Graffiti began in Philadelphia in the mid to late 1960s. Writers needed new ways to gain fame because this industry was becoming competitive. Therefore, tags became more unique, many different styles developed and spread throughout the street walls as well as the subways. But because more and more artists joined in, they began to use aerosol or spray paint to add volume and color to their tags. This caused a “war”, declared by the MTA. Heavily vandalized train cars were removed from service and headed to the scrap yard. Security was maximized so subway graffiti slowly died out. In 1989, the era, although not completely dead, ended as the last train with significant amount of graffiti was taken off the lines.
Unfortunately, graffiti is regarded by many as a form of vandalism while to others, as a form of art. It has been associated with gang-activities because it is used as a way for gangs to mark their “territories”. Therefore, there is still a controversy on whether Graffiti is actually considered a form of art. Many residents from various neighborhoods complained and asked for the graffiti to be cleaned up. Through this project, I wanted to decide for myself whether graffiti is a form of art.
Originally, I wanted to visit the 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, an American outdoor art exhibit space in Long Island City. It is considered to be the world’s premiere “graffiti mecca”, where aerosol artists from around the world painted colorful pieces on the walls of a factory building. The name 5Pointz signifies the five boroughs coming together as one but, because of its reputation as an epicenter of the graffiti scene, it united aerosol artists from across the world. Despite the efforts of the artists and the community, the art center was in the process of being torn down as of August 2014.
Because of this dreadful news, I decided to visit Bushwick, a new haven for graffiti artists. Bushwick, has long been a low-income enclave for Brooklyn’s Latino population. Not so long, it was a neglected, desolate remnant of a once thriving Brooklyn Neighborhood. But street artists had long gravitated here, drawn by the ample industrial wall space, a natural canvas for the outdoor artists’ work. Then, other aspiring artists started moving into Bushwick, where they could acquire cheap lofts in the abandoned factories and warehouses that still dominate the neighborhood.
I visited Bushwick in 2012 for an art project but I wasn’t too attracted by the graffiti there. It’s probably because I was bias against it. I hated the bubbly words spray-painted in shady neighborhoods along the 7-train line. I do admit that I stereotyped the artists to be dressed up like gangster, wearing their pants hanging halfway down their butt. However, when I heard over the summer that they created the New Edition of the Bushwick collection, replacing many of the old works with new, I wanted to visit it again to see if my thoughts on graffiti will change.
There were a variety of artwork and many bright colors accented the streets. The neighborhood was gritty yet vibrant. By a grocery store, the old brick walls were painted with a lively scene of a boy tending a garden of talking mushrooms, peas and carrots. Random cherries, strawberries, grapes, lemons and limes also adorn the wall. And are those tiny flying pigs? I can’t imagine what the store would have been like without the art. It definitely seemed like it attract more costumers to come.
One of the graffiti that stood out to me the most was “Sourish Arash & Ali”. During the visit to Bushwick I didn’t know who the three men painted on the walls were. Later when I got home, I found out that they were Iranian musicians, Ali as their manager, who came to the United States for musical freedom. In Iran, it is against the cultural law to become a rock star and can’t grow there as a band. So Soroush and Arash Farazmand pursued their passion as an indie rock band called the Yellow Dogs. Instead of achieving fame for their songs, they gained notoriety for their deaths. The brothers were among three men shot and killed in their Brooklyn apartment by a fellow musician who police say was upset over being kicked out of another Iranian band. After learning the story behind the graffiti, I was more impressed by it. I’m not certain the exact intention of the artist but I believe it wasn’t just in commemoration of their deaths. It symbolized freedom and dream. Although short, the two musicians were able to live their dream.
Before this Community Arts Project, I thought very lightly of graffiti arts. I treated them as random doodles on the streets. However I realized that there were so much more to it then that. They actually changed the atmosphere of the neighborhood of Bushwick. I wish I got to see an artist actually working on graffiti with my own eyes. There are some BushwickCollection gatherings during the summer so I might stop by next summer. I don’t know about other neighborhoods, but Bushwick should not be torn down.
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