Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 17, 2006)
Llackamas Print Commentary 3 Wednesday, May 17 2006 ace off: is graffiti art or not? ailing it 'art’ destroys lie essence of graffiti le Kimherling ¡Ctacfawws Print jjs is not an argument about the tness” or “wrongness” of graffiti, hether the act is to be looked down and viewed with shame. This argu- concems itself with whether graffiti tfould be an easy conclusion to jump it graffiti is art, because there is obvi- > artistic value to graffiti. There is |y something that does not sit well this conclusion that graffiti should ¡cognized as art. I believe that by jig at both what is canonized as art what is considered graffiti we can iat though graffiti could officially ®ed art, it is in the best interest of ::i to remain unassociated with the | of accepted art. [ossing aside any regurgitated defini- ¡that can be found in dictionaries, I art simply what is accepted within umunity as having aesthetic value? n’t a community dub something, or ■times anything, art when they feel work admits or represents popular ion within a social structure? Though flions against the art canon do come i time to time, the canon eventu- swallows the rebellion. What was tagrand rebellion by artists (think tessionism, Abstract and The Dada ement) becomes just another page ihistory book labeled under simply iaffiti’s greatest asset in keeping its rity is that the act is a free-roaming of vandalism, and as such is very tail for the art canon to subjugate 1 accepted form. Graffiti defies the wement; that is what is most loved lit. Graffiti relies heavily on its abil- i a direct and genuine expression of i culture, free of the manipulation le art market, to shock and anger )e. 'we take away graffiti’s fundamental 0 kl s Ö ll I c Ij 0 k) £ lb u k> 4 characteristics, that it is vandalism, that it is illegal and that it does anger most of the general public, don’t we just end up with more art? Wouldn’t graffiti cease to be everything that it entails if it became art? Isn’t it reasonable to state that by forcing the art canon, and society, to accept graffiti as art, that we are actually forcing graffiti to be pigeonholed into a lesser version of itself? Oftentimes the people who desper ately desire to defy society, be it through music, art, attitudes or style, inadvertent ly jeopardize or destroy the very rebel lion they embrace by forcing society to accept their rebellion, and in doing so give up the fundamental characteristic that makes their rebellion rebellious. Pleading for acceptance is not a rebel- Graffiti is the last of the truly expressive arts Derek Erickson The Clackamas Print “Stop building ant farms” was found spray painted on the garage door of a suburban home. This mes sage made the news and struck the minds of everyone watching. This message, and messages like it, have been conveyed throughout history by means of “tagging” or spray painting in public venues. These are the messages that call for action and make people think. Just go to 10th Street and Division to see a whole gallery of opinion and ideas. Maybe these ideas aren’t always agree able but they’re human thoughts that need to be respected. Graffiti is artwork. » Illustration by E. E. West Clackamas Print Again,’ in Portland there is plenty of art that isn’t considered legal. These artists that spray are show ing what art is and defying what art has become. Art is a free expression of human thought, not something hidden away in a gallery accessible only to the rich and tragically hip. People always talk about how proud they are of Portland culture. How can Portlanders know what the culture is if they repress the message of the people on the streets? These messages are what the citizens really think and feel, they show what’s actually going on. There’s no hiding from a spray that says “its true, its terminal” with a heart and three X’s discussing the AIDS problem. These sprays show the parts of these cities that are too often ignored. Some tags are obnoxious. Gang- related tags are useless and generally unattractive. But when you see a train passing with elegantly painted names even some of those gang tags allow you to see the culture of other towns that you may hot have visited. Keeping a city from drowning in paint is just fine, but where should it stop? There needs to be more choice on behalf of the people with what stays and what goes. Certain areas should be closed to tagging, such as schools, churches and homes. In this day and age it is very dif ficult to make people think, to make people step back and consider what they really feel and believe. Graffiti does just this, it hits people with revo lution when they least expect it. This art goes beyond anything that you will find in a gallery - this is art of the human soul and the human mind. Graffiti is one of'the few tools left