Chandrea Lack

June 9, 2017

Success In the Graffiti Run

In my first blog post, I have talked about the problems that graffiti brought to our community and how it shouldn’t be considered vandalism by the age groups of 12 to 19. They do it to express how they feel in a manner where it is shown to themselves and it brings some of them names and fame, but the fame comes after being heard, you do that big change or that big thing then you get heard. For my second blog post I explained the detailed areas of why graffiti was not considered art from a law’s point of view and it showed that the police were to assume whoever carried a can of spray paint was vandalizing property which I thought was very immature of them to just start assuming. Graffiti is art like any other form of art. It shouldn’t be outlawed because it’s a release of feelings, the rebellious teen spirit. Graffiti has messages in them too they express you.

My experience doing this event drove me into learning so many things. I learned how to manage my time well and give people time to show up, when to order the food, how long each of the activity we were going to play for and when we were going to leave. I also learned how to create a decent poster people would look at to come to my event.

The poster was spread all through social media and was known to some students but some could not make it.

For my “Agent of Change” it consisted of hosting a “Graffiti Run”. The run was held at a park in South Philly called FDR park (Franklin Delano Roosevelt). The area that we went to was a field beside a skatepark with a ton of graffiti art which stood out while I hosted the activities.  Involved in this run were freshmen from SLA coming out to support my project. Around 20 others showed up to the graffiti run. This event wouldn’t be made possible if I didn’t have my helpers. They didn’t just help support the run but also helped set up a lot of the equipment. During the graffiti run, I gave out food, drinks, and colored powder. The food and drinks were to help the students if they needed a small boost or a little more energy after the running and activities and the colored powder was just to make the theme interesting. Those who came also brought some stuff of their own to support the idea of just having fun and expressing how they felt like how the walls of the skatepark felt with all of the drawings on the walls they were supportive as they brought a football, frisbee, volleyball, basketball, and skateboards. The day overall was very fun to host but also stressful but I was happy to hear back that everyone had a good time and that it was hosted very well.  

Graffiti is widely known, but where? Where do you see any types of graffiti? Does this hurt you in any way? Where do you specifically see it in the suburbs or urban areas? These questions were answered in my last blog post and if you have not read it, then get caught up now and get the scoops on what’s happening everyday in the heart of Philadelphia and other areas. In my first blog post I had discussed the realities of living in a community where graffiti is considered vandalism. In some ways it is considered vandalism, but the looks of it being vandalism is only on private property, when someone writes on someone else’s belongings. Read on to find out more about Graffiti and the gateways of it being “vandalism”.

"No person shall carry an aerosol spray paint can...with intent to violate the current (graffiti) laws in place". This quote is from the current graffiti laws in New York which somewhat implies in the city of Philadelphia also. The article also talks about the police having to assume anyone carrying a spray paint bottle is convicted of committing a crime, which is violating private and public walls.

For our “You and the World” project, we were to decide which of the following to choose from. My choice was a survey. 50 out of 50 people took my survey and answered from their point of view and opinion. They all had a say and they all said mainly the same things.

If you had read my first blog post that I had written it focused on some of the problems of graffiti. My idea for my agent of change was to host a graffiti run and some of my ideas for the graffiti run was just the vibe that graffiti gave off. I had also made a survey for people to fill out.

About 50 people took my survey (I took a picture of this graph before I had 50 responses).  

Chandrea Lack, Rasa Watson, Madison Siegel, Simon V.

June 5, 2017

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The video that we created is a movie trailer for TPBW (The Perks of Being a Wallflower.) We decided to work as a team to create a different movie trailer than the one that was already made. Our first pick was going to recreate a scene but then we had a lot to pick from so instead we did the movie trailer. During the trailer we found a lot of cool spots around the school to film at. The tunnel scene where Charlie looks at Sam some type of way when she goes to stick her head up and let the wind blow through her hair, was a scene that we got to shoot at the back stairways and the the lighting there matched perfectly with our scene.   

We also picked these scenes because they were an important part of the book where Charlie faces tough times and how life is in high school. He also goes through drug phases and romance scenes. This trailer sums up the book in a lot of ways and shows how Charlie’s life is put together in a thrilling and heartwarming way. Our group got to sit together and think about the key points during the book and that is how we made our movie trailer.

