The documentary Style Wars (1983) is about the emergence of graffiti, breaking-dancing, hip-hop, and rap in the early 1980s. Directed by Tony Silver and co-produced by Henry Chalfant, Style Wars delves deep inside the underground and mysterious world of the New York City cultural scene, primarily in Brooklyn, which helped create the conditions and environment for cultural evolution spread across the United States and eventually the world. The producers' original intention was to make a film about hip-hop and break dancing as explained in the additional footage after the credits roll. Through the process of research, they discovered this whole subculture of graffiti and its rebelliousness towards authority. The graffiti aspect the filmmakers …show more content…
On the other side of the law, the documentary features well-known artists such as Case2, Skeme, and CAP, as they discuss how they started out painting graffiti and how the culture becomes quite competitive over the years. The music and dancing elements emerging out of the artists' frustrations with a lack of upward class mobility and neglected social issues. As a viewer, I was unfamiliar with much of the "street-lingo" that is used in the film but the filmmakers do a good job of having artists explain what they are doing to ensure the viewer does not get left behind with certain phrases or words such as "bombing." Bombing or tagging means to perform an artist's graffiti on a surface, usually a large building or subway train as depicted in the …show more content…
The individuals shown in the film are very protective of their work and that of their friends, in some cases creating turf wars. For some, the goal seems to be to create the largest possible graffiti they can, while others want to paint graffiti on as many surfaces as possible. Eventually, much of the city is covered up causing even further turf wars to ensue with artists covering up their rival's work causing retaliatory behaviour from both sides. When describing how city officials and the police view graffiti, Mayor Koch classifies graffiti as a "quality of life offence," similar to pick-pocketing and shoplifting. Graffiti is the only criminal offence of the three, as rapping and break-dancing do not break any laws. The film shows an image of two New York City police officers standing in a subway train covered in graffiti as a symbol of the cities loss of
Graffiti has been around for more than half a decade and practiced worldwide. However there is debate between whether it is a form of art or vandalism. Graffiti artists’ debate that many do not understand the reason most graffiti artist take the risk of incarceration, fines, injuries, and in some cases death to paint a wall. A graffiti artist can have the simple desire to become recognized, or to create a piece that speaks to their audience as a form of self expression. Because graffiti is associated with gangs and acts of destruction to some many cannot see the history and importance graffiti can have on a worldwide scale. Due to the fact that graffiti is usually produced illegally, meaning it is
This movie took place after graffiti had been so staunchly looked down upon. Craig Castleman supports this in his article “The Politics of Graffiti”, when he goes through
Most people can argue that there is a fine distinction between what is recognized as art and vandalism. The individual is often faced with uncertainty when the topic of graffiti arises. The public often portray graffiti as a destructive act towards his or her surroundings however; graffiti can also be considered a form of self-expression. Many questions can be made pertaining to the graffiti movement, but the main question is graffiti a crime or an art? The answers lie in the complex phrase of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
This aspect of hip hop culture became so engrained within “codes of behavior, secret gathering places, slang, and aesthetic standards,” and thus had the most racially ethnic artists, which is why these people were mostly targeted by police for these actions. Taki 183’s graffiti was an act of political resistance against the “cleaning up” of New York City streets, which was a euphemism for whitening these neighborhoods economically and physically, with the displacement of poor, people of color. Specifically, his work is called tagging because the artist is “making his or her presence known and proclaiming his or her identity through a unique mark” (Orejuela, 2015, pg. 17). The artist of this graffiti artwork, and others like it were also a blatant display by people of color peacefully fighting back the state for its intended demise and who at the time, spent thousands of dollars to rid the streets of these pieces of artwork because of its direct connection to people of color. This work of resistance was so successful because other graffiti artists would try to compete with Taki 183’s work and thus, they too would create their own piece of work. This then made it almost impossible for the city to paint over every piece of work, but this also made it more dangerous for the artists themselves, as the penalties for graffiti became even more severe as people of color became even more policed. This artist specifically, made this artwork most popular as he performed it during such a tense time and received major exposure by the New York media. Phase 2 was infamous for creating bubble writing, also known as softies, but was also a b-boy. He also rapped and graffitied during the 1970s when the state of New York was in a war with the residents of color and the lower class. Phase 2 art is referred to
However, some do not explicitly refer to graffiti as a crime, but an art form. Even though Lady Pink and Olivero agreed that graffiti can be considered vandalism, they see it more as art. As graffiti artists themselves, they view this subject in a completely different light. This is shown when Olivero states, “graffiti, a vandalism sub-genre, is differentiated by its aesthetics, or its message” (Olivero par. 1). He shows that he agrees with the other side of the argument but that there is more than one dimension to graffiti to strictly label it as a crime. Lady Pink has similar views as Olivero (Pink par. 7). Because they empathize with their opponents’ views, but still have a different perspective, stasis has been reached.
