggled to understand why this reading was assigned. I love Kitchen Confidential and I think its an amazing read, but I was confused as to how it has anything to do with art. However, after separating the chapter from its original context, food, I realized that the this piece is really about identity. The long description of the marks on Bourdain’s hand are used to illustrate Bourdain’s identity as a chef. When describing a specific callous on his hand, Bourdain writes, “I’m proud of this one. It distinguishes me immediately as a cook, as someone who’s been on the job for a long time. You can feel it when you shake my hand, just as I feel it on others of my profession, Its a secret sign…” (Bourdain, 296). This idea of “signs” relates directly to graffiti. Graffiti, and all art for that matter, is composed of a group of signs signifying meaning. These signs serve as a form of self expression. This self expression constructs identity. Thus, just like how Bourdain describes the scars on his hand as a sign that he is a chef,  graffiti artists use tags as a way to sculpt their identity on the street.

I also really liked the Debuffet essay, “Anticultural Positions.” His argument for outsider art is extremely compelling. The contrasts he poses between Western man and the “primitive” are very interesting. On the surface, all the reasons seem to be rather different. However, they all connect though Debuffet’s claim that culture has ruined art. While he believes reason is also a deterrent for the creation of good art, ultimately culture ruins the authenticity of all art.

***thoughts from after class

I thought “Ugly Delicious” was a very interesting documentary to bring to the class. I think it fit really well with the Bourdain article, but also our discussion of appropriation. It showed the contrast between tradition and innovation and illustrated a positive example of cultural appropriation. In this episode, chef’s appropriated from other cultures in order to create something new, while also paying homage to the culture that they were inspired by. This episode shows the inclusive nature of appropriation and positives outcomes of a contact zone.

In Alexandra Duncan’s essay, “From the Street to the Gallery,” Duncan questions the role graffiti plays in a gallery. She uses Zevs, a street artist turned art world phenomenon, as an example. She argues that when street art is put into a gallery, the new setting dictates the meaning of the art; the art might be the same formally, but the meaning is completely different. In the gallery, the work is commissioned and is seen as a commodity. In the street, graffiti is illicit and for the people of the street. Graffiti is universal, democratic, and accessible. However, once the the graffiti is put into a gallery, it is no longer universal or accessible. Rather, it is now a commodity to be seen and ultimately bought. Furthermore, Duncan states that graffiti’s meaning comes from its location. We have seen this in almost every reading we have done for the semester. Graffiti interacts with and feeds off of the street, but in a gallery, the graffiti becomes static and stagnant. In the street the graffiti changes every day by the nature of the way people interact with it; in the street, people can touch it, add to it, and find their own meaning in the work. In the gallery, there is no interaction with the work, and therefore, less of a connection with the work.

***thoughts from class

I think Basquiat created a nice dialogue with the reading. It illustrated all the concerns that Duncan brings up in her essay. In Basquiat, there is a clear distinction between his street art and the art he started creating for the gallery; Basquiat completely changed his style in order to sell to a broader audience. Although still using a spray can, once the work is no longer on a wall, it is no longer graffiti. We see this manifest when Basquiat starts painting on a canvas on the floor, instead of  on a wall.

 

Curwen Best’s article, “Reading Graffiti in the Caribbean Context,” begins by placing Barbados graffiti in a global context. Best connects his own study of graffiti and the Barbados transport system to the study of graffiti on the subway cars of New York. Best goes on to argue that American culture influences the youth of Barbados. He draws links to Basquiat’s graffiti in New York, the American hip-hop culture, and American popular magazines, such as Vibe. This connection between the graffiti of Barbados and American pop culture illustrates the ways in which graffiti is both local and global. It is important to recognize that the location of graffiti is extremely important. We have read many article that discuss the relationship between graffiti and place. However, this article illustrates the influence of other cultures on the graffiti of a specific culture.

Barbados is an interesting example of the inter play between local and global. Barbados is a small island with a distinct culture. However, Barbados’ economy relies on tourism. Thus, Barbados is exposed to the influence of numerous cultures, primarily the United States. As a result, Barbados’ graffiti artists marry multiple cultures in their work.

