Saturday, March 13, 2010

The Art Of Graffiti


The cities are the devilish dreams of our Gods. To inhabit a pigeonhole, wake up as Kafka's Gregor Samsa, shave the weekend stubbles off, get into a new set of inner-wear to feel a deceptive sense of freshness which also vanishes with the first pee, wear that plastic smile and go cuckooing in the work-place is what we call as living. Modern life has metamorphosed us into monstrous vermins. Only skeletons move, wear suits and blabber those same fifty words day in and day out. Haven't we become the ghosts of ourselves long ago?



Graffitis are an artistic whimper of a moribund civilisation, a muted moan of the chaotic cityscape. The alienated urban man with stained hands scribble, write, draw or paint on the sidewalks, pavements, subways and public toilets. Those walls have become the canvass of his lacerated soul. Some of these graffitis express the subconscious outpourings of sexual repression. And many others are creative markings of a subaltern urban culture with subversive overtones. Some are profound artistic expressions which mock at us and raise fundamental questions about our hypocrisy and snobbery. They tear the facade apart and leave a tight slap on our conscience. That is, if we still claim to have one.



The city of Mumbai is the only place in India where i've seen graffitis on the walls, stretching across miles and miles. It is not found in Lutyens-Sheila Dikshit's Delhi as it may not suit the finer tastes of dignitaries to the Commonwealth Games and the power brokers of the nation state. It is not there in Bangalore or Hyderabad, which are fast becoming treeless real estates. Chennai can only boast of those gory cut-outs and gruesome posters staring at every nook and corner. The only ubiquitous cultural feature which can claim of a pan-Indian unity is the graffitis loaded with sexual symbolism adorning the walls of all the public toilets cutting across the country. Is there a cosmopolitan pop culture unique to Mumbai which has led to the flowering of many a beautiful graffitis on its long stretches of walls?



The art of graffiti may belong to an age old tradition of mankind. But the turning point came to this pop art form only during the most poetic year of 20th century - 1969. The year of 1969 was when the students' movement gathered momentum from Sorbonne to Berkely, the antiwar protests broke out across the globe, the Hippie subculture and the Woodstock Festival happened. The 1970s saw the city of New York emerging as the cultural capital of the world of graffitis. From there it had spread out to Paris and London and many other cities across the globe. Many cities have banned it as an act of vandalism and some have encouraged it like the city of Mumbai.



It is Jenny Holzer who transcreated this art of graffiti into an interesting art of installation. She started using the words and ideas floating in public space for her LED exhibits on gigantic billboards across various cities. She is a pioneer in using texts as an art form. Her works speak of the subtle power of words in creating resonances lasting long in the mindscape. She continues to inspire through her projections about feminism, power, violence, death and love. As the pop singer-duo Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel say in their hit number The Sounds of Silence, the words of the Prophets are always written on the subway walls. Only we should be able to discern it.








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Protect me from what I want.



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Sloppy thinking gets worse over time.



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Instead of hearing it from an ass, i would rather fart.



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Men are not monogamous by nature.




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You must have one grand passion.




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Did you live, before you die?



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4 comments:

  1. The start is profound- Even if you win a rat race, you are still a Rat. Even if we do not become part of a rat race, we still remain rats standing on the way side and watching a rat race, unless we..........

    Interesting phrase you have used - pop art. With this one stroke of a pen, you have made all and sundry, including us a pop artist, always drawing some shapes or writing our names on peices of paper while staring somewhere.

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  2. Hallo Mr Sathya,this is Balakumar from Sivagangai, Thiru's relative. Thiru smsed the blog address of yours and i am much pleased to log on to that. In fact what fascinated me is your style of writing and the selection of words that seems to be an involuntary flow from your vocabulary bank. I appreciate your passion for reading and watching plays of varied subjects. If you find time, do visit my blog www.visualwide.blogspot.com, I believe you would love some of my scribbled musings though they are not as serious a stuff as yours. I salute your interest in literature and your earnestness to contribute to writing. Bye. Yours Balakumar.

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  3. "The art of Graffiti" - It is an interesting topic which you have choosed..

    The first line is outstanding. The thing you expressed about the life is very apt. It's true,that sometimes we used to live without knowing the meaning of life..

    "Even if you win the rat race,you are still a rat" - It is an evocative one. Using art is one of the best way to convey the message to people.. I think Jenny Holzer had choosed the correct path for expressing her feelings and conveying the messages about everything to people through this pop art. like city of mumbai,other cities also should encourage these kind of beautiful graffiti.

    I came to know about the history of pop art only from your musing about the Art of the Graffiti. It shows your intense about everything. the way of choosing the randam musings and sharing your experience is very nice, fascinating and ofcourse very useful..

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  4. Graffiti is in Mumbai fine to hear.
    i recently a saw a film (DVD) "Basquiat" story of Jean Michel Basquiat the graffiti artist, turned painter who died at the age of 27 wonderful film. his paintings are beatiful. writing about film is difficult. you should watch it and feel it. i recommend this film for your

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