Saber, "Sacred Trash" at MOCA's "Art in the Streets" exhibition
After looking at the longest list of credentials of one person I’ve ever seen—Yale, University Of Cambridge, Stanford Law, Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, contributing editor of City Journal, recipient of 2005 Bradley Prize for Outstanding Intellectual Achievement, etc, etc—I came to the conclusion that approaching Heather Mac Donald’s fortified intellect would be the equivalent of challenging the IBM Chess Terminator: cold, calculating, and absent a pulse. I find it hard to believe that someone of such high stature would spend so much energy on something that seems trivial in comparison to her passion for deportation and torture. Yet she seems really upset at the idea of a museum honoring over forty years of development in Graffiti Art.
In her lengthy article “Radical Graffiti Chic,” she refers to artists as “vandal-anarchist wannabes” and attempts to highlight their hypocrisy. She names me personally in the article, stating that I am quick to sell out to any corporate sponsor: “Saber, who declares in an interview with the graffiti journal Arrested Motion that ‘there is no room for empathy when there is a motive for profit,’ has sold his designs to Levi’s, Hyundai, and Harley-Davidson.”
In trying to paint me as a hypocrite for capitalizing on my intellectual property, Heather does not take into account that I support my family through my art. I have painted everything from sets to faux finishing to gold leafing to put food on the table or to pay for health care bills, since insurance companies have refused to cover me due to a pre-existing condition (epilepsy). Heather, who is paid to write articles, should understand the process of making money for one’s creative output, and that this is not what I was referring to in the Arrested Motion quote. I was referring to health insurance companies taking away accessible facilities from sick people in order to save a buck at the expense of the patient’s life. To compare my art to the health insurance companies is ludicrous.
Global, entrepreneurial, and interconnected, the Graffiti Art movement has created its own market and fueled many more. Hollywood and music videos have utilized graffiti style since the 1980s. It should come as no surprise that corporations have aped graffiti imagery and tactics too. After all, the visual content created by this art movement drives millions of hits in web traffic and makes hundreds of millions of dollars in streetwear clothing, publishing, photography, artist materials and spray paint. There is no need to “sell out” when you are busy building. We are an industry, run from the street rather than a boardroom.
Heather Mac Donald pontificates on an array of topics from the safe, sterile vantage point of an elitist, watching life through the eyes of a godless conservative. This verbal assassin is quick to pass judgment on an art movement that she has little understanding of.
Heather seems to view Graffiti Art as the culprit of the degradation of society, incapable or unwilling to recognize that graffiti tagging is a symptom of a bigger problem. The economic consequences of conservative policy makers, the failed War on Drugs, and the expansion of the private prison industry has left people with a sense of hopelessness. In my lifetime, parts of our country have turned into a wasteland of both private and public space. For many youths, Graffiti Art filled a void created by billions of dollars in education cuts. Arts programs go beyond the typical education structure of standardized testing and help young people to express themselves. If you eliminate that opportunity then that energy has to go elsewhere. And I’m sorry, but a two-dollar watercolor set from Walmart is not the answer. That ignorant statement is equivalent to telling kids interested in science to get Poprocks and soda to mix the two. Why not make use of dilapidated, neglected space? Why not make use of a dirty, empty lot or an abandoned train tunnel? For many young artists, Graffiti Art is an environment of aggressive competition to create (a name, a style, a masterpiece), not destroy. Why is it OK for the ad industry to assault urban landscapes with alcohol advertisements while a young person gets a felony for putting a sticker on a lamppost? Why is it OK to invest billions on the incarceration an entire generation in the private prison system yet its taboo to invest in the arts?
Heather seems to think that this art movement is based solely in the ghettos and for the glorification of illegal activity. My personal mission was never based on the “thrill” alone but on the development of an abstract art form. Many critics are under the impression that if it looks like a wild, stylized graffiti piece, then it must have been painted illegally. These complex murals often take days to complete. I get permission and have personally donated hundreds of hours in painting beautiful works in local neighborhoods. These murals stay clean and serve as graffiti abatement in spaces that are habitually tagged. Trust me, if it looks elaborate, then chances are that mural was painted with the explicit permission of the property owner.