***after class thoughts

When initially reading this article, I did not focus on the fact that this is one of the first articles to discuss gender. Best argues that although the majority of the graffiti are done by males, the female voice is still prominent. Best credits the inclusion of female graffiti artists to the “growing dominance of women within contemporary Barbadian society” (Best, 843).  He also discusses the difference in style between male and female graffiti artists. Female artists include more narratives in their art and tend be more collaborative. Graffiti art allows women to have a voice; women’s voices are not “subdued'” or “passive” in their art (Best, 844). This reading of female graffiti art is extremely interesting especially since the reading on subcultures last week discussed the masculine culture of graffiti.

In “The Graffiti Subculture,” Nancy Macdonald discusses subcultures surrounding graffiti. One part of the essay that I thought was very interesting was the conversation about gender. I never really thought about the relationship between gender and graffiti until reading this essay. However, it is true that I automatically associate graffiti with masculinity. On the top of my head, I cannot think of any famous female graffiti artists. However, this also raises the question of whether Banksy is a man or a woman. Why does everyone assume that Banksy is a man? Does Banksy’s gender matter? I am not sure if gender matters in graffiti unless the graffiti directly addresses concerns of gender. However, the fact that the subculture surrounding graffiti is masculine is important and changes the way we look at graffiti. Is graffiti masculine because it is believed to be dangerous and illicit? Is it masculine because its messy and controversial? I don’t really know how to answer these questions. The Gorilla Girls are an interesting subset of the graffiti world. Although I am not sure they fit directly under the umbrella of graffiti because they don’t work with spray cans as a medium primarily, they do produce “illicit” and “controversial” works. Gender clearly plays an important role in understanding the Gorilla Girls work. However, since they are anonymous like graffiti artists, we don’t actually know that they are all women. Thus, how do we read their work? Does anonymity take away the importance of gender?

The question of what is libel is very interesting. When I think of the definition of libel, I usually associate it with politics and the law. I think about political ad campaigns that defame opponents and the legal aftermath of these statements. In a case of libel, the defendant is accused of breaking the law by publishing a false statement. However, in Gordon’s essay, “The Act of Libel,” Gordon focuses on the question of libel and graffiti. Can graffiti be considered libel? Gordon mentions the anonymity of graffiti. Does the anonymity create a better platform for libel? Although Gordon does not discuss legality much in his essay, I associate the term libel with law. This makes me think about 5 pointz and the legal battle that I plan on discussing in my final paper. While law dealing with libel is an established law form, art law is rather new to the field. However, the lawsuit at 5 pointz put graffiti art into a legal context. Was the graffiti at 5 pointz vandalism?

The readings from last week focussed on the performative aspect of graffiti. The readings this week share the theme of using graffiti to understand history. In all the readings, the authors give examples of using graffiti to understand the cultural, religious, political, and economic trends of the Middle Ages. In Doris Jones-Baker’s essay “English Mediaeval Graffiti and the Local Historian,” Baker discusses the various ways graffiti can be used to understand medieval society. She points to graffiti as records of secular life, graffiti as drawings of historic records, graffiti as records of names, graffiti as records of natural occurrences, and graffiti as records of the architects of the church. Thus, Baker uses graffiti as a historical record. Mia Gaia Trentin,  in her essay,”Medieval and Post-Medieval Graffiti in the Churches of Cyprus, also uses graffiti as a historical record to understand medieval Cyprus society.  Through the analysis of the different styles and types of graffiti in the churches of Cyprus,  Trentin traces the evolution of Cyprus society and the changes in trade, rulers, and religion.

Another interesting theme found throughout these articles is the question of whether graffiti is an illicit or accepted practice and the reasons why graffiti is most commonly found in churches. Marianne Ritsema van Eck explores the question of graffiti in religious spaces in her essay “Graffiti in Medieval and Early Modern Religious Spaces: Illicit or Accepted Practice?” Marianne first discusses the purpose of graffiti as laying claim to its location. She then goes on to argue that graffiti can be used as a social act and/or a devotional act. She argues that it is hard to determine if graffiti was authorized or not without looking at outside documents.

