Street art is modified
On a midnight Stroll in the East Village I discovered this horifing site. The South Bronx graffiti crew, known for doing amazing art pieces has sold out for the corporate cash. You can see some of their fantastic detail on Ludlow Street between Houston and Stanton where they've made a piece with King Kong ripping up the Subway. But this? It's called Street.Art, whatever that means. This seems to be the corporate PR firms way of changing their marketing strategy and appealing to the "Hip-Hop" generation. Much like the Army did in 2003 using stylistic Hummers and the source magazine to try and recruit young Latinos and African Americans to fight in the occupation of Iraq. A neo-conservative fantasy gone amok. No surprise now that Hummer sales are down, General Motors (who owns Hummer) has laid off workers and Military recruitership is at an all time low. Hummer still remains an urban status symbol embodied by Rappers who use the vehicle to promote their own selfish careers and even make rhymes using the word hummer in their lyrics. It is also a sad testement to the disconect of low-income neighborhoods and environmental issues, often who are effected most by these machines. It is no surprise that 1-4 children in the South Bronx is diagnosed with Asthma related illnesses. And here you have a Bronx graffiti crew promoting the most environmental destructive commercial vehicle on the planet. Since 1992 GM has been trying to promote this gas-guzzler as a symbol of American bravado, part of the Neo-Con inspired vision that the US most prevail in a world of evil and gloat in its unchecked right to waste natural resources and destroy the environment. Then my horrified expression reverted to one of glee when I realized that some concerned citizens had taken matters into their own hands. This ad is on 2nd Street between Ave. A and B (closer to A on the South Side) for those who want to take a look. This ad got a tagging of a different nature. There was Dummer written on it, "No Blood For Oil" "Sell-out" "Bike" I guess these artists are able to connect the dots about the Hummers role both in the US and in the Middle East...Nice one.
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