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| "WATER CAN KILL JUST WAIT" |
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| "Humanity's Crux: FOSSIL FUELS" |
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| "IF U THINK IT'S GETTING HOT, IT'S ONLY GETTING HOTTER" |
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| "A WARM, RISING OCEAN" |
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"Beware of the ACID RAIN"
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My message for the audience is for them to be aware of what's happening in the world regarding the environment. So often we as people are caught up in our own lives and aren't aware nor care of what's happening to our world. Through my messages I want people to question and think about the statements and to hopefully get them to research what it is that is being said in the message. I tried to deliver the messages in a straightforward yet poetic way as inspired by the NAACP strategies employed during the civil rights movement. In Seigler Chapter 5 it states "change the hearts and minds by delivering the cold, hard facts in as straightforward a manner as possible" (Siegler, 59), and I tried to approach my writings in a similar manner. An example of a message I wrote is "Beware of the ACID RAIN" along with "Humanity's Crux : FOSSIL FUELS", and I chose to write this as acid rain is a product of the greenhouse gases that are released when fossil fuels are used. Around 80% of our world's energy is gained through the burning of fossil fuels which fumes cause acid rain (ESSI). According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency "(1) Emissions of SO2 and NOx are released into the air, where (2) the pollutants are transformed into acid particles that may be transported long distances. (3) These acid particles then fall to the earth as wet and dry deposition (dust, rain, snow, etc.) and (4) may cause harmful effects on soil, forests, streams, and lakes" (EPA). Not only are these chemicals being released by power plants and factories, it's also being released through automobiles and anything that uses fossil fuels, so everyday we are contributing to more and more environmental damage. Other messages that I wrote was "A WARM, RISING OCEAN" and "WATER CAN KILL JUST WAIT", and these messages refer to the rising sea levels that is rapidly rising by the day, in comparison to history. Rebecca Hersher of NPR explains "Sea levels along coastlines in the United States will rise about one foot by 2050, with larger increases on the East and Gulf coasts, according to a comprehensive new report by federal climate scientists" (Hersher). At this rate if something doesn't get done the world we know will be a whole lot smaller than it was. Not to mention the natural disasters that may happen due to the rising sea levels.
My project will engage an audience through them seeing it in public on a daily basis. One of the main selling point of graffiti and public works is the audiences it can reach. Through having my writings in public it allows for anyone to see it, whether they be elder or young, it allows for me to reach a larger audience than had I tried to spread the message through an online medium. By having this work live in public, people don't have the choice as they would have if I were to share a link since they have the option to open it or not, as long as they read my message the goal has been accomplished. With these messages living in all these different communities it intervenes with their everyday life and serves as a constant reminder of what's happening to our environment whenever they see it. I received feedback from my friends who have seen the messages and asked me about it, and I've also received feedback in the form of stares and confused gazes as to what is it I wrote. All in all, all these forms of feedback are great to me as they were able to read the message and let it enter their minds, intervening their normal daily thought process with a message that makes them think a different train of thought. As John Berger explained, "One may remember or forget these messages but briefly one takes them in, and for a moment they stimulate the imagination by way of either memory or expectation" (Berger, 129).
This project fits into my portfolio and professional aspirations as I am an aspiring artist that is open to all different forms of art, and street art being one of them. I've always been a big fan of street art and it's in the last 2 years that I've been paying more attention to street art and the different styles that are apart of my community. Doing this project is my first entry into the world of street art and I'm finding new power in my messages by having them live in public. Thus, this contributes to my portfolio and professional aspirations as it serves as experience for what could be down the road for me.
4 Artist that inspired this project:
The God Bless Graffiti Coalition (2000) was an inspiration for this project. Graffiti is often gets a bad reputation for vandalism or being unwanted but the God Bless Graffiti Coalition was formed in order to combat the growing national and international anti-graffiti sentiment. They inspired my project by their attitude towards graffiti and utilizing it in a way that promotes graffiti in a different light. They used it in a positive way to spread awareness of their cause, the same way I am with my project.
The SAMO© collective formed by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Al Diaz was a major influence for my project. They were a graffiti duo in 1978-1980 that painted different poetic messages in downtown Manhattan. They did not have a clear message nor a clear agenda, more or less spontaneous poetry and takes on their modern society. This was my original inspiration, I was influenced by their style of poetry and writing and did it in my own way about an issue I'm concerned about.
Artist Jim Joe was another major inspiration for this project. Jim Joe is a mysterious graffiti artist that would tag all through downtown New York City with various different writings that did not have a clear message. He writes in a child-like handwriting style and writings that range from humorous to political. I appreciate what he does and his free spirit in the way he writes is something that I channeled in this project.
Artist Banksy is also a big influence for this project. Banksy is another mysterious street artist that is renowned for his works that attacks many political issues in a satirical and artistic way. His works are usually comprised of a stenciled figure with a slogan, sometimes one without the other. The manner of his slogans and his attitude towards the issues he spoke against was a big influence for this project. His works inspired me to look deeper into the world I live in and to address the things that I care about.
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| Banksy |
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| Jim Joe |
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| SAMO© |
Resources:
https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain
https://www.eesi.org/topics/fossil-fuels/description#:~:text=Overview,percent%20of%20the%20world's%20energy.
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/15/1080798833/ocean-water-along-u-s-coasts-will-rise-about-one-foot-by-2050-scientists-warn
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/key-findings
https://climate.nasa.gov/
https://magazine.saturdaysnyc.com/jim-joe/
https://www.artsy.net/artist/banksy
https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/37058/1/al-diaz-on-samo-and-basquiat
http://www.gregorysholette.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Interventionists_03_14_041.pdf
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