One week before the opening of MOCA’s Art In the Streets, Graffiti Solutions, a business contracted by L.A. County, broke into private property and painted over a commissioned mural painted by several artists featured in the show. The building owner and locals alike were in an uproar. The community came together and demanded an explanation. The company had to come back the next day and pressure-wash the grey paint off the mural surface and offered to pay for the artists to repair the damage caused. I believe the city is paying private companies to censure art at the taxpayers’ expense. These companies even use attractive graffiti to promote their business. I wonder if Heather agrees with the city’s tactics? Isn’t this, not only a waste of tax money but government overstepping into the rights of private property owners as well?
The claim that L.A. County spends $30 million a year on graffiti removal is a complete fabrication and anyone who wants to be fiscally responsible should look into how that money was spent. Those numbers are inflated for political gain and change with every new press release. In 2009, the City of Los Angeles used $3.4 million of Federal Stimulus Funds to remove graffiti from the L.A. River. They said they needed that much money for hazardous-material crews to pressure wash the paint off the surface, and dam the river to collect the paint chips so none of it would end up in the water run off. Instead, they held a ribbon cutting ceremony that included the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, a pair of City council members, and the L.A. Sheriff’s department to take turns spraying white paint on the surface. Those funds should have gone to schools and rebuilding our dilapidated infrastructure, instead they hired a contractor to paint thirty miles of the L.A. River white. Adding thousands of gallons of white paint to the concrete slopes, they created an enormous, newly primed canvas. When asked how spending this money would stop people from hitting the walls again, the sheriff said, “Nothing. We’ll just give them felonies.”
It starts when a kid tags on a pole. Detectives and the police hunt down a teenager with no previous criminal record. They raid his house using SWAT tactics with the local news trailing behind them. The politician has a friendly win and prison gets another body. It costs $50,000 a year to house an inmate at the taxpayer’s expense while private prisons reap rewards for shareholders. This country spends $68 billion a year on corrections, 300 percent more than 25 years ago. These extreme measures are a waste of money and are not leading to solutions. The continuous prosecution has only helped create martyrs for the cause. I think a better solution would be to allocate a percentage of the funds used to incarcerate people and put that money towards job training programs and community improvements.
Heather shows a limited understanding of what is actually happening on the street. In searching for an extreme view of the toxicity of tagging, she interviewed people at Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles gang intervention outreach program. Sadly, a tragic story isn’t difficult to find there. If she had dug deeper she would have found that for some, graffiti is considered an alternative route away from the dead-end gang life. I doubt she was willing to stick around at Homeboy Industries long enough to find anything beyond the quotes she plucked. I’m sure none of the Homeboys would even speak to her if they knew her extreme positions on immigration.
Chicano letterforms have certainly been influential artistically (particularly in Los Angeles), but Graffiti Art has nothing to do with the territorial marking and violence of gangs. However, since the LAPD would like you to think otherwise, they came up with the derogatory term “tag-banger” to conflate the two. I don’t believe in turning my back on those kids, and I have met plenty of them that would look you straight in the eye and tell you that Graffiti Art saved their life.
“To be sure, some graffiti murals are visually striking, showing an intuitive understanding of graphic design (though their representational iconography is usually pure adolescent male wish-fulfillment, featuring drug paraphernalia, cartoon characters, T&A, space guns, and alien invaders). In theory, it might be possible to mount a show that acknowledged the occasionally compelling formal elements of wall painting without legitimating a crime. Such an exhibit would include only authorized murals, whether past or present, and would unequivocally condemn taking someone else’s property without permission. No graffiti propaganda has ever abided by such limits; the MOCA show will not, either.”
