Bomb It

Last updated
Bomb It
Bomb It poster.jpg
Directed by Jon Reiss
Produced byTracy Wares
Jon Reiss
Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
Kate Christensen
CinematographyTracy Wares
Edited byAlex Marquez
Jessica Hernandez
Production
company
Distributed by Gravitas Ventures
Release date
  • April 27, 2007 (2007-04-27)(Tribeca Film Festival)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Bomb It is an international graffiti and street art documentary directed by Jon Reiss [1] that premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Filmed on five continents, featuring cities such as New York, Cape Town, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Berlin and Sao Paulo, Bomb It explores the interplay between worldwide graffiti movements, the global proliferation of "Quality of Life" laws, and the fight for control over public space.

Contents

International graffiti artists collaborated with Reiss to create the film which features original footage from many graffiti artists beginning with the first modern graffiti artist Cornbread, to those who saw the take off of the art, TAKI 183 to more contemporary artists Shepard Fairey and Os Gemeos. [2]

In addition to TAKI 183, the film features Tracy 168, Terrible T-Kid 170, Cope2, Stay High 149, KRS-One, Revs, 2esae, Zephyr, Cornbread, DAIM, Blek le Rat, Shuck2, Ash, Skuf, Revok, Ron English, Chaz Bojorquez, Lady Pink, Mear One, Urban Theorists Stefano Bloch (UCLA Dept. of Urban Planning and University of Arizona) and Susan A. Phillips (Pitzer College), actor and filmmaker Russ Kingston, [3] Pez, Sixe, Falko, Faith47, Zezão  [ pt ], Ise, Kenor & Kode, Scage, Mickey, Chino, and Ket.

George L. Kelling, co-author of Broken Windows , an Atlantic Monthly article [4] that formed the basis for Rudy Giuliani's widely imitated gentrification campaign, was interviewed for this film. [5]

Reception

The New York Times wrote, "Bomb It isn't the first documentary to address the history and evolution of graffiti culture, and it probably won't be the last. But what distinguishes Jon Reiss's lively, sure-handed film from the rest is that it widens the spectrum by taking a comprehensively international viewpoint." [6]

Bomb It 2

The sequel Bomb It 2 (2010) was commissioned as a web series for the digital broadcast network Babelgum and expands the exploration of graffiti and street art into locations not covered in the first film. [7]

Continuing his investigation of international graffiti, Reiss traveled by himself to Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, Palestinian refugee camps on the West Bank, Perth, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Chicago and Austin. [7] Artists featured include Klone, KnowHope, GreatBates, Zero Cents, Foma <3, INSPIRE 1, Darbotz, Killer Gerbil, Bon, Alex Face, Sloke, Husk Mit Navn, Ash, Phibs, Stormie Mills, Beejoir and others. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graffiti</span> Drawings and paintings on walls

Graffiti is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAKI 183</span> American graffiti artist

TAKI 183 is the "tag" of a Greek-American graffitist who was active during the late 1960s and early 1970s in New York City. The graffitist, whose given name is Demetrios, has never revealed his full name.

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<i>Bomb the System</i> 2002 American film

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phibs</span>

Phibs is the pseudonym of Tim De Haan, a notable graffiti artist operating out of Sydney, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julio 204</span> New York graffiti artist

JULIO 204 was a Puerto Rican resident of Inwood who wrote graffiti in his youth. He's usually credited as being the original New York City writer and the inspiration for Taki 183. He started writing his nickname in his neighborhood as early as 1967. He retired when he was arrested for vandalism in the summer of 1970.

Matt McCormick is a Spokane, Washington based video installation artist and filmmaker. His work extends documentary and experimental filmmaking, focusing on the sublime decay of contemporary culture and the landscape both urban and rural.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornbread (graffiti artist)</span> American graffiti artist

Darryl McCray, better known by his tagging name Cornbread, is an American graffiti writer from Philadelphia. He is widely considered the world's first modern graffiti artist. McCray was raised in Brewerytown, a neighborhood of North Philadelphia. During the late 1960s, he and a group of friends started doing graffiti in Philadelphia, by writing their monikers on walls across the city. Independently to Philadelphia, the graffiti movement was evolving in New York City and blossomed into the modern graffiti movement, which reached its peak in the U.S. in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and then spread to Europe. McCray later worked with the Philadelphia's Anti-Graffiti Network and Mural Arts Program to help combat the spread of graffiti in the city. He is currently a public speaker and a youth advocate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hambleton</span> Canadian graffiti artist (1952–2017)

Richard Art Hambleton was a Canadian artist known for his work as a street artist. He was a surviving member of a group that emerged from the New York City art scene during the booming art market of the 1980s which also included Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. While often associated with graffiti art, Hambleton considered himself a conceptual artist who made both public art and gallery works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Reiss</span> American film director

Jon Reiss is a film producer and director, and an author. He has made the feature film Cleopatra's Second Husband (1998) and the documentaries Better Living Through Circuitry (1999) and Bomb It (2007). He has directed music videos for artists, including Nine Inch Nails, Slayer, Danzig, and the Black Crowes.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graffiti in New York City</span> Street arts evolution in NYC

Graffiti in New York City has had a substantial local, national, and international influence.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">DAIM</span> German graffiti artist

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<i>The Faith of Graffiti</i> 1974 essay by Norman Mailer

The Faith of Graffiti is a 1974 essay by American novelist and journalist Norman Mailer about New York City's graffiti artists. Mailer's essay appeared in a shorter form in Esquire and as a book with 81 photographs by Jon Naar and design by Mervyn Kurlansky. Through interviews, exploration, and analyses, the essay explores the political and artistic implications of graffiti. The essay was controversial at the time of publication because of its attempt to validate graffiti as an art form by linking it with great artists of the past. Some critics also said Mailer was using the essay as a platform to express his political grievances. Faith grew out of Mailer's existential philosophy of the hip, in which a Hipster is guided by his instincts regardless of consequences or perception, and upholds graffiti as a subversive and healthy check on the status quo. Like several of his other non-fiction narratives, Mailer continued his use of new journalism techniques, adopting a persona, the A-I or "Aesthetic Investigator", to provide both an objective distance from the topic and to engender the text with the creative and critical eye of the novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tag (graffiti)</span> Form of graffiti

Tags are one of the primary forms of modern graffiti, along with throw ups and pieces. The act of writing a tag is known as tagging. Tags are often thought of as the simplest form of graffiti art, prioritising legibility and flow and are the form that most artists start with. Tags, perhaps due to their simplicity, are more likely to be considered vandalism than other more elaborate graffiti styles.

References

  1. Montero, Patrick (April 23, 2008). "'Bomb It' looks at all sides of graffiti issue". New York Daily News .
  2. Guerrasio, Jason (March 12, 2007). "Tribeca Announces Competition and Spotlight Selections". Filmmaker .
  3. "Jon Reiss Interview in culturenow.com". Bombit-themovie.com. June 24, 2008.
  4. Kelling, George L.; Wilson, James Q. "Broken Windows: The police and neighborhood safety". The Atlantic (March 1982).
  5. "Entertainment News, Headlines and Video - CBS News". Showbuzz.cbsnews.com. 2014-03-09. Retrieved 2014-07-19.[ dead link ]
  6. Kern, Laura (April 25, 2008). "Getting to Graffiti Art's Roots". The New York Times .
  7. 1 2 Whittaker, Richard (July 31, 2013). "Jon Reiss Drops a 'Bomb' on Graffiti World". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  8. "Bomb It About | BOMB IT". Blog.bombit-themovie.com. Retrieved 2014-07-19.