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The Rainshadow Community Charter High School Blawg Week #5 Street Art Viability and Them HP Free Wall(s)!

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This week was short in the way of learning since Tuesday and Wednesdays’ Project Holland classes were filled with sophomores taking some ridiculous standardized tests. While I was “proctoring” the exams I felt like shooting myself in the head I was so bored out of my skull. Since today is a holiday, I’m gonna take it upon myself to poach some writing from an assignment we did on Thursday after watching a pretty good flick called Against the Wall: AKA Quality of Life. It was a pretty decent movie that followed the lives of two graffiti kids in SF who take separate paths in the art >crime< world after getting busted one night. The Holland Project will serve, to some extent, as a place where artists can come together to practice and display their work, whether it is graffiti, street art, socially unacceptable music, etc. My students were asked “Why do you think some types of art are socially acceptable (statues, modern art, that weird metal slab full of holes in front of the federal building, etc.) while other types (street art, graffiti, etc.) are not?” Here’s what they said…

– Because “acceptable art” is made by people with a degree. The “non-acceptable” art is made by people that don’t have a degree. That’s not fair. (Chris)

– Depends on who your asking and what you consider art. The metal slabs, to me, not art. (Karinna)

– Because background and history of graffiti art. The kids who are involved with it, and the way society sees it today. (Rachel)

– America is simple-minded! (Andie)

– Well probably because graffiti is usually on other people’s property without permission and most of the time it is gang signs and or referring to illegal substances. (Kelly)

– Because people don’t think graffiti is good, they think it ruins property. Statues people like. (Jeff)

– Because they think its gang related (Russell)

– Because those types of art are lawful, and what the government says is art, and acceptable. Long story short – people are closed-minded. (Brittney)

– Because businesses pay for their property. (Jesse)

– Because your not destroying other people’s stuff as often with that acceptable art. (Chewy)

word.

-joe

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Comments

2 responses to “The Rainshadow Community Charter High School Blawg Week #5 Street Art Viability and Them HP Free Wall(s)!”

  1. mlktst Avatar
    mlktst

    Perforated Object 27 (that “metal slab”) in front of the Reno federales building is one of the most engaging man-made objects in Northern Nevada.

    It was fashioned by Michael Heizer, infamous land artist extraordinare, and the work is based upon a piece of bone that his father found in Humbolt Cave in the 1930’s. Heizer’s name means a lot in the “art world” and the spirit of his works speaks volumes to the spirit of the wild west.

    It also doesn’t hurt that his work and historic significance means a lot more to me than 99% of the graffiti/street-inspired work I’ve been subjected to.

    If interested there was a great article about Heizer’s desert “City” in the New York Times Sunday Edition just over two years ago (February 5). Here’s a link to an older article by Michael Kimmelman, editor of the Art section of the New York Times, Michael Heizer: A Sculptor’s Colossus of the Desert.

    It also includes photos.

    You know, for the kids.

    Reply
  2. megan Avatar
    megan

    Interesting question…why some type of art may be socially acceptable and some not. I think the kids hit some of it right on as some of the reasons are pretty simple (and perhaps justified)–issues of legality, destruction of private property, etc.

    Following its history, much of art (and socially acceptable art at that) has been used politically and socially as a form of rebellion against the norms. Movements have sprung up in response to all kinds of issues and been used in order to make statements and upset the status quo–probably some movements have been looked at as even more “unacceptable” than graffiti–then they have eventually turned into the status quo themselves (see Dada, Conceptual Art).

    If the idea is to get your expression and art out there so others can see it, then doesn’t it make sense to do it in the smartest way possible? Sometimes it seems that subtleties are much more pervasive and powerful and can affect the most change. I’m not saying that you have to make your art socially acceptable but perhaps to present it in a way that will actually make people pay attention to it and respond to it in a way that is thoughtful rather than reactionary.

    I think questioning whether something is art or not is not really important. More important is whether it is good art or bad art. And maybe the reason people with degrees make “acceptable” art is because they find smart ways to present it that seem acceptable but that are really just as, if not more, powerful and upsetting. In fact, I think that a fair amount of contemporary art is borderline socially unacceptable…

    All that said, you don’t have to have a degree to make good, smart art. And the circumstances may call for graffiti or action in the streets, which can be very effective in some cases…although, I would dare to say that even that is becoming more socially acceptable these days.

    Reply

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