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
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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
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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.
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English Instructor
Hitz, Chris Anderson, Scott
Risvold
P hotographers : Adam J. Manley,
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