Recently, I have seen a film called “Wild Style” and I want to invite you to watch it and enjoy this incredible movie. I could enjoy this movie thanks to my online class "Race, Gender and Sexuality in Hip Hop.” This movie is related to all the information learned in class and it helped me to understand how elements of hip hop and its culture interrelates with global, international, and intercultural issues, systems and movements. Also, it helped me to develop an understanding of the evolution of hip hop as a cultural movement with diverse art forms since its origins based in social justice and political resistance. This is an American film produce and written by Charlie Ahearn in 1983. The protagonist is Zoro, a New York graffiti artist played by Lee Quinones that
There are many associations with graffiti writing, Hip-hop being the first. Though the emergence of graffiti can be attributed to street gangs; which, they used to mark their territories (Chronopoulos 2011, pg. 79), graffiti began to merge with hip-hop culture in the 70s (Chronopoulos 2011, pg. 82). Ultimately, this combination promoted the public domination over public spaces in New York City through the use
The roots of graffiti started about 1971 by a Greek American who tagged “TAKI-183” in all New York subway system, he declared that he “used graffiti to create an identity in which he is certain about” (Fortuna 3), then it emerged all around America and the world. (David 72)
My arrangement of my Catholicism Today Portfolio is designed to connect each reading to the next by showing the connection between the most important parts of each piece. The first piece I included was my first reflection paper. Although it was my first paper its purpose as the first piece in my portfolio is to illustrate my beginning position. Within the first few days of class I had the realization that there were more than one way to live out one’s faith. The passage which describes this is highlighted and goes on to say how one way of being “Catholic” is not any more correct than another. The paper directly following this one is my fourth reflection paper, in which I struggled with understanding asceticism. By putting this piece directly
Generally most people look and take graffiti as a form of destruction and wanting to cause violence, but in the artist’s mind they want to be creative and help the people around them by making art to cheer someone up or create a sense of creativity in others. They don’t do it to go to jail or because they want to pay a fine they do it because they are open minded and creative. For instance, “A lot of attention is given to the ‘broken window’ theory, which says that signs of disorder like petty vandalism, fare jumping … and yes, graffiti, open the window to larger crimes,” Verel told The Huffington Post. “But little is paid to the ways graffiti is harnessed for good in a form that’s both constructive and authentic”(Patrick Verel). They are taking this broken windows theory too far and only saying it can cause bigger crimes. Some graffiti artists are trying to uplift the neighborhoods and the people they live around with creative art. Also not all graffiti is bad enough to want artists to commit a crime. While making this art or graffiti I don’t think that these artist are trying to harm the buildings in any way, but they should ask for permission if they aren’t allowed to be painting on these buildings. This is to let the owner of the building know that they mean no harm to the environment or their workplace. For example, “Adam Cooper, cultural strategy officer for the mayor of London, thinks
The origin and history of graffiti is not what one might expect. Believed to have been created by a Philadelphia high school student named Cornbread in 1967, it was a bold effort to catch the attention of a girl (De Melker). In this same time period, graffiti sprung up in New York as well. It was “one among many forms of social protest” during
A perfect example of the presence of artworks available for viewing is in graffiti. Graffiti is often a derogative term used to describe writing, drawing, or images placed on the surfaces of public buildings or areas. Although not considered fine art by many, as an expression of creativity and imagination, it falls under the category of artworks. What separates this form of artwork from those found in galleries is the atmosphere and environment that is attached to graffiti that cannot be replicated or found in art galleries. The raw nature of graffiti makes it appealing for viewers, however, the fact it is abundant in the urban environment justifies the idea that it can be viewed without the need for an art gallery.
Users of accounting information, who do not have day to day access to the record of the business, rely on the integrity and judgment of management to provide suitable information of a high quality. All financial statements are essentially historical documents they shows the financial performance of the company. Most users of financial statements are concerned about what will happen in the future and decision making upon the present or past financial records of the company. Stockholders are concerned in future earnings and dividends. Creditors are concerned with the company’s future ability to repay its debts. Managers are concerned with the company’s ability to finance future expansions. Despite the fact that financial statements are
Mattel was started in 1945 in a southern California garage workshop. It reached global share leadership through the growth of Barbie in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. During this time Jill E Barad leveraged her marketing talent to build Barbie from $250 million in annual sales, in 1980’s to $1.9 Billion in 1998. This success gave reason for Jill Barad to ascend to the CEO of Mattel in January 1997, which was the height of the company’s success. A little over a year later, Mattel’s stock reached a ten-year and record high of $45.625, which was a big jump from the $27.75 it was at when she took over.
Jean-Michel Basquiat emerged from the punk scene in New York as a street-smart graffiti artist. He successfully crossed over his downtown origins to the international art gallery circuit. Basquiat’s work is one of the few examples of how an early 1980’s American graffiti-based could become a fully recognized artist. Despite his work’s unstudied appearance, Basquiat very skillfully and purposefully brought together in his art a host of disparate traditions, practices and styles to create a unique kind of visual collage. His work is an example of how American artists of the 1980’s could reintroduce the human figure in their work after the wide success of minimalism and conceptualism.