About Baltimore...

This post is in relation to last week's section discussion about the protests in Baltimore and beyond.  The Daily Show did a great followup episode on 4/28/15 contextualizing the protest here:

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/full-episodes/hz0r7t/april-28--2015---george-stephanopoulos

Also, as I discussed and promised, here is the link to the visual poetry project I created in relation to racially motivated police violence.  Enjoy, get inspired... and create! - http://treyartspace.tumblr.com/

Resources for Street Art vs Public Art...

Great discussion today in section.  Here are some more resources to further your research...


Trailer to quality of life, a film made by two Kresge alumni about the who can speak (who has the right to speak) in our capitalist society.

Instagram:

SAVEARTSPACE
https://instagram.com/saveartspace/

an initiative started in Brooklyn to create official spaces for the creation of commissioned street art


For those of you looking for an interesting possible final project... look into the work of Native American artist Edgar Heap of Birds...

... how could you create alternative tourist experiences for SF or Santa Cruz?  What places or histories would you choose to reveal?

SF Gentrification and Oakland Graffiti- a Mutual Relationship.

Oooh my gawd this is an SF Lit class, why include a bunch of videos concerning Oakland graffiti? Why not SF graffiti like in Reclaiming San Francisco where we read about SF murals, tagging, rewriting of billboards, and the early presence of art in Chinatown? Well, though these portions of the text touched upon SF art, it didn't really get into the nitty gritty of say, the now, when it comes to what exactly has become of the street art scene. Yes, it does show a few modern examples as the chapter ends, but it doesn't depict truly what has happened to most of the art in SF. Don't worry though, as protocol those weirdos across the Bay Bridge have provided an answer in a four part documentary series focused around the iconic graffiti artist named GATS.

WHO IS GATS? GREAT GATSBY? I KNOW THAT. 

Well, no he's a graffiti artist in Oakland whose real name is unidentified because of legal problems that could arise if he was open about his identity. GATS is an acronym for "Graffiti Against the System," which in the spirit of Oakland post Occupy and post Oscar Grant can be taken to mean A LOT of things. 

In the context of this class and the first segment, one of the many things GATS is against is the gentrification of SF, which has steadily displaced countless artists that were once crucial components to SF's appeal. So naturally to remain close to the imperial hub, these artists end up moving to Oakland, where critically analyzing how one can go from getting paid to do a mural for SF, to moving because rent is too high to be covered by such a dismal pay can happen with no bounds. What's interesting about GATS is his subverted fame, which has spread nationally online because of the way his faces challenge or disrupt one's thought processes or emotions. At first glance, they all seem the same, but in reality they all vary, especially if one notes how the beard progresses as time goes by. 

The second chunk delves into Oakland post Oscar Grant and the Occupy movement, which sparked the beginning of the Pig Stars that tend to accumulate alongside a myriad of slaps. (Slaps are the tagger's name or art in sticker format, usually on postage slips if one can't print their own sticker or if one prefers to change the art up each time.) These Pig Stars in the same manner as the GATS mask/face, challenges, but in this instance it's the preconceived notion of police officers being helpful. Before, during, and after Oscar Grant's murder, then the Occupy Movement and riots that it sparked, the treatment of the people by Oakland Police was the epitome of militarization. So much so that outside forces from neighboring stations, especially from San Francisco, were called into "contain" the situation and "control" the "rioters". So the reminder over and over again that the police are not there to protect and serve the people, but to use or neglect the people, is a constant thought through the use of the Pig Star. The commentary on OPD's policies or lack of is pretty rich- the key chunk being that tagging is a felony in the happy state of California...

WARNING: THIS VIDEO DOES HAVE POLICE BRUTALITY IN IT. THE ENTIRETY OF THE EVENTS OF OSCAR GRANT'S MURDER AND CLIPS OF THE POLICE HARMING PROTESTERS OR BYSTANDERS ARE UNCENSORED. THOUGH THERE IS NO BLOOD SEEN, THERE ARE SHOTS FIRED AND VIOLENCE. SO. TRIGGER WARNING (NO PUN INTENDED). 

