On the need for an expanded lexicon

I’ve been writing and thinking about graffiti for over five years and I’ve repeatedly run up against the failure of language to capture the nuances of the concept. Graffiti, if we believe the dictionary, refers to “writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place.”[1] This …

Broken Windows, pt. 1

Rogan Furguson of The Great Whatsit provides a nice introduction to the Broken-Window Theory, and I couldn’t pass up making a few comments. The Broken-Window theory comes from a 1982 Atlantic Monthly article by George Kelling and James Wilson—conveniently titled “Broken Windows“—and is commonly used to initiate or toughen legal penalties for graffiti writing, loitering, …

Black-Magic Stealth Funk

From the NYT, one of the best descriptions I’ve come across in a long time: Spacious, Black-Magic Stealth Funk. As, “… in Bitches Brew Revisited, a septet led by the coronetist Graham Haynes, powered by the drummer Cindy Blackman and colored by the guitarist James Blood Ulmer, jazz became whatever it was Miles Davis intended in 1969: …

MFA Thesis Exhibition, 2007

University Art Gallery, March 17 – April 14, 2007 The 2007 MFA Thesis Exhibition includes works by eight artists representing a range of styles, themes, and approaches to art-making: painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, video, and installation art all make appearances. Given the breadth of content in the exhibition, viewers might find themselves confused about …

Lorena Salcedo-Watson: ‘Morphologies’

Melvile Library Gallery, Stony Brook University, February 9 – 21, 2007 As we know, ‘morphology’ is the study of structures. Salcedo-Watson’s art is no different. The images in this show present views of the internal structure of the human body, not as seen with x-ray or other scientific or medical imaging devices, but as felt, …