One of my favorite talks is, “Did Russia have Hip Hop before us?”
(I will focus on trains for this post)
I share archival works by the Agit- Prop movement (1920) and @leequinones who throughout the 1970s-80s painted some of the most celebrated trains in graffiti history. Pinning it with recently wrapped trains by FIFA for the World Cup.
✨We Weren’t the First!✨
The Agit- Prop movement originated in Soviet Russia in 1920 with the establishment of the Communist Party’s Department of Agitation and Propaganda.
It was used to control ideological thinking, shape public opinion, and mobilize the masses through posters, theater, and traveling propaganda trains. (wiki)
Some 50 plus years later Lee would go on to paint his most ambitious and influential trains that would serve as a calling to youth like myself to take up arms against a system with nothing more than markers and a spray can.
Lee found the perfect platform on the train surfaces for his art and took advantage of its vast network and daily viewership. For many a revulsion but to us writers it was a revolutionary act, his message was clear- make more of your name and the medium- make a damn statement!
The wrapped trains surprised me in how they felt Agit-Prop more than graffiti. I suppose we can call it Agit- Profit. While decorative it still clearly registers as political power and nation branding.
The thread is there for consideration or rebuttal.
#agitprop #subwayart #arthistory #leetf5 #leequinones
9 hours agodwelroy1
I want to know about the artist who did that train in USSR. Look at the top of slide 8.... It looks like bubbles with 3d and a shell... In the 20s
3 days ago_sw5l__
Is there any recordings of your lectures available? I can’t think of a better spokesperson for a graffiti TED talk. @tedx_official
3 days agodaniel_manning_pope
I’ve lectured on this as well in terms of graffiti and early Soviet aesthetics. Can you imagine living in Siberia in 1920, and a train comes down the track covered in agitprop and then you get to step inside and watch a moving picture show for the first time? Truly incredible.
3 days agolurayfield
Prior to BLACKROCK: Hip Hop was not propaganda. A Culture propagated, but Not propaganda. Hip Hop’s origin was not to disseminate misinformation.
3 days agocuttybang415
Trains painted of commissioned by an official body, committee, campaign, or otherwise with the consent of the train company is not the same as a single person painting trains as an outlaw, and outside a cohesive message.
3 days agomatthewzaremba
The wrapped trains are corporate advertisements. Nothing new. Well executed aesthetically, but nothing new.
4 days agohitzerot_
Didn't this topic (and the same shots?) has been presented years ago at the @thetagconference? Maybe @javierabarca.es can help out with information.
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