a) I am interested in delving into the street culture of San Francisco through the graffiti and other mural-esque art throughout the city. I was extremely intrigued by the “Street Subversion” section in Reclaiming San Francisco and wanted to augment my essay with actual pictures of the art in question. I feel that this will, in turn, expose the culture of the city through the eyes of the artist and the subterranean.
b) I think that the essence of San Francisco lies in this “street culture” and thus I would be exploring the urban relationship to art and what it means on a greater more politicized scale.
c) I will be collecting photographs or images of particular pieces in order to visual represent what I am textually describing. I would be incorporating Reclaiming San Francisco but also I plan on extended my research on graffiti itself. Possibly by including its role in political, economic, and social commentary. Or more specifically how in some cases acts as a visual satire, to transform the established pedagogy of the institution.
d) My thesis I would have to say is indeed “in the working” but respectively I will be claiming a type of necessity in terms of graffiti art and the urban scene. Or quite possibly how graffiti or city art manages to speak for and define urban culture in many ways.
e) Alright, I quite conceivable see a couple issues arise when I brainstorm this project. I can see this topic being a slightly mundane in the sense that talking about graffiti art for 10 pages could get repetitious unless I incorporate a broader perspective. I think by approaching it as almost a subversive urban movement I would be able to discuss a lot of the political and social ramifications, which would give my overall argument more girth.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
To be a Dharma Bum...
Questions: Did many ‘Beats’ have such religious struggles?
After reading Jack Kerouac’s Dharma Bums I find myself in a wake on conflicting emotions, evoked by the powerful images and strong religious undertones found in the text. The title itself is extremely revealing. It acts like an embodiment of beatitude, itself, Dharma meaning a universal truth or righteous duty and then bum, a contrasting idea of the down and out, someone on the fringe of society. “Bums” are not confined by the boundaries of society or the city, they are transient and can pass freely with nothing holding them back or keeping them in any one place. The two images merge to create a vision for the reader of possible spiritual medians, released from the suffering of attachment, able to recede into the wilderness on a pilgrimage to Buddha. This is especially apparent when he says: “But then I really believed in the reality of charity and kindness and humility and zeal and neutral tranquility and wisdom and ecstasy, and I believed that I was an oldtime bhiku in modern clothes wandering the world…in order to turn the wheel of the True Meaning or Dharma, and gain future Hero in Paradise” (5). The first time I read this it’s meaning didn’t really resonate, but going back through I was able to extract much more philosophical significance. It is as though Kerouac himself can see the convergence of both the beat movement and values with the Buddhist faith and the Dharma.
In many ways Kerouac’s Dharma Bums is about Ray Smith’s coming into the Buddhist way of life, but on a much deeper level in depicts a series of struggles or a duality of ideals; whether it is the conflicting aspects of Catholicism and Buddhism or the wilderness opposed to the city. In a way his concerns and fears capitalize on those of the era in question.
After reading Jack Kerouac’s Dharma Bums I find myself in a wake on conflicting emotions, evoked by the powerful images and strong religious undertones found in the text. The title itself is extremely revealing. It acts like an embodiment of beatitude, itself, Dharma meaning a universal truth or righteous duty and then bum, a contrasting idea of the down and out, someone on the fringe of society. “Bums” are not confined by the boundaries of society or the city, they are transient and can pass freely with nothing holding them back or keeping them in any one place. The two images merge to create a vision for the reader of possible spiritual medians, released from the suffering of attachment, able to recede into the wilderness on a pilgrimage to Buddha. This is especially apparent when he says: “But then I really believed in the reality of charity and kindness and humility and zeal and neutral tranquility and wisdom and ecstasy, and I believed that I was an oldtime bhiku in modern clothes wandering the world…in order to turn the wheel of the True Meaning or Dharma, and gain future Hero in Paradise” (5). The first time I read this it’s meaning didn’t really resonate, but going back through I was able to extract much more philosophical significance. It is as though Kerouac himself can see the convergence of both the beat movement and values with the Buddhist faith and the Dharma.
In many ways Kerouac’s Dharma Bums is about Ray Smith’s coming into the Buddhist way of life, but on a much deeper level in depicts a series of struggles or a duality of ideals; whether it is the conflicting aspects of Catholicism and Buddhism or the wilderness opposed to the city. In a way his concerns and fears capitalize on those of the era in question.
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