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DOWNLOW MAGAZINE(The British Magazine for the Hip Hop Nation) |
GRAFFITI VERITE' THE VIDEO.............................. TWENTY FOUR ARTISTS, whose creative tools of choice are paint spray-cans, are captured in close-up by director/cameraman BOB BRYAN in his 45-minute documentary video, 'GRAFFITI VERITE', which every serious Hip-Head must consider adding to his collection of knowledge. Shooting the video opened Bryan's eyes to scenes he had never before imagined. 'I quickly discovered how serious and dedicated these people are about their work. The real truth completely destroys the old stereotypical images that Graffiti is about vandalism and tag-banging. Nothing could be further from the truth, whether these inspired artists paint on walls or canvas. While these artists, including Chaz Bojorquez, live and work in Los Angeles and are mainly from a Chicano background, their realities and writings transcend international boundaries and local cultures, although, occasionally, like many Americans who want to be taken seriously, the fashion in which they express their opinions does become a tad heavy, even pompous, which can be amusing in itself. As Bob Bryan's camera cruises behind-the-scenes, the artists talk about Graffiti's ancestral connections to ritualistic hieroglyphics and cave paintings to its value as street-level propaganda and its appearance in public aft galleries for the anonymous public. In the course of these free-flowing 'conversations', which director Bob Bryan has made certain aren't filtered through and interpreted by 'experts', we hear stuff, which, if passed to Private Eye, would be pushed immediately into its Pseuds Corner. Take this, for example: 'Graffiti Art has a contact visceral effect in its audience because Graff Art goes beyond Art orderliness and conventions, expressing itself through complex design image patterns- wild style - rude colors and strange characters.' Then there's this: 'Graffiti Artists dare to communicate to us, by any means, despite misconceptions and restrictions. Yet, paradoxically, Graffiti Aft is still about fame and popularity.' But the best line of all comes from the artist who was asked by his grade school teacher what he wanted to become as an adult. 'I want to be an artist or a terrorist.' Graffiti Verite' shows that there's only a fine line between the two and that, probably, artists talk better through their pictures than their words.
- D.A. downlow note: If you want a copy of GRAFFITI VERITE', contact BRYAN WORLD PRODUCTIONS, P.O. Box 74033, Los Angeles, California CA 90004 |