Dirtyalligator's Fotothing

I was born and raised in the projects of Newark, New Jersey, so i came out of a ghetto environment. I come from that background. I know that there are lots of people who are artistically inclined and not part of "the system". Are they any less creative than those who have had a formal education? No, some of them have more creativity. It's just that some art is sanctioned and some is not. When you do something "within the system" then there are certain protocols that one must follow in order to stay in "the system". I think graffiti is kind of like rap music. Many people with just the mention of the word rap, just freak out. The thing is that rap is a very generalized term. Some of which is X-rated. Some of it is gangster-related. Some of it is very inspiring, which encourages people to change their lives. Some of it has a message and some of it has been heard in gospel forms. I see graffiti as having a lot of similarities with rap. It too has a multitude of forms and meanings. It's just that a lot of connotations of the art form and how it is linked to the streets and street culture create a divide. There are those people, who are on the other side... the right wing view of art and look down upon it and say that it is a lesser form. However, all they need to do is look at some of it. It is absolutely spectacular, but sometimes people can't get past their own culture. If they are used to looking at it within a certain negative frame, but some person of notoriety states that is of good quality, then they might look at it a second or third time and agree that it is good. As far as i'm concerned, I think graffiti is an art form. I think it is beautiful. I don't have a problem with it. I do have a problem with anything that is predatory and i think that graffiti within the culture has received the distinction that it is predatory. Many art forms, which are sanctioned, forget their roots. When you go to the museum and look at masterpieces you have to realize that a lot of people were oppressed in order for that form to take place. This is because civilization, as we call it, takes over certain things. Graffiti is within civilization, but yet civilization is saying it is uncivilized, to some respect, because it is connected or assosiated with certain gang violence and eyesores. Whereas, I know that at least the pure forms of graffiti like the murals and pieces i've seen are anything but that. They are beautiful and are taking a ravaged bankrupt area and beautifying it. It's like a garden so to speak.

Dmitri Wright