This third segment showcases through montage and interview the work behind successfully putting graffiti up, without getting caught. The risk factors involved varies in a myriad of ways, but the utilization of the poem in the graffiti itself is the standout feature. The fact that GATS in conjunction with his musician friend are determined to showcase that Oakland is the city of the people and that they will not let it go is not only "fucking beautiful;" rather, it emphasizes a blatant fight against gentrification, police brutality, and artistic suppression. Unlike SF where artists are quickly getting kicked out to make room for the wealthy Dot-Commers, where art is nothing more than an inherent expression of capitalism or gentrification, and where the facade of communal open mindedness is shattering, Oakland residents old and new strive to defy all of these notions. Through the locations chosen in this clips for the poem segments, especially First Friday and the gathering shown at the end, Oakland as San Francisco's other in a binary of what it claims to be versus what it truly has become is shown. Also frankly, the poem is pretty awesome. 

If any of this is TL;DR to you, then here's the final segment that's about four and a half minutes long, where GATS spoon feeds the audience exactly who he is, what he stands for, why he does what he does, how he'll face the cops when he's eventually taken down, and why his work is so crucial in this moment. 

Graffiti is supposed to say the things that no one is bothering to say because of fear or suppression by the state and federal government, which adds to it a grittier edge than that of a commissioned mural or quirky signs. Not to discredit these forms of street art, but simply to emphasize that the illegality of graffiti heightens its significance and disruption of the public sphere. It's one thing to appreciate the intricate details of Lord Nychos the Weird's commissioned fixtures throughout SF and Oakland, but it's another to know that a mysterious figure like GATS is out there in the evening, fully awake in multiple planes, trying to speak up for the impoverished, oppressed, people just like him. Oakland in juxtaposition to SF has always been the dirtier, little, tatted dumping ground of a city whose main use value is the Port of Oakland for all of the materialist goods that SF beasts cannot wait to get their claws on to consume. The glorification of SF's street art in contrast to the belittling of Oakland's stems purely from the hierarchical structure of imperialist power between the two, where Oakland comes out on bottom as a voiceless brute. In a word, GATS and his crew are the closest thing Oakland has to a laureate, one that speaks back to those in charge within the city and outside of it, with the voices and words of the people. Without the crushing force of SF and society as a whole, there would be no GATS!  

Dylan, Cohen, and Ginsberg

I had once wondered if two of the great folk poets of the 60's, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, had ever collaborated together. I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only had the two of them made a song together, but it featured Allen Ginsberg. The song appeared on Cohen's 1977 album, Death of A Ladies' Man, and is called "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On. Yes, three great poets got together and composed something, to borrow Professor Wilson's terminology, so "devious" it was practically obscene. The chorus has the three of them belting out "don't go home with your hard-on."

 The first verse runs "I was born in a beauty salon/My father was a dresser of hair/My mother was a girl you could call on." When searching for meaning in such a absurd tune, I came across a comment that suggested that the song was about the narrator's parents both being involved in brothels. The father is a pimp and the mother a prostitute, but it is veiled under the metaphor of a beauty salon. It brought to mind, to me, the concept of the subterranean that the Professor frequently discusses. The narrative of a brothel is something communicated in code, intended for a select  audience. 

I was also reminded of the overt masculinity present in the song, and its something that pervades beat literature. The authors we've read and are reading are mostly male, and call on a male legacy of writers like Walt Whitman. "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On" is such an aggressively male song, and the strain of overtly masculine themes can be found throughout the literature we read. Below are the song and lyrics. 

