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May 2007

2007 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
BOMB IT

By Nicole Schmuelian

2007 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
BOMB IT

 


Director/Writer: Jon Reiss

Producer: Tracy Wares, Jon Reiss, Jeffrey Levy Hinte, Kate Christensen

Editors: Alex Marquez, Jessica Hernandez

   

Bomb It is a documentary that uncovers the history of graffiti starting with Taki 183, who was a foot messenger and because he traveled so much he tagged his name throughout the Burroughs. This gained him notoriety in the New York Times which then created an explosion of graffiti in New York. The documentary also shows how graffiti shapes different countries around the world including South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Germany, France and Japan. It reveals the perspective of the artists and civilians who either condemn or encourage it. Though many view it as a prelude to larger crimes the artists have a very different opinion and director/writer Jon Reiss gives them another medium in which they can express themselves.

Reiss successfully exposes the motivation of graffiti artist and how they use public space as a forum to communicate with each other and the public. Many of the artists risk their lives by climbing great heights such as billboards or traveling on the subway tracks. In South Africa much of graffiti during the apartheid was considered a movement against it. Many artists argue that public space is created for the public and therefore they should be allowed to create in this free space. Some pose questions like, “Why does art need be confined with borders and hung in a gallery for people to see as they are sipping on a cocktail?” However, some graffiti artists do become mainstream by being hired by corporations to sell a brand or a product. There are other profitable ways for graffiti artists.

The documentary forces the audience to look at graffiti in a different light. “We are not given the space, we take the space,” a graffiti artist says in a very empowering statement. Jon Reiss follows these men and women who are from different parts of the world but have one thing on their mind and that is to just Bomb It!