Artist's Statement
by KEAS
Made U Look Crew
Chicago, IL
The
communications media in America, and indeed the world, are dominated by
only a few dozen giant corporations. In this society it takes unimaginable
amounts of money to gain access to the major forms of communication (television,
radio, printing presses, etc.) and thus access to large audiences. The
common person has little or no access to "legitimately" broadcast his/her
message to the masses. Graffiti, in fact hip-hop in general, is one medium
of communication which does not discriminate on the basis of race, social,
economic, or educational class. It is an outlet of expression that anyone
can take part in and no one can stop, censor or effectively control. Those
who control the media, control the masses. Because all people, regardless
of economic class, can broadcast their thoughts and feelings through graffiti,
it is actually a threat to the dominant class's monopoly on power. In this
manner graffiti is inherently subversive. It defies the control of the
dominant. It also defies society's emphasis on property and materialism.
It is an open rejection of "mine" and "yours." Graffiti by its very nature
claims that this property, this space, this society is no more yours than
it is mine.
The
world is OURS. Very clearly then graffiti, hip hop, and any other form
of popular communication is a threat to those who think that the world
is THEIRS. For this reason the dominant class uses other media of communication,
ones that they can control, to discredit and delegitimize graffiti and
hip-hop in general by saying it is destructive, ugly, costly or violent.
To some people it may be but to others it is a hope, a chance, an outlet,
the one way in which they will be heard, the one way in which they can
take back some of the power that the dominant have taken from them. It
is their one chance to asymmetrically transmit to the world, rather than
be asymmetrically transmitted to. Hip-hop should be recognized as one of
the few modes of communication that does not discriminate rich from poor,
black from white, smart from stupid, or popular from unpopular. It should
be seen not as a social vice, but as a predictable product of a society
in which the masses are silenced, misdirected, marginalized and oppressed.
Former
Mayor of New York City Ed Koch said "Make your mark IN society not ON society."
I ask, what is so wrong with making your mark ON a society in which the
few control the many? It is time that the many make all the marks they
can On society, and hopefully in so doing effectively create a society
in which we all can freely express OURselves, control OUR destinies and
fulfill OUR human potential.
KEAS
Many Useful Lessons
www.madeulook.com
mul@madeulook.com
Chicago
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Graphic Images & Statement reproduced
with permission of the Artist
Copyright, 1998, All Rights Reserved
Graffiti Verite' / International Graffiti
Art Competition
(c) 1998 BRYAN WORLD PRODUCTIONS