In the quote above Heather gives Graffiti Art a sprinkling of merit. But her assumption that this skill is purely intuitive reveals how little she understands. Far from “infantile solipsism,” the skills of artists in a crew are developed through mentoring. I am a strong believer in the idea that you get out of life what you put into it. I want to be recognized as an artist based on the merit of my art. When I was younger I wasn’t able to grasp the consequences of every action. While I would never take back any of my experiences, I feel I have learned important lessons over time. Ultimately, Graffiti Art has led me to a positive place. I believe that most of the artists in MOCA’s Art In The Streets have contributed to its development with hard work and artistic integrity. The grossly exaggerated cry of “increased vandalism” during the show never materialized and the surrounding businesses are reaping the financial benefits of the throngs of people attending the museum to see the show, which is set to break museum attendance records.
Heather, your battle cry is too late. The Art In The Streets show at MOCA is a huge success. The people have spoken. The museum has been packed since day one and it is clear this is only the beginning. In the future, I will be celebrating with my peers in the great halls of museums worldwide while you will be hunched over your computer concocting your next witches’ brew.
“In atmosphere of liberty, artists and patrons are free to think the unthinkable and create the audacious; they are free to make both horrendous mistakes and glorious celebrations.” (Ronald Reagan – Farewell Address, Jan. 1989)
Wow! I guess this blog is 3 years old now, but I’ve actually just discovered it. Beautifully articulated post! Thanks for discussing some of the mysteries of the “clean up money.” And quite a career. Your list of credentials may be different than MacDonald’s, but not really shorter. Bravo!
Fuck Ronald reagan!!!
A friend sent me a link to this before, you touched on some good points, the part about the clean up money was good.
utterly epic.
Bravo on a job well done! Nothing More Nothing Less.
right on point SABER…tell it like it is. It’s crazy to think that we can pull words out of reagan to support the plight of the people BUT hey, they’ve been doin’ the same thing to true human rights and justice fighters for so long…
Let me begin by saying, I’ve been involved in the grafitti art movement over half my life. And during that time your work has exemplified the highest level of this art form. As a man who started his grafitti career from humble beginnings, in a small town without a large urban influence, I saw your works as a shining light of inspiration. I, too, began as a tagger and then evolved to bomber, piecer and finally elevated my aspirations to include fine art. Though, I still hit the streets in reverance of the first time I picked up a spray can and discovered what I was meant to do. Every step of my path has been inundated with the inspiration you have given me. The trail you have blazed in the grafitti, from your murals to your fine art, I am continuously amazed by the profound images you create. Viewing your works elevates me to push my art further and challenge myself, so I thank you……..as for the article, I agree with your rebuttal to her ignorant attack. Her disrepectful position is borne out of her ignorance of grafitti culture. The fact that she clearly did not take the time to research the subject only mirrors the elitist nature of the critical fine art community. What is ironic and uplifting is that grafitti’s perserverance and success of the shows only illuminates the inaccuracy of these critiques’ heavily subjective and uneducated opinions. Meanwhile, if, we, as artists, choose to sell our own work we are labeled as hypocrits? I too, am a working father, supporting a household. And I do anything in my power to provide the best life possible for my family. And if that means selling my art, that is far from hypocrisy, its the american dream. To make money from your labor of love. She is merely grasping at straws with that comment, in a half baked attempt to discreditthe artists who are fueling the explosion of the grafitti art movement. Furthermore, why does she conveniantly dismiss the abundance of billboard advertising, those black eyes on the landscape, cluttering the highways with product being forced down our throats? Those, of course, are acceptable because they symbolize american greed, the corporate structure (corporations that own the publications she works for), false promises of fueling the economy, ans satiate the publics lust for materialism. Meanwhile, grafitti, true artwork, created by those so devoted to our craft that we risk, literally, life, limb, and incarceration, for the opportunity to showcase our work and bring color to the grey, urban landscape, get labeled as vandals. There is your hypocrisy, heather. Apparently as long as it turns a buck or sells a product, its deemed acceptable and legal to plaster the walls with it. In closing, I just want to say again how much your words and work has enlivened me to put my heart and soul into my own art, which has in turn given me an outlet for all the pain and struggle I have faced in my life. When I had nothing else, I could still paint on walls and have the work of prolific artists like yourself, to look up to. It has been great pleasure to witness the explosion of the grafitti art movement as it refashions the modern art world. To see the work I have admired my whole life, finally presented with the dignity it deserves is amazing. Finally these dramatic representations of urban expression are being showcased on a level as dignified as the artists who create them. So once again, thank you for blazing that trail and inspiring me…your work motivates me to pick up a paint can. Grafitti has truly saved my life.
