This short clip talks about how a gang member tattooed a scene of a murder on his chest. More importantly, we can see how the criminal represents a connection between crime and art in a way that is unlike typical art/crime connections. For example, the tattoo on his chest is
The song “Killing an Arab” by The Cure exemplifies the convergence of art and crime. The song elicits outrage and anger, especially post 9-11 and the hatred directed towards those of Middle Eastern descent. However, the story is not an expression of hatred (or a suggestion to kill an Arab),
I attended the Prison Creative Arts Project 17th Annual Prisoner Art Show in Michigan in March of 2012 and purchased the “Mouse House,” created by inmate E. Ellis, Jr. The structure itself is accompanied by a set of typed instructions, which dictate how to uncover the secret bait bucket in
Dylan Mayer, an art student at Green River Community College, was assigned the task of drawing from nature. Like any respectable art student, Mayer placed further challenges on himself, stating, “I thought, ‘How about something underwater?’ “ Mayer purchased a day permit and entered a popular dive site in West
Sometimes the shadow space where art and crime overlap is not money, not fame, but a vision. At least this is what Mark Patterson contends. His crime of installing the Surfing Madonna- a glass mosaic- under a train overpass in Encinitas was not motivated by senility or the search for
In the 1970s, blockbuster movies in the United States helped fuel the perception that killing society’s worst criminals was a heroic act made necessary by a legal system with loopholes that allowed them to evade punishment. Movies like “Dirty Harry” and “Death Wish” featured white men who, fed up with
The Norwegian band Mayhem is usually credited as the most important second wave ‘black metal’ band. This is partly because their sound was innovative but mostly because the lead singer (known as ‘Dead’) killed himself and the guitar player (‘Euronymous’) was murdered by a rival in the scene (‘Count Grishnackh’
Another sort of protest song by the jazz greats Les McCann and Eddie Harris which in 1969, could have been considered treason. A crime which was perpetrated not by the performers, but by the one who wrote the song – the late Eugene McDaniels. Here’s an excerpt: I love the
Delivery is everything, especially in language and art. Nuance, tone, cadence and an all-out verbal assault is primordial if you’re French rapper (born Cameroon) MC Jean Gab’1. Charles M’Bouss (his real name), chose the MC moniker from watching 1960’s and 70’s French cinema and in particular from Jean Gabin, one
I have no doubt that this will be the first of many, many posts on the complexity of graffiti. In La Mesa, CA, where I live, the act of making graffiti is unlawful, as is possession on public property of anything deemed an instrument of graffiti (spray paint, oversized markers,