Context of Practice: Study task 4 - Discourse Analysis with Academic Referencing

(Reverse side design)

This is a mural by American artist and social activist Keith Haring created in the Summer of 1986. It was painted on both sides (a mural on each side) of an abandoned hardball court on East Harlem River Drive on 128th street and is arguably the most famous mural in New York. Due to it's location it is certainly the most viewed.The mural was created in response to the crack cocaine epidemic that was happening in New York at the time and also inspired by his assistant Benny, who had become an addict. Haring, influenced by New York street culture, had (and was) experiencing a meteoric rise to fame, originally for his subway chalk drawings then moving on to large scale tarpaulin paintings and building murals which reflected his own political views and experiences such as Sex, War, Anti-Drugs, Anti-Apartheid and AIDS awareness. The latter being particularly poignant as in 1988 Haring who was openly gay would be diagnosed with the disease and die two years later, aged just 31.

The mural had originally been completed without permission he was arrested while the paintwas still drying, handed and court date and eventually fined $100. A week later it was vandalised by local graffiti artists (or possibly drug dealers) and turned into a 'pro' drugs mural, reading 'CRACK IS IT'. Then, a worker for the Parks Department, for whom the hardball court belonged to, took it upon themselves to completely cover up the mural with grey paint. So as a quickly as it had appeared, Crack is Wack was gone. That is, until a month or so later when Haring was invited back to repaint the wall with the assistance of the Park Department, which he did (albeit slightly different) and there it has remained to this day.

I came across this piece and Keith Harings work in general after a library artist research session. I recognised his style but hadn't realised who had created it, or how incredibly popular his became in such a short time. After scanning through his autobiography and a couple other of his books i further researched him online and also watched 'The universe of Keith Haring', a 2008 documentary film about his life and work.

The 'reverse' side of the mural features thick black line work synonymous with Harings painting style, on a largely white background (as opposed to the florescent orange back drop of the front of the wall). There is a large bright orange stripe 3/4 of the way up the wall and stretching horizontally across the entire wall, in which the words 'crack is wack' sit. Above the orange stripe a large sharp-toothed snake chases a trademark 'stick man' that featured in the majority of Harings pieces, along with wavy lines and dash marks emanating from their bodies and heads. The stickman has his arms in the air, lines coming out of its head and an 'X' on its chest. Below the stripe are a gang of stickmen in varying poses, all marked with 'X's and motion lines next to their bodies.

The long white snake or 'serpent' represents crack cocaine, the forbidden fruit of the addict. It could also simply symbolise a long line of crack. The stickman is trying to run away from his tormenter at great speed, however the figure has been marked with an 'X' which in Harings work usually depicts someone evil, inflicted or damned. The large orange horizontal stripe represents the line between Earth and the Underworld or even Hell.The characters below the line are jerking and twitching around as if they are A) still craving drugs, and going 'cold turkey' B) jumping to try and reach or grab the serpent/ crack C) trying to jump out and above the stripe and out back to Earth for a second chance at life.

The setting of the painting is where the actual mural can be found - in a run down, abandoned piece of land, near a park in mid 1980's New York. An area that was drained of life and was 'dying' from drug addiction - a stark contrast compared to the bold and bright imagery of Harings art, which he was using to bring a troubled NY back to life.The message or slogan has connections to the 80's hip-hop scene - the word 'sack' was coined and was used to describe something or someone as bad/ stupid/ crazy/ generally displeasing. A rhyming tagline was similarly used in Gemma Corrells 'Pugs not Drugs' illustration 20 years later, albeit in a slightly more light-hearted way (fig 1). Harings painting style was also heavily influenced by graffiti and hip-hop culture, and he would always have mix tapes made by his music friends blasting out of his little boom box as he painted as a perpetual source of inspiration.

5 illustrations that function in a similar way to the 'Crack is Wack' mural

(fig1)

Correll.G (2010) Pugs Not Drugs. 'Ladies can make comics too:Gemma Correll' [internet] UK [30.10.14] Dorkshelf <http://dorkshelf.com/2013/05/02/ladies-make-comics-too-gemma-correll/>

(fig2)

Mock.R (2001) 'Punch & Judy' [internet] UK [30.10.14] Fokus

< http://blog.fokus.org/post/41026716919/punch-and-judy-a-linoleum-cut-print-by-richard >

(fig3)

Oyague Jr.A & Vegas. J (2011) 'New York spraycan memorials: A backdrop to Life' [internet] USA [30.10.14] Artquill < http://artquill.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/new-york-spray-can-memorials-backdrop.html >