“They saw their injured country's woe;
The flaming town, the wasted field;
Then rushed to meet the insulting foe;
They took the spear, - but left the shield.”
―Philip Freneau
.
And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again?
Archilochus
Monday, April 24, 2017
Employ the Perps!
Beyond the darken shadows
Of a cold abandon alley
Lurks the masterpieces kept in time
The city's homemade gallery.
The city art of the common man
His words and thoughts in design
Expressions shared with quick swipes
Of every curve and line.
Graffiti art so rare and intimate
Unaware of what is shown
Telling the messages of a man's true life
Drawn proudly on concrete stone.
At glance the drawings on the walls
Seem vulgar, low and unclean
The simple words of the unknown man
The man not heard or seen.
Yet there in his graffiti art he shines
Along with city fellow souls
And their true words and expressed art
Are their dreams, their lives and goals.
So when you pass a covered wall
Filled up with graffiti art
Remember that those are more than filthy wastes
They are the stories from the city's true heart.
I used to always snicker to myself whenever I was on the train or a bus around NYC, and some guy on his way home from some office mid-town or down-town to NJ or CT or Westchester would say, "Look at the graffiti! Just filthying up their neighborhoods!" Does this dude give a rats ass about that neighborhood? About those people? Does he know anyone from there? Aside from the view from the train, has he ever even been there? I never said anything. He wouldn't care anyway. Or he'd argue, "Well, if they were like me!" Yeah, fuck him.
I find many of the great works of art we revere today were at one time mere household or decorations. What's the difference between one of these modern "murals" and a DaVinci or Michaelangelo "Fresco"? I see little difference. so long as they are carried out with skill and grace. The mural depicted could very well be a Pieta.
7 comments:
I used to always snicker to myself whenever I was on the train or a bus around NYC, and some guy on his way home from some office mid-town or down-town to NJ or CT or Westchester would say, "Look at the graffiti! Just filthying up their neighborhoods!" Does this dude give a rats ass about that neighborhood? About those people? Does he know anyone from there? Aside from the view from the train, has he ever even been there? I never said anything. He wouldn't care anyway. Or he'd argue, "Well, if they were like me!" Yeah, fuck him.
JMJ
Glorifying GARBAGE while scorning excellence and high acheievement is a salient characteristic of the Left.
ENOUGH!
Why are these murals "garbage" FT? Nobody built a pedestal (museum) to put them in.
Oh dear! I never thought of you as one of "them," FJ, but perhaps you are? –– at least in matters aesthetic. ;-)
Do you also consider Rap on a par with Milton, and Break Dancing on an equal footing with Classical Ballet and Modern Dance?
I find many of the great works of art we revere today were at one time mere household or decorations. What's the difference between one of these modern "murals" and a DaVinci or Michaelangelo "Fresco"? I see little difference. so long as they are carried out with skill and grace. The mural depicted could very well be a Pieta.
PS - Grafiti or not, the static work depicted in this post meets all the classical standards for "beauty". Proportion, symmetry, and truth.
Demolish this building if you wish, but I'd liken you to Napoleon shooting off the nose of the Sphinx during gunnery practice. :P
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