Hi, my name is Chandrea Lack and for my English project, I will be focusing on the topic of graffiti. Have you ever thought about how the writings on the walls got there? How did such a blank and empty space get crowded with so much emotion and images that people go to look at and take pictures at? Everything on the walls of Philly has a purpose, what started all of these murals you see on building walls or abandoned houses all started with graffiti. Graffiti is a common form of art (in some eyes) that is considered vandalism. This is because the government claims that these graffiti artists are drawing on private property. The amount of respect for graffiti is looked down upon specifically because it’s considered vandalism and the destroying of property homes. Graffiti is created by children and adults from the age of 12- 19. The murals you see all over Philly and if not other places out the of state too, there are murals on the walls and they are inspired by the smallest bit of graffiti as said in this video. In the first half of the video, it explains how graffiti that was drawn on poles, in cities, or anywhere available. This kind of graffiti was then claimed to be destruction and the graffiti artists were soon told that they would not be able to vandalize property but instead draw murals.

The general reason why this topic is important to me is because the thought of art always stuck with me. I always saw anything with color and a unique creation was special to me and growing up with art teachers and them teaching us how to draw simple things like lines and circles were always helpful for me. It helped me see the world as just something more than a big ball of creation, but also art. Graffiti is also meaningful to me because some people make a living off of this, there are some graffiti programs that let people write on walls so that they are displayed to the public. A site that displays some form of graffiti is the Graffiti Pier. I think it’s important if more people knew about this because it’s something you don’t see everyday since most of the graffiti that are written on either public or private walls are being erased by city workers, people who like art or enjoy the sights of it should consider looking at graffiti. Street art can also be a way for people to express their feelings and thoughts on nonliving things such as walls or poles, but can’t be expressed in front of anyone else. That could also be a problem because the more we know about the people who might want to hurt themselves is another life that’s lost.

The problem with this is that not many people agree with this, because the government says it is vandalism, we all assume that graffiti is vandalism. Public property that is not used stays untouched. While the government could be worrying about building more hospitals or offices for people to work in, they leave these abandoned homes untouched. These abandoned homes can also help homeless people. Most graffiti artists can tell which is private and public property, the most you see of these writings on the walls are under the bridges of Philly, on abandoned walls, near the Philadelphia Zoo, and under the bridges of the schuylkill river. Instead of having to look at plain brown rust, these visual artists are doing their community a favor by showing their talent and skill. The small things like that can lead into bigger things like murals. These murals are inspiration, creations made from something simple, something that uses a limited amount of colors, lines, and other shapes, but they aren’t considered vandalism. Plus they are seen on walls of homes and buildings but then graffiti can’t be drawn on abandoned bridges?

For more information on the topic “Is Graffiti Really Vandalism?” you can look into my research. If you are also interested in looking at more links to find these artists there are also some provided here.

Printmaking is important and easy to make. The history of printmaking starts with a block some carvings and it produces many of the same copy. It’s art with a hint of a beautiful meaning and it’s easy to make around the house. Printmaking is important because it makes copying easier, it takes a small amount of time to make many types of art, it even evolved throughout history and now printmaking saves people time and effort and it’s easy for us to get copies of homework to do every night. People back then used wood, rubber, and stone, they also used ink to outline their image or text and they had to press it on paper. It evolved from Europe to China to the west, books and tests were printed easier for money, and Chinese people would print charms for lucky beliefs. The art that I chose conducted with dark and light lines, there is space between the person, the buildings, and the tree branches. I notice the contrast and how this specific art is divided between dark at the top and light at the bottom makes this a very interesting form of printmaking. I wonder why the artist had to add the person to the picture too instead of keep it an empty space between the two sides of the building. What if the artist didn't add any living form in there?

Chandrea Lack

December 8, 2016

How I Made My Slides

I created my slides by looking over all of my pictures from previous years and just pictures that describe who I am. In my Me Magazine I presented and talked a lot about my friends, family, and music and I am glad to be sharing these pictures in front of my classmates. During my design process I thought it would be cool to add pictures to show the timeline of my  ME MAGAZINE.  I decided to look through my phone and put the pictures from years in the past and graduation into my slide. Some of the pictures reflect on the things that I like to do such as sports and listening to music. Some of the sports that I play are soccer, volleyball, football, and basketball.  The different types of music that i listen to are bands (Green Day, Panic at the Disco, etc.)  I listen to rap, hip hop, and other genres of music. This slide also shows my friends and how we always stick together from thick and thin and how we always have each others backs. The 2 best friends that have been with me are Alina and Christina. I have known Alina since 4th grade and my other closest friend is Christina  who I have known since 2nd grade. We love each other and consider each other as sisters. I hope that you liked my slide that I had created and the creativity that I have added.