In “Graffiti in Medieval and Early Modern Religious Spaces: Illicit or Accepted Practice?”  Marianne includes two contrasting opinions regarding the appropriateness of graffiti in sacred spaces. In contrast, Blindheim argues that graffiti was not allowed in sacred spaces. Blindheim states that the graffiti found on walls in sacred spaces was done by the church builders and travelers before consecration. After the church became a holy space, Blindheim claims that graffiti stopped because it was deemed unacceptable. In contrast, Annette Jones argues that graffiti is not illicit because the text was appropriate for the space (ie. religious carvings). She then offers a hypothesis for the graffiti in sacred spaces, stating that people wrote their names as a way of commemorating their pilgrimage and/or creating a lasting connection with the divine. This essay, as well as the other readings for this week, made me really think about the nature of graffiti in holy spaces. Last week we looked at graffiti in ancient Egyptian temples, but we also looked at graffiti on the street and in the home.  However, this week, the essays all argue that graffiti was an act of pilgrimage or religious devotion, and therefore, belongs in a sacred place. This notion of whether graffiti is illicit or not relates to my essay topic on Five Pointz and the lawsuit surrounding this graffiti.

I have never thought of graffiti as performative. Yet, all of these articles draw a link between the event of viewing and the event of doing graffiti. In “Ancient Graffiti in Context,” Baird and Taylor attempt to define graffiti based on its context. They argue that, when analyzing graffiti, we must look at its location, medium, message, and the cultural and political narrative of the time. However, they take this definition one step further by arguing that the act of graffiti can be seen as an event. Baird and Taylor state that if the act of writing is an event, then graffiti is an object. Inversely, if graffiti is an object, then the interpretation becomes and event again. The use of the term “event” draws on the notion of graffiti as a performative act.

Kellum in her essay, “Spectacle of the Street,” also connects graffiti to the act of preforming. She argues that, in Ancient Rome, the street served as a place of performance and spectacle. She emphasizes the public nature of the street by pointing to the shrines and altars on the street, as well as the games, and sites of intersection. Kellum uses graffiti to understand the street and its performative nature. She points to the graffiti used on street signs and the graffiti at intersections to wish good luck and well being. She also points to the interactive nature of graffiti. She argues that the street is a place where one observes and is observed. Thus, when someone interacts with graffiti (reading it aloud) it becomes a public spectacle.

***added after class

Another common theme seen throughout these articles is the notion of space and place. All of these articles talk about the different locations of graffiti. I have always thought of graffiti as an illicit act on subway cars or in alley ways. However, all these articles point to different places where there is graffiti. In the case of the Frood article, the place of the graffiti is crucial to understanding the graffiti. Frood uses the location of the graffiti in the Egyptian temples to define the temple graffiti. Initially Frood hypothesized that the graffiti on the outside of the temple for non-elites to have access to worship. However, she later learned that the outside was not actually that accessible, and therefore, this graffiti was actually for, and by, the temple personal and the priests. The graffiti showed images of the rituals and practices of the personal and priests, thus bringing the inside to the outside. Like the street, which Kellum, discusses, the temple walls were also a fluid boundary. I think I want to write my research paper on five pointz and gentrification of this area. This essay will look at the relationship between the art and the surrounding place.

I found the discussion of the gaze to be extremely interesting. D’Alleva defines the “gaze” as a “process of looking which includes a network of relationships” (106). According to D’Alleva, the gaze is a powerful way to assert ones authority. D’Alleva then goes on to discuss the gaze in terms of film theory, which made me think back to discussions of the gaze that I had in History of Photography sophomore year.

In History of Photography we read a chapter titled “The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes: The Example of National Geographic.” This essay written by Catherine Lutz and Jane Collins discusses the multiple layer of “gazes” apparent in a photograph. Lutz and Collins argue that there are 7 different kinds of gazes for National Geographic photos: photographers, institutional/magazines, readers’, non western subjects gaze, gaze of the western in the photo, the gaze returned or retracted from the mirrors that many non westerners hold in photographs, and our own, academic gaze. Although these 7 gazes apply directly to National Geographic photographs, they still help to expand on D’Alleva’s arguments about the gaze. Lutz and Collins takes D’Alleva’s discussion about the gaze one step further by showing the complexity and interconnectedness of the gaze. While D’Alleva uses film theory to discuss the experience of viewing, Lutz and Collins uses a specific source, National Geographic,  to understand the relationship between the subject, the artist, the viewer, and society at large.