Twilight LA Presentations

Urban art is an incredibly fascinating subject. Previous to the presentation that explored urban art, I knew graffiti as only the illegal acts of defiance by disgruntled gang members attempting to "stick it to the man". My definition could not have been more off base. Art in itself is a difficult thing to define, its beauty is often in the eye of the beholder and that makes the judgement of "good" or "bad" art a task for the well-trained eye. Yet I would never have dreamed that even trained eyes would look towards the walls of urban buildings at what I deem to be unintelligible scribbles in order to find great works of art. Symbols and messages leap through what cannot be simply labeled vandalism and the artist brings insight to the everyday world by choosing a gallery open to all at all times: walls. Bringing art to the audience for which it was intended seems like such an obvious idea, but graffiti and street art are really the most effective in presenting a meaningful gallery to the masses. The "Do Not Enter Project" done by Dan Witz was especially fascinating to me. Altering an everyday and even common place object in order to present a message is perhaps the cleverest of ways to develop art. It was all very interesting and exciting to learn about.

The presentation on social concerns including gang violence and class structure also destroyed a few of my stereotypical presuppositions. Specifically the data relating poverty and low income to rural and urban areas was most powerful. Whether I was conscious of this or not, I realized through this presentation that I had always associated gang members with the lowest possible economic class and families trapped in poverty. However, as demonstrated by the data shown, both poverty and low income families are more prominent in rural areas rather than the urban centers that so often house gang activity. I also realize that I had always assumed that gang members, who were often school drop-outs, were not only poor but less intelligent people as well. In Deavere's book, the interview with Twilight Bey completely disintegrated that idea. Twilight describes himself as having "twice the knowledge of those my age and twice the understanding of those my age"(254). Knowledge that does not come from textbooks or standardized testing is no less valuable. The kids involved with gangs are learning to survive and that skill is more needed to them than being able to write a superb essay. Coming from my privileged background, at least it is in comparison to most others, this kind of survivor mentality is completely foreign to me and I am glad that I am now better able to understand it, however inadequate and small that understanding may be.