Don't Go Home With Your Hard On Lyrics

Intolerant Jackass Act

I’m sure all of you heard about the proposed ballot measure called the “Sodomite Suppression Act” which would, among other things, sanction the killing of gay people in California by “bullets to the head or by any other convenient method” from about a month ago. Now activist Charlotte Laws has filed for her own measure to combat McLaughlin’s ridiculous (horrific) proposition called the “Intolerant Jackass Act” and, while it mostly just targets McLaughlin, it seemed to me to be a good example of the traditional liberal, pro-queer, San Franciscan voice. It says: 

The way her measure is written sounds very San Franciscan to me—using irony and a mocking tone to comment on and bring attention to an important social issue. Its vocabulary is as formal and unforgiving as that of McLaughlin's proposition to point out just how crazy and hateful homophobes can be (this time in California, but even more so throughout the country.) We have been talking about how San Francisco is not quite as liberal as we might assume, with its military history and imperial city status, however, hearing that this was being proposed in California was still shocking to me. Obviously most people are not as extreme as this guy is, but the idea that gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed is just as blindly prejudiced and hateful in its own way. Also, we know that McLaughlin isn't alone in his beliefs... there are bound to be other people like him around the country who actually think that shooting any passing gay person in the head is a reasonable thing to do.
Anyway, even though this all happened a month ago, I thought it would be relevant to what we’ve been talking about in class because, for instance from reading the Monarchs and Queens essay in Infinite City, we see how much of a queer culture SF has and how that open-mindedness is usually thought to be a California thing. However, while California has a history of being thought of as one of the most liberal states in the country, in events like this (or with Prop 8 passing and not being lifted until 2013) it shows itself to maybe not quite as uniformly progressive as it seems (or as we may wish it was.) In talking about her proposition, Laws said “I wanted the world to see that California is a very tolerant, open-minded state and that he is a lone voice, a minority voice, and that my ‘Intolerant Jackass Act’ actually reflects the sentiments of Californians.” Generally, I would agree with her—obviously he would be a lone voice in proposing something this extreme—but I wonder if her San Franciscan-esque gay-rights activist sentiments (which we UCSC students agree with) are really as “Californian” as she believes. Regardless, her idea was brilliant and reflects something that really is San Franciscan—speaking up against prejudiced ideas about any one group of people and fighting for gay rights.

Right Wing of the Dove

Rebecca Solnit's essay on the war culture of San Francisco is an insightful look into the right wing politics and culture of the bay area. Despite popular belief, previously including mine, San Francisco's leftist, liberal, progressive culture is actually underlined by vast and long military institution practices. Solnit describes the area as being the "brain of the war machine, or perhaps its imagination" (31).
Solnit's title further describes the unmitigated importance of the bay's involvement in war. She titles it "The sinews of War are Boundless Money and the Brains of War are in the Bay Area" explaining that the research done in the area is the primary organizer of war, extending its reach and capabilities like the tentacles of an octopus (34). The reason behind this is partly because of the highly prestigious universities involved in the research of military creations for the purpose of war. Solnit gives the example of Berkely, whom has directed the "entire American nuclear weapons research program, dating from the first atom bomb" (35).
Moreover, Solnit quotes Paglen in describing the premise of the San Francisco economy as being a sort of "military Keynesianism" in which the government funds the creation of military technology, what she calls, "new possibilities for killing and controlling" (35). This is a dark paradox to the the free- thinking, progressive liberal San Francisco that is so amply advertised. San Francisco's image is further tarnished by Solnit's implication that San Francisco, seen as a dove, purely working towards a more free society, is actually a hawk, a killer much more physically capable of surviving.

A Somewhat Unrelated Post about McTeague

Although we are not reading McTeague this quarter in class, I couldn't help but think about it when thinking about S.F Literature. The naturalism of the novel really encompasses and captures S.F, and I think the novel even deals with some of the themes we have been discussing this quarter. There is definitely a disparity between the richer classes, and the poor people in the novel, and those people are localized to specific areas of the City, Polk Street, and the wealthier Grand Avenue. Anyways, after reading the novel, and found out there was a saloon named after it on Polk Street, I had to go check it out, and I thought it was a pretty cool place. It even had the Golden Tooth on the outside of the building and all.