that is accessible to anyone that wants to keep the world moying and chang ing. I hope that it never stops or else our society and our populous may become fatally stagnant. Drag show prompts concern Drag article engaging, amusing I attended the Rainbow Club Drag Pageant this week. I had a concern that there might be a confronta tion which would need inter vention. I was pleased that no such problem occurred. I enjoyed the show given by the performers and I con gratulate the amateurs in participating in a task which caused them stretching their comfort zone. However; I do have a concern about the location of the show. If one wants to ask non-believers to experi ence tolerance, they should have the choice whether to consider their beliefs or not. Being in thé middle of the Community Center with advising, lunches, general foot traffic and meetings it was not a matter of choice for some. The “in your face” commentary, choice of I wanted to send an email regarding C. J. Ciaramella’s well- written article, “The Making of a Drag Queen.” The personal voice was engaging, and the self-deprecating humor showed respect for the challenging per formance art of drag. For example, comparing himself to Danielle Steel and die Embers professionals to Faulkner was hilarious and illustrated die difficulty of this vaudeville/caba- ret/theater of the absurd perfor mance art I thought die story of his per sonal experience got at what I found so inspiring and fun at the CCC drag show. No matter what your sexual orientation or gender, it’s extremely difficult to get up on stage and dance and sing (or lip sync), never mind doing it dressed as your opposite gender in front of a large crowd The student performers took big risks, made themselves vul ■ ackamas Print 1‘WO S. Molalla Ave. ^gon City OR 970.45 657-6958 ex. 2309 is a weekly publication and is “'--Severy Wednesday except finals week. ’■'W sckums Print music, and the performance entertained the believers had the potential to inflame those who did not believe. Had the event been scheduled for the theater or a large class room then those who wanted to attend could choose and those who did not want the experience could leave or opt to go somewhere else. I applaud the Rainbow Club and appreciate their effort to entertain as well as educate. In this era of strongly divided opinions on sexual orientation issues, I thank you for being public, but suggest that you know how to influence change rather than force it. Doug Cross Computer Science Instructor E ditor - in -C hief : Ben Maras C opy E ditors : Katie Weinberg, E. E. A d A ssistant : Helen Conley S taff W riters : Derek Erickson, West Justin Goe, Elizabeth Hitz, Frank Jordan, Mike Kimberling, Megan Koler, Adam J. Manley Matthew Olson, Kyle Steele, David Stark, N. P. Delzell, Helen Conley N ews E ditor : Katie Wilson C ommentary E ditor : Laura Cameron F eature E ditor : C. J. Ciaramella S ports E ditor : Mike Guidice A&E E ditor : Tayo Stalnaker P hoto E ditor : Jeff Sorensen A d M anager : Sam Krause P roduction A ssistants : Adam J. Manley, Kim Maier, Elizabeth nerable, and did it in style, some of them dancing with such skill people sitting around me com mented with envy, ‘I wish I could do that.” As a woman, I can premise you that no man dressed as a woman up on that stage came close to my experience as a female in this world (blissfully free of high heels or “foundation garments”). Nevertheless, I have no doubt that after surviving heels, bustiers, bras, tights, and lake eyelashes, die men who performed have a deeper sense of what it . means to stand out, to receive instant atten tion, but for tilings other than their minds, their accomplishments, or what they have to say. The drag performance showed me how we can use humor to face ourselves, enjoy our differences and connect with each other. The Clackamas Print encourages reader response. Submissions must be received by 1 p.m. Friday in order to be printed in the following week’s issue. All submissions must be accompanied by the writer’s full name and contact infor mation; requests to remain anonymous will be consid ered. Please limit letters to approximately 200 words, essays and guest columns to approximately 550 words. Submissions may be edited for space and clarity, not for con tent. Please send submissions to chiefed@clackamas.edu, or drop them off on a disk in RR 135. Trista Cornelius English Instructor Hitz, Chris Anderson, Scott Risvold P hotographers : Adam J. Manley, Lara Hedbor, Elizabeth Hitz, Matt Olson, N. P. Delzell D epartment A dvisor : Linda Vogt D epartment A ssistant : Chris Hennel G oais : The C lackamas Print aims to report the news in an honest, unbiased, professional manner. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the stu dent body college administration, its faculty or The Print. E-mail comments to chiefed@dackamas. edu.
