AUDIO RECORDING:
DIALOGUING IN 3D—THE VISUALS AND POLITICS OF L.A. GRAFFITI ART
10 j u n e 2007
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l-r: Elizabeth Morin; RETNA; Shelley Leopold; Al Nodal; Chaz Bojorquez; SLICK; Dan Freeman |
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Roger Gastman |
RETNA |
l-r: Shelley Leopold; Al Nodal; Chaz Bojorquez |
SLICK |
Hosted by the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Little Tokyo, and co-sponsored by the L.A. Weekly, this "discussion about the practice, politics, and realities of one of the most powerful and polarizing art forms and contemporary urban expressions" included O.G. graff artist Chaz Bojorquez, newer but well respected artists RETNA and SLICK, Shelley Leopold (an editor with the L.A. Weekly), Al Nodal (President, Commission, City of L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs), and Dan Freeman of CALTRANS. The event was organized and introduced by Elizabeth Morin with the City of L.A., and was moderated by artist and writer, Roger Gastman.
The discussion was lively and interesting, touching on various issues surrounding graffiti art. At the end of PT. 1, Chaz Bojorquez delivers a solid breakdown of the connections between Chicana/o muralism and graffiti art, L.A. "character" graffiti and Hollywood (characters, players, personas), and L.A.'s (rightful) place up front in the future of international graffiti art.
Some of the more fascinating moments occurred toward the end of the recording (PT. 2), when the panel opened up to a Q&A session with the audience. Several (male) audience members took the opportunity to put some of the panelists on blast and to publicly air some rivalry and beefs with some oral graffiti battling.
In the face of all this macho posturing, one issue that we would like to have seen discussed was the gender dynamics in the world of graffiti art. Of the four artists on the panel, all were male, and of all the panelists, only one was a woman. Meantime, in the background slide show of graffiti art which played on a big screen above the panel, several shots depicted female graff writers at work.
One funny point: At the beginning of the recording (PT. 1), before the panel discussion began, Morin stood at the podium and chastised whoever had tagged the building in the last fifteen minutes since she had checked to make sure no tagging was occurring. Angry, she threatened to cancel the whole discussion, and implored whoever had tagged the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy to step forward and claim responsibility. Laughing, we imagined a "Dead Poets Society" moment where one by one, the room full of taggers and graff writers stood up on their seats with their Sharpies and spraypaint cans and proclaimed,
"I WAS THE ONE WHO TAGGED THE BUILDING"
"I WAS THE ONE WHO TAGGED THE BUILDING"
"I WAS THE ONE WHO TAGGED THE BUILDING"
To listen to the panel discussion and Q&A, click below (right/ctrl-click to download):
AUDIO: DIALOGUING IN 3D—PT. 1
[47:19; 43.4 megabytes]
AUDIO: DIALOGUING IN 3D—PT. 2
[48:23; 44.4 megabytes]
Links to more information:
Graffit Verité—Los Angeles "Cholo" Style Graffiti Art
by Chaz Bojorquez