The Institute Of Higher Burnin’

What makes a community what it is? Is it the people? Maybe it’s what the people have in common. If that’s the case then what do you do when the people don’t have much in common? You call it 5 Pointz: The Institute of Higher Burnin’. Having a name that represents the five boroughs of New York City, 5 Pointz, located in Long Island City, invites graffiti artists from all over to share their work with the world. It is important to note that this is one of the very few places in New York where graffiti is legal. However, I still find it ironic that a place where anywhere else a person can be arrested for writing graffiti, can be found just blocks away from a Supreme Court house. Don’t get too excited though, just because graffiti is legal there does not mean that you can just come and do want you want. You need permission from Meres, aka Jonathan Cohen, who has been the one in charge since 2002. In order to get permission he needs to view a sample of your work, either in person or through e-mail.

The art at 5 Pointz is not the only reason to visit. There are many people that come just for the company and form friendships based on their love for the art. To them graffiti is a way of life and not just spray paint and scribbles that look flashy. Like many communities, there are rules and norms that the artists go by. There are ways to show respect and there are ways to rebel. It might not seem as hard to fit in as other communities, it is and outsiders can be easily spotted. Because I am used to tagging alone mostly and looking over my shoulder, I am not familiar with the companionship of the artists (and have yet to display my work in a legal way). I have been to 5 Pointz many times and every time I go, I meet someone different and have a new experience. The only constant there is Meres who, along with his tag, can be seen all over the place.

I was bored one weekend, so I decided to go to 5 Pointz to try to get some work done for this project. It was cold and windy and I was not expecting to find anyone or anything besides the typical shots that I have taken already. There was no one in site, the place was empty. As I walked towards the back parking lot, I saw hese two guys just standing there looking at the walls covered with graffiti. When they saw me, they asked me “Hey man! You the photographer?!?!” Photographer for what? They were waiting for a photographer to come for there photo shoot with a bunch of girls to promote their business, Dimez4All.

Rabbit, the one in green, was not a shy guy. He was really interested in what I was doing. He told me he is an artist who airbrushes for rappers. He and his friend wore his work on their cloths. Aside from airbrushing, he also does videos and of course photography. He told me to stick around and watch the shoot and hang with them, so I did. It was really cold, and the girls weren’t wearing much, so to get everyone warmed up, Rabbit turned on his car stereo and blasted Beyonce, danced to it while yelling to the them, “Make love to the Camera!” and “It’s 100 degrees out here!.”

When the photo shoot was done, Rabbit and everyone left and I stayed behind and took more shots of the graffiti. That’s when a bunch of guys in low rider bikes, came with a photographer to do a photo shoot. I couldn’t believe that I would be in the middle of two different photo shoots in one day. I spoke to the photographer, Jeff, first. He was shooting the Drop Kranked Crew (Dredel, Ed & E.J.) for a magazine. The Drop Kranked Crew is just a group of guys from Astoria that hang out and ride in low rider bikes. I spent most of my time with them, hearing their stories, and observing how Jeff photographed the guys. He used a fish-eye lens for the shoot and listened to a lot of their ideas of what and where to shoot. Later they asked me if I wanted to be in their crew and I said sure. They said all I need is a low rider bike and I’m in. My boring weekend turned into a great one and now I couldn’t wait to see what I’d run into next.

The next week I went back to 5 Pointz to see if I can get lucky again and find some thing interesting to shoot. Given the bad weather, I didn’t expect to get many good shots out. I was wrong. After shooting some candid photos, I ran into 3 guys who had just gotten permission from Meres to paint. Their names were Paulo aka Polo, Matthew aka Nemo, and Wes. Polo and Nemo are both from France. Wes lives in NY, but doesn’t tag. The two frenchmen are only here for two weeks and have done some work in 5 Pointz before.

I figured this would be the perfect time to take Professor Bernstein’s advice and “capture not just their art but them in the process of making art.” The whole process took about two and a half hours, but it turned out well in my opinion. While they were painting, we were talking and joking around too. Wes was making fun of Polo’s accent after he pronounced the word “engine”, “engyne”. Wes told him, “You sound like you’re saying, ‘Keep the vagina running!!’” Polo laughed and started to explain the difference between Americans and the French, but no one could understand him, not even Nemo.

It was really dark by the time they were done and it was only half past five. While Nemo and Wes went to throw away the used up supplies, I talked with Polo some more. He and Nemo have been friends in France since high school and Nemo started painting before him. Aside from spray-painting, he and Nemo also paint on canvas and do music. Polo also went on to tell me that he loves to paint so much that he finds it hard to put a price on is work, but will have to eventually to make ends meet. Before he left, he encouraged me to go back to tagging. I told him I might but I’m not good enough to be on 5 Pointz. He said “Just try and see what happens. Do what you like and like what you do.”

I found it ironic that all of the people (except for Wes) that I have met either paints or used to paint. The fact that we are all so different from each other and still managed to have something in common amazed me. Rabbit and his friend are artists that do work for successful rappers. Nemo and Polo are two Frenchmen who rarely come to 5 Pointz. Drop Krank Crew is a bunch of guys from Astoria that just like to have a good time and ride their bikes. None of us would have even known that we existed if it weren’t for the art of graffiti and the area known as 5 Pointz. That alone speaks for the importance of the place. I’ve learned that a community does not have to have people that have a lot in common, just as long as you have one thing that ties you together, one thing that unites people and makes them proud that they belong to the community.

For the last week of working on this project, went to a gallery opening in the Bronx. I figured this can bring a close to my project because many graffiti artists would love to have there work be shown publicly in a formal setting like an art gallery. Many of the artists’ whose work is displayed used to tag on trains back in the 80’s when it was really dangerous to. Many of the artists were there for the opening too. Revolt was one of the artists I met briefly. I also got to meet Martha Cooper, who is a photographer famous for documenting New York graffiti in the 80’s. There was also an old graffiti artist from the 80s named Lavas 1&2, he has both numbers because he’s “So big they had to name me twice!” Another one of the artists named Mare139 talked about how lucky he was to do what he loves and makes a living from it. He said something that I will never forget for long time, “Never mistake the business of art with the reason of art.”