Photos provided by: Jon Reiss
Full Name: Jon ReissAge: 30yond
Currently Residing: California
Currently Listening to: The Soundtrack to "Bobby" that doesn't exist
Discovery is an interesting thing. Sometimes it happens on the way to the supermarket and sometimes it happens as small pieces being put together to form something that wasn’t there before.
Jon Reiss didn’t know much about the graffiti world. He was asked to do a graffiti film for Hollywood that he didn’t see as the greatest endeavor. He had admired the outsider art and respected the battles graffiti writers had to go through to justify themselves and the fight for public space. But other than this admiration, he didn’t have a clue about that world.
Needless to say, Reiss decided to do his research and in that made a very provocative documentary, Bomb It!. Jon Reiss is more known for his music videos including Nine Inch Nails’ Happiness in Slavery and documentaries such as Better Living Through Circuitry, wherehe explores the electronic dance underground. He comes from left field when you think about it in comparison to the graffiti world. Jon nails it with Bomb It! and yes, Freshest Kids is awesome, but Bomb It! comes from a whole other place.Jon Reiss is an aficionado of the underground. You can see it in his films, he roots for the guyswho have to fight for their culture. He showcases the underground, finding heroes within it’s realms but never really exploiting the culture. When asked how he felt about graffiti after the documentary, he replied,
“Street art and graffiti are visual freedoms of speech especially when the art is good. It helps enliven a society for those people who rarely go to galleries and museums, it is provides a little life for a city.”
Why is Bomb It! so gosh darn good? Well, there are many reasons for this. One of the main
onesbeing the fact that Jon explores the cultural and socio-political reasons for the art worldover. He’s interviewed writers from New York to Barcelona to South Africa. It’s interesting to see howAmerican graffiti writers compare and contrast with the rest of the world and each other. It’s profoundly clear the motivation which inspires these individuals to “get up”. When Lady Pink speaks from her New York roots as opposed to LA’s DJ Lady Tribe, its apparent that these two are coming from two very different worlds. Aesthetically, the differences are clear, but culturally, socially, and politically, they are widely varied. The film really touches on many angles of graffiti, from its different forms (paint, stencil, postering, etc.) to defining what vandalism, graffiti and street art entail. It is a thorough investigation of what it means to be a graffiti artists in America and beyond. You become aware of its origins but you also see the evolution that’s taking place. Reiss also explores what was once a detested artform to what is becoming a highly commercialized commodity.
The art that is portrayed in the film is pretty amazing as well and it becomes abundantly clear that graffiti is an art form…a public art form and one that should be revered and respected not punished. He really gets in the artists' heads. You gain an understanding of their fight for space and defiance of commercial obstruction.
“There are way more things to be upset about in the world than writers like that…upset about advertising, healthcare and the war in Iraq.”
So, you don’t really care for graffiti or it’s culture? Doesn’t matter, Bomb It! enlightens those who can appreciate what it means to be driven and passionate. It is a film about being free to express. It is a film about acknowledging one’s culture and respecting one’s space. It is a work about unity, influence and individualism in art and freedom in a global sense. It's about not being complacent within your society’s environment. Wouldn’t you rather see a beautiful and original work of art on a building rather than another senseless billboard obstructing your view? Aren’t you tired of advertisers telling you what to buy instead of seeing the real architecture of your city? You don’t have to be a graffiti enthusiast to appreciate that.
Check out the trailer and make sure to check out your city's screenings of Bomb It!
For more on Jon Reiss visit www.jonreiss.com and visit the Bomb It! Website
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