MEDIA ROOTS — Graffiti Philosophy is a video collage illustrating sociopolitical commentary in the renegade art form of graffiti.  It traverses class warfare, suffering, consumerism and mass media indoctrination, industrial civilization’s oil addiction, exploitation by Empire, environmental consequences of fossil fuels, and the fate of humanity.

“An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” – Singer, poet and civil rights activist Nina Simone

MR

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Graffiti Philosophy

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I love how much art can illustrate about society and the world around us. Graffiti art is especially interesting to me because of the clarity it conveys in such a succinct fashion.  Also, political graffiti holds a lot of power to move people to action.  It was reported that graffiti helped spark and encourage the revolution in Syria, as well as Egypt and countries in South Asia.

“Graffiti Philosophy” is my attempt at illustrating the state of the world in which we currently live: one where an oligarchic-corporate empire has corrupted and usurped governments, destroyed worker’s rights and wages, subverted the Fourth Estate, indoctrinated the population into a mindless and superficial consumer culture, built and instituted a police/surveillance state side-by-side with the military industrial complex, and hastened the environmental destruction of the planet. 

People across the world are suffering immensely, with their livelihoods in constant jeopardy.  The well-being of communities and families is in perpetual danger and under constant threat, and the officials we continue to elect from the same corrupt two-party system, beholden to Wall Street interests, only pay lip service to their campaign promises.

From the moment in which we wake until we fall asleep, we are inundated with corporate media spin and propaganda.  It’s near impossible for the average citizen on the street to discern the truth without taking a proactive approach in searching for independent, impartial news sources.  

However, the facade seems to be breaking as more people come to the realization that their so-called democracy is only an illusion, especially in North America. They call it virtual politics in Eastern Europe.  The truth has become a fungible commodity – replaceable and changeable for whatever purpose suits the moneyed elite.  

How can civilization survive when the truth is buried and the decisions for society are based upon the delusional, self-serving beliefs of the American ruling-class?  With the continued advancement of modern technology and man’s ability to destroy humanity multiple times over, this question becomes ever more pressing. 

Written by Mike Longenecker for Media Roots

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MEDIA ROOTS- Mark Jenkins’s work with inserting the human form into settings that are jarring and unsettling- like digging through a garbage can, dead face down in a riverbank, or a suicidal girl atop a billboard,  calls into question the relationship human beings have with each other in big cities. Hundreds of people walk busily by his displays and don’t give them a second look. What does that say about our society? Nonetheless, his art is extremely provocative and fun to follow.

Winston-Salem, NC

Prato, Italy

Washington, DC

Malmö, Sweden

 Check out more at http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/