Living and transmitting the exciting times

Yesterday we filmed out at the extreme edge of Buenos Aires, along Calle Donado, a broad boulevard whose edges sparkle with fifteen blocks worth of graffiti – the BA hall of fame for graffiti artists. Sun on concrete and grass underfoot, the tak-tak-tak-sssshhhhhh-sshhhh of spraycans being shaken and sprayed, cold beer on thirsty throats, and generous artistic collaboration all around. Roma and Poeta’s masterpiece, with Shooter at the helm on our side:

And some more graf on the side, these by Wadaki (in photo) and yours truly (my first try):

Though that’s actually sideways (but better thusly, yes? gotta love the fallen stairs). But it wasn’t all fun and games… I also worked on my flying skills for the next narrative film, which we’d like to do without special effects. Check it out:


Graffiti strikes me as the perfect topic for a documentary that will in all likelihood be available for free on the internet. Street art, with every free public act of spreading the word/image/sound of choice, proposes a way of creating and sharing art that is generous (how many even make a living?), inclusive (how many art galleries are inviting to all?), eclectic (how many genres of painting on Calle Donado? Yo no lo sé), and open to change (how often does graffiti get covered immediately?).

I realized recently that up till now I had been working on these projects while being carried almost entirely by the flow of the process - never really reflecting on exactly what effect I was hoping to have. So, following my perception of public art’s ethos, I think I’ll explore: what’s the point? So what follows here is a list of ideals that correspond to my still-forming vision of how my work could best impact the world (granted, this may be a shooting-for-the-stars-to-hit-the-moon sort of thing). This should be read more as invocation and aspiration than as claim that I - much less the entire group of Global Transmission – currently embody these ideals:
I create not for personal gain (though I should sustain my work and myself healthily), and generosity of spirit guides all of my work: I share the stories of the world with the world, especially those stories whispered or shouted by voices that have been silenced or marginalized.
I include the ideas, values, and needs of my subjects and collaborators in my work’s form and content: my work aims at informing, inspiring, and moving not only those in San Francisco, but also those in Cochabamba.
I draw from the diverse strengths of all the people and places that I work with: I shoot for the rarely represented and therefore enrich the plethora of multifaceted jewels in the treasure trove of alternative media – and this diversity is vital to deep knowledge, and through knowledge, wisdom, and through wisdom, peace and justice.
I am open to change in the world, in myself, and in my work: since I am highly mobile, well equipped, well prepared, and well connected, I can respond quickly and adapt accordingly to changing situations.
Only in the very recent past are so few able to produce so much for so many, and I hope to take advantage of this to be able to produce work that is simultaneously more off-the-beaten-path and of a higher quality than was previously possible with so little funding, staff, and equipment. Exciting times. So far, and from my perspective, these works in progress are shaping up with all the excitement, dynamism, and beauty of the times.