~FREEDOM OF SPEEECH, R.I.P.
FILE UNDER: BLU GETS BUFFED at MOCA, LOS ANGELES.
I had to think long and hard about this one. esp out of respect for NYC’s own SURE, a 24 yr.old Brooklyn-bred street sticker bomber who was recently killed while on a tour of duty as an Intelligence Officer for the United States Marine Corps in Afghanistan.
(see post – DEC 2010).
My hard-won conclusion is that MOCA, JEFFREY DEITCH & most likely ELI BROAD and all the other small-minded ‘officials’ in Los Angeles – got it all wrong. period.
This mural by BLU was not an insult to any military group, and particularly not to any veterans. This mural was a mark of respect for those who serve our country – it said: YOU BETTER MAKE SURE THESE BOYS AREN’T GETTING KILLED FOR CRASS COMMERCIAL REASONS.
it ensured a dialog to that point and any dialog to that point – that focuses on the men and women who go off to fight our wars and the fact that they do come back dead in coffins – should be supported, discussed, debated and lauded – not whitewashed.
the fact that the cultural and political skin is so thin – esp it seems in L.A. – makes one wonder – just how close to home – this mural – really was.
R.I.P. L.A. – R.I.P. MOCA.
watch: BYE BYE BLU – MURAL CENSORED BY MOCA, LOS ANGELES – by JetSetGraffiti/YouTube
check out: JetSetGraffiti.com
the best photos and commentary are on: UNURTH STREET ART
from which this sampling is taken:
BLU GETS BUFFED @ MOCA, Los Angeles
PHOTO COURTESY: UNURTH
PHOTO COURTESY: UNURTH
which also posted the official MOCA response:
and, where UNURTH – also posted the absolute bottom-line conclusion & last word:
“To me, this is a terrible explanation. The concept that street art and graffiti must be ‘appropriate’, to the point of not making political statements, is absurd and contrary to the history of the medium. In this context, I doubt the ‘Art on the Streets’ show will be appropriate to its title.”
so . . .
R.I.P. – JEFFREY DEITCH – guess the transition to L.A. from NEW YORK – isn’t working out so well for ya. anybody really surprised. not.
you are either too fake for the place, or the place is too fake for you. go figure – you should have been better able to play – this out. though I do give you credit for putting the mural up in the first place.
as for showing street art in the highly commercial institutional blue chip wanna make money museum art world – always an iffy idea, (didn’t they arrest SHEPARD FAIREY at the opening of his Chicago show ?) – like, we like to say in NYC . . .
if the heat’s too hot – stay out of the kitchen (where the real artists be . . . )
DEDICATED TO SURE.