Bravo Saber…. these are strange times for sure.
Feeding your family is cool. But speaking out against social ills rooted in corporations only to work for big companies that treat their employees like dirt kills the message. That is the problem people have. I’ve read Shepard Fairey use the same excuse. Right now he is on a big anti oil company kick and has spoke in support of workers rights. But then he has a history of working for Saks Fifth Avenue and other big companies that do all they can to strike unions down. It just does not add up. Trail blazers? I respect what Saber and others have accomplished but people really need to pick up a few art history books. That trail was blazed in the 80′s by SAMO and a handful of others. They had their faults but they did not do work for corporations either. You can feed your family without selling out big business and killing your message in the process. You gotta also show some respect to minority communities who embraced this art long before whites did. The MOCA exhibit was almost entirely represented by white artists. That don’t add up and you know it!!!
You are right saying that artists should not get felonies. But you know Daddy Obama just signed the Patriot Act again and at the rate crap is going artists will be hit with civil terrorism. Freaky.
Saber, this is an amazing piece of writing. I wish I could make everyone I know read this.
Thank you.
Extremely well written. Also, Ball-Gag – White boys were writing on the trains in 1972. (In the Bronx and Queens IZ the Wiz, Billy, Tracy168) I started doing it in 1977…It wasn’t just the minorities that decided to get up. Shepard Fairey is a STREET artist, not a graffiti artist. Sorry, you can slap up as many posters as you like, if you havent done a full car top-to-bottom, ran from cops in the layups or ghost yard, then you aren’t a graffiti writer. Don’t choose him as a representative of that MOCA show. Peace. ~PYTHON~TC5|BAD|TMB~
well written my man- i am really glad you took the time to
respond with a well articulated, critically thought out response
to all that wishwash. Congratulations! looking forward to crossing
paths again soon. peace-pablo
Saber, Well written response. I think you have to be realistic. When a man has to feed his family , he has to follow the money. And if you’re living in this reality the only money on the streets is in the hands of dealers. These are not the people you wanna work for. You have to remember, we are just artist. The myth of the famous artist whose work is collected by huge patrons and they live this fabulously free life painting all day is fiction. This is a myth created in the last century. In reality most of the famous artist of the past were patronized by the monarchs and aristocracy. Today they are the corporations. If Saber sat around waiting for the homies to buy enough work to feed his family and pay the doctor bills he would starve. You really don’t know what it takes to live as an artist (especially with a family). It aint easy. And that’s reality. Keep puttin in that work and food on the table. Respect brother!!!
Did the “art show ” have an elephant on the way to the gift shop?
well written, dope
Goddamn that sums it up doesn’t it.
[...] Also worth the read is Saber’s response the Heather Mac Donald, titled THE DEVIL WEARS A PINK SUIT: A RESPONSE TO “RADICAL GRAFFITI CHIC” [...]
Saber, telling it like it is…props!
Great post Saber!!!!!
Saber- Thank you for being an articulate and humble role model for myself and other graffiti writers. Trust me when I say that it does not got unnapreciated or unnoticed. Much respect.
Stand proud that you are at the forefront of a movement that provokes enough controversy to cause such a stereotypical – suface level response. Let the critics have there cleverly put words fore thats what they do they write … you have your art thats what you do you make art!
a great read ‘The Painted Word’ by Tom Wolfe
http://www.tomwolfe.com/PaintedWord.html
Great article from an great artist! ;D
Classic Material. She probably expected an ignorant response if nothing at all. let us know if she replies.
