Mdr is a graffiti crew. It claims no territory. Everyone gets into graffiti for there own reasons. Many graffiti writers didn’t want to be involved with gangs that were in there neighborhoods so they invested their energy into non violent expression. You had to choose a name and try to be creative with it. The act of creating art with the written word somewhere illegally is done with no political motivation, yet the act itself is a political act. Mdr has many different types of people in it. Blacks, Whites, Mexicans, Filipinos, There are college students, photographers, fathers, thieves, musicians, sinners, fornicators, drug users, bike riders, weirdoes, construction workers, people that paint good and some that paint bad. Some don’t communicate with the rest of the group for whatever reason, but I feel that we all acknowledge that we come from the same artistic foundation and environment. I don’t agree with many things that my friends or family do but I still love them. I try not to judge them. I try not to encourage unjust behavior. I try to treat everyone as I would want to be treated.
I got arrested for doing graffiti when I was younger. I spent a week in jail. Then I went to court and they said that I was classified as a gang member. This hurt me because when some people think of gang member they think of Mexicans with shaved heads and bad attitudes. Or a group of people that claim a territory and are waiting for someone to be in there hood so they can harass them. This usually isn’t true anyway. I think that in the future the word “gang” is going to be used in broader and broader terms. The powers that be will use these laws to incarcerate young people for longer periods of time.
So if this was to unfortunately come true, eventually, when we share this earth with aliens from another planet and cyborg robots, many of these types will also be classified as gang members or terrorist for any type of subversive behavior. I just don’t think its right.
The imagery involved in this painting was co-conceived by Sabat. Ldk.