“Five-points,” as it is known to grafitti artists around the world, is a large factory in Long Island City where it is legal to spray paint the walls. The owners of the factory allow artists to paint the walls as long as they seek permission first. The building, which fills an entire square block is covered from the ground up mostly in “wild style” grafitti – much different from NoLa Rising’s more mural-like Aztec inspired work, something Mike was initially nervous about. Mike, two other artists from New Orleans, the executive director of NoLa Rising and a photographer ventured out to Queens to tackle a large estimated 10 by 10 foot wall with spray paint cans and a ladder. I met them there while they were scouring the large dumpsters outside of the clothing factory for some left over fabric to use as scarves.
Around 3 p.m. the man who was in charge of allotting painting space led the crew to the wall they’d spend the next five hours covering with what Mike later considered his best street work ever. By 8:30 Mike and the other artists finally finished and they headed back to Manhattan for some tourist activities. Check out a picture of the final product below.
The day before, I met Mike and his fellow artists in Brooklyn at one of their friends’ house where they covered the back wall of the apartment with a depiction of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. The fumes of the paint and standing in the cold gave me a bad cold but the time spent getting to know the artists was worth it. Having spent time in New Orleans and falling in love with the city myself it felt great to be with people who, I felt, really represented the city’s unique, artistic and relaxed attitude about life. Below: NoLa Rising graffiti in Brooklyn
December 4, 2008. Uncategorized. .
Last weekend I spent three days with Mike “Rex” Dingler and his cohorts while they held a
NoLa Rising festival in an art center on Christopher Street and spray painted some walls in Brooklyn and Queens. Mike is a street artist from New Orleans who started NoLa Rising after Hurricane Katrina as a campaign to raise awareness about New Orleans and its art, and about the need to bring art back into the city’s schools, many which have cut all funding for music and the arts.
Mike lost half of his life after Katrina, suffered from depression, and ended up in a divorce. Art was what helped lift his spirits. He has a very unique and sarcastic sense of humor, and until I nailed him down in a serious conversation, everything was a joke – the kind of jokes that provoke a witty banter but that sometimes you don’t know how to react to. Once he started talking and when he was working I could tell he takes NoLa Rising and his art very seriously.
NoLa Rising began two years ago when Mike started painting pieces of wood with colorful, inspirational messages, like Grateful Dead quotes or just “smile,” “laugh,” etc., and posting them to telephone poles around New Orleans. He found that cheering people up with his art made him feel happier so he started holding “paint parties,” where anyone could come to his apartment, paint for free, and then distribute their work around the city. He doesn’t make any profit from NoLa Rising and uses the little money he raises to buy paint supplies for paint parties and to create art. He explained his day job vaguely as having something to do with working on a ship on the Mississippi, “like Mark Twain.”
I realized after my first day at the festival that Mike’s work is a perfect example of connecting people without the use of technology. No matter what end of the digital divide people may be on, they can still create art and share it with each other. So I decided I am going to end my semester long project on an optimistic, uplifting note and show that with or without technology there are still ways to stay connected, and in some circumstances in more meaningful ways, through projects like NoLa Rising. Plus, paint and art is much more visually appealing than computer parts and white-walled offices.
A slide-show and video on the festival and Mike’s work soon to come…
December 4, 2008. Uncategorized. .