I’ll take Mac Donald’s moral outrage more seriously when, for example, she condemns the British Museum for its continued possession of the Elgin Marbles. How about a little outrage over how looting other people’s cultural heritage has long been bread and butter for the major museums of Europe and America.
http://new-savanna.blogspot.com/2011/06/crime-in-museum-from-antiquites-to.html
[...] the first time because of it. SABER, a well-known LA-based graffiti artist, speaks his opinion in a thoughtfully crafted essay in response to the criticism surrounding the exhibit: “The grossly exaggerated cry of [...]
It’s not art until the check clears. – Andy Warhol
[...] life. To compare my art to the health insurance companies is ludicrous…. full essay here. Share on [...]
great response SABER. That misquotation of you on her part was so absurdly taken out of context she could have a future with fox news. Thanks for taking the time to write so eloquently about what I think is exactly on a lot of our minds.
[...] Also check out this post via Saber Blog highlighting the LA Street Art controversy. [...]
damn, its good to see someone taking an intelligent stand on the validity and importance of graffiti in the lives of many people, all over the world. i want a mentor, and i want to get up! spread the art form that all of us hold so dear. btw, SABERs work is some of the illest shit around, hands down.
Hello just thought i would certainly let you know something.. It is twice now i have landed on your website within the last 3 days hunting for totally unrelated things. Spooky or what?
Are there any sneaker boutiques or streetwear shops in Kansas City?
Howdy! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this post to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
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Murder can be done many ways. The most legal kind of murder that large government or powerful entities try to achieve without getting blood on their hands is cutting off funds to a particular population, or spending funds on another cause that is not in human kind’s favor. Cutting funds or even reducing funds would result in food shortages, health care shortages, and in some cases military funding. There is a lot of this happening in America with the funding of gay marriage when it could be going to the poor, to better health care, and to the economy. But for some reason we have billions of dollars to spend on gay campaigns, in the court processes to push gay rights, and to spend on those who parade for it. One would think if we had enough to spend on the extra that people want, we would have all of our other problems solved first. But there is a greed in America that tells us we should go for our perverted desires before helping someone in need. At the time we were funding billions into gay marriage, there were talks in the white house of cutting funds to the military while our children were overseas in the desert fighting and being shot at. How is it possible that a government body overlooks the needs of the very ones taking bullets for us and talk about legalizing gay marriage at the same time. When our wounded vet comes home broken and beaten, are we really going to tell them, hey sorry about the budget cut to better armor technology to protect you and your allies on the field, but we have at least legalized gay marriage in your absence? And here in the news we see sick children who do not have the money to receive emergency life saving medical treatment, but we sure do have enough to make sure we have sponge bob inflated for the next gay rights parade in Chicago. This is what America does with their money? And when we go off to work and look behind our backs our teenagers are in bed together because its ok for homosexuals to be together under special protection rights? Is gay pride above and beyond the needs of fellow Americans? Dont ever wonder why the USA is in poverty. Its not just homosexuals groups that are doing this corruption to America. There are also heterosexual snakes who have homosexual fantasies that push the same Agenda. Yes, those that are heterosexually married but say there is nothing wrong with homosexual marriage. They feel if they had another chance or if gay rights were largely accepted they would go the path of being homosexual. We have not overlooked those individuals. This is not a comic book story where a hero with a mask will come named V for Vendetta and set homosexuals free. This is a real story about robbing those in need by redirecting funds to a radical group whose perversion is out of control. The real Mr. Creedy is the one wearing the mask who calls himself V. We need to wake up and stop pretending “its ok”. Why should we look to idols and figures who do wear masks, not just V, but our politicians and law makers. The issue is not about religion, it is about spending. Stop blaming religion and Christians and Catholics and everyone else who doesn’t support gay marriage. The more you blame the more you’re lame. Is it too late to turn money around and do the right thing for people? Is it too late to stop fantasizing about what is wrong and start helping out our fellow brothers and sisters in need? You still have time.
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