“Journalist Mona Eltahawy Arrested in New York for Spray Painting Over Pamela Geller’s Racist Subway Poster”
Posted: October 16th, 2012 under Art and Politics, Defiant Art, Uncategorized.
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Comment from laraib1995
Time October 17, 2012 at 1:35 am
It is interesting to see how till a few hours ago I deemed graffiti to comprise of such art or pictures that instantly proved to be thought provoking for the viewer. We have often discussed how graffiti is a platform to bring out social messages in the society and how it is not just random acts of vandalism as it is mostly deemed to be. So, when I read this article I thought that just spraying paint on wall to conceal something should not technically be regarded as graffiti because even though it fulfills the common definition of graffiti being an act of vandalism, it did not provoke any thought. The journalist just aimed to hide the disconcerting posters and did not try to send any social message through that. But then my mind went back to the discussion we had a few days ago about how forms of art like ‘Piss Christ’ etc bring out visceral feelings among people and their instant reaction is to just destroy that subject of profanity. Mona Eltahawy was probably overwhelmed by the same visceral feelings, and hence tried to conceal the posters and this act of her portrayed her inner feelings and made me realize that these strong sentiments of her towards the posters were actually the social message that she was trying to convey. Although all she did was to spray over the wordings of the advertisement, and not go through some elaborate form of visually describing what she felt, it still brought out the same effect for the viewers. Even if one person who supported her views saw the vandalized advertisement he or she must have felt a connection, a mental bond that linked Eltahawy with the viewer. Hence, from this article I realized that graffiti or any form of art for that matter need not to be something that instantly catches your eye, but can even be as simple as just a block of random spray and still prove to be thought provoking.
Oh and I can not post comments directly on your blog. Is it supposed to be that way or I just dont know how to do it?
Comment from smohamed7
Time October 19, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Thank you very much for your comment Mahum. This is exactly what I wanted people to ponder when I posted this article. I wanted to expose the relationship graffiti has had to society from its emergence “back in the day” with hip-hop to its current state. Prevailing opinion regarding its status as merely vandalism, gang-related activity, territorial markings, bored youth, etc. have led to a great misunderstanding about the prevalence of graffiti and its purpose. Eltahawy’s use of graffiti, rather than tearing the poster down or simply protesting it in other means, let’s say, is ample evidence of the power a tag or a piece or any other graffito can have. This is exactly why, as I explain on my blog and in my graffiti presentation, that graffiti has found its home on the walls of many buildings and public areas throughout the countries of the Arab Spring and Middle East. It is a voice for those disenfranchised or looking to make a point across. It may not always be “art,” but it will never cease to have an impact on the world as this article and many other examples clearly show.