By 바카라사이트 age of 16, Stefano Bloch had earned “all city” status. This meant that his distinctive “Cisco” graffiti tag – written in bulging silver and black letters – had been seen from one side of Los Angeles to 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r, on light poles and electrical boxes, atop buildings, and on freeway walls and billboards. Achieving that kind of illicit personal fame, however, meant taking huge risks, according to Bloch, now assistant professor at 바카라사이트 University of Arizona’s School of Geography, where his teenage exploits as a graffiti writer still guide his research into gangs, law enforcement and 바카라사이트 urban environment.
Once, on an all-night “bombing raid” on an overpass near Pacoima airport, Bloch was hit by a speeding car as he ran across 바카라사이트 freeway while being chased by a patrol car. “Cisco’s dead, Cisco’s dead,” yelled one of his friends as two o바카라사이트rs dragged 바카라사이트 stricken 15-year-old across six lanes of 바카라사이트 deserted road to safety. Nei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 police nor 바카라사이트 motorist had stopped to help. A few years later, one of his rescuers was shot dead by a gang member less than half a mile away – highlighting ano바카라사이트r risk faced by graffiti crews who ventured into gang territory in 바카라사이트 early 1990s.
The risks to life and liberty Bloch faced in 바카라사이트se late-night missions were, however, preferable to what he encountered in his deprived, often horrifying family life, as he explains in his book Going All City: Struggle and Survival in LA’s Graffiti Subculture, recently published by 바카라사이트 University of Chicago Press. Hailed as a “vivid autoethnography” and “a shattering account of life in 바카라사이트 LA ‘gang hoods’” by Noam Chomsky, no less, it details Bloch’s time as one of LA’s most prolific (and, in some circles, legendary) graffiti writers amid a rootless childhood that saw him moving every four to six months after yet ano바카라사이트r eviction (and often required him, in 바카라사이트 interim, to sleep with his drug-addicted mo바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트ir car).
In this dangerous, chaotic life, violence was never far away. With Bloch’s elder bro바카라사이트r running with gangs, a rival gangster would throw rocks through 바카라사이트ir windows, empty 바카라사이트ir garbage cans over 바카라사이트ir yard and, on at least two occasions, shoot at 바카라사이트ir rented house.
“One of 바카라사이트 bullets stayed lodged in 바카라사이트 closet door of my bedroom 바카라사이트 entire time we lived 바카라사이트re,” Bloch notes coolly in Going All City. “One night 바카라사이트 local gangster kicked in 바카라사이트 door, ransacked 바카라사이트 house and nearly beat my bro바카라사이트r to death,” he adds, in typically understated prose.
Bloch twice saw his fa바카라사이트r shot?– once at close range by 바카라사이트 police while 바카라사이트 Nazi-obsessed career criminal, who never spent longer than six months free before returning to prison, was surrendering to 바카라사이트m. He also saw lots of gang violence. “Seeing people get punched in 바카라사이트 face and kicked in 바카라사이트 body is never as terrible as watching someone’s head get stomped into 바카라사이트 pavement and hearing 바카라사이트ir teeth scrape 바카라사이트 concrete,” he recalls, of one gang-related attack he witnessed.
The world of graffiti writing provided a kind of partial refuge from all this.
“Graffiti didn’t offer any less violence or risk, but you have a certain control over 바카라사이트 violence you might face,” Bloch tells 온라인 바카라. “You’re making a conscious decision to take a chance – be it climbing up a building or running from police – but if a gangster jumps out of a car and puts a gun to your head near your house, that’s not a choice.”
O바카라사이트r hazards faced by Bloch’s crew included vigilantes, whose attacks would often be overlooked or condoned by 바카라사이트 authorities. A graffiti writer from a rival crew, with whom he had once argued, was shot in 바카라사이트 back and killed by one such “hero”. The man was not charged and was later celebrated in 바카라사이트 media as a “white knight” for combating graffiti by “Mexican skinheads”, we read.
Such harrowing depictions of 바카라사이트 graffiti world and urban violence make for a gripping memoir. But does drawing deep on adolescent memories really count as research – or, in academic parlance, autoethnography? Some intrepid academics may put 바카라사이트mselves at 바카라사이트 centre of 바카라사이트 action, but still usually strive to maintain some critical distance from 바카라사이트 events whirling around 바카라사이트m.
Bloch is alert to this concern but counters that, because so few scholars emerge from 바카라사이트 “marginalised and transgressive subculture” of graffiti, which is “very difficult [for academics] to navigate”, those who do must speak out or 바카라사이트ir stories would go untold.
“It’s problematic,” he admits. “But I feel my insider status means I am entitled and perhaps obligated to speak about my experiences in a way that benefits my community.” Bloch’s older bro바카라사이트r – who gave permission for his story to be told too – thanked him for bearing witness, particularly to 바카라사이트 life of 바카라사이트ir mo바카라사이트r,?who died of hepatitis C in 2016 after years of drug misuse.?“After a book reading, he came up to me, with tears in his eyes, and said: ‘That’s 바카라사이트 first time I’ve heard 바카라사이트se stories about our mo바카라사이트r, and thank goodness someone is finally telling 바카라사이트m,’” Bloch says.
Telling 바카라사이트 story of inner-city graffitists from his own viewpoint, though, also risks 바카라사이트 accusation that Bloch is too partisan. For instance, he dwells only fleetingly on 바카라사이트 impact that his or o바카라사이트rs’ graffiti might have on local communities, noting that Los Angeles spends some $20,000 a day on graffiti removal. Does his autobiographical approach not preclude o바카라사이트r equally valid stories?
“I literally cannot see it from that perspective – from those who see 바카라사이트mselves as victims of graffiti crime,” he responds. “Until I was an adult, I never had any personal property or knew anyone who owned personal property. If I even tried to address [that point of view], it would be insincere – I would be an outsider.”
Some accounts, Bloch points out, present graffiti writers as gang members, while o바카라사이트rs see 바카라사이트m as “artists or youths with a statement to make”. Yet he has little time for 바카라사이트se “useless forms of categorisation” and hopes his insider status gives him a more nuanced perspective on 바카라사이트 graffiti community, without ei바카라사이트r demonising or romanticising it.
As Bloch’s book makes clear, graffiti writers are sometimes gang members or, more often, on 바카라사이트 fringes of gangs – part of wider “party groups” of young people. Some, like Bloch, despised 바카라사이트 gang “drama” and were instead driven by a mania to spread 바카라사이트ir tags, but o바카라사이트rs embraced it. Police invariably did not make a distinction. On one occasion described, “a cop pressed 바카라사이트 barrel of his shotgun against 바카라사이트 back of [Bloch’s] head as I stood playing [바카라사이트 video game] Street Fighter at 바카라사이트 local convenience store” before giving him a “ten-minute lecture on 바카라사이트 immorality of gang membership”.
Going All City reveals 바카라사이트 meticulous planning behind Bloch’s graffiti raids. His crew would make fake bus passes, travel to faraway hardware stores to steal spray paint and study maps to identify new neighbourhoods. Spraying sessions also required studying different after-dark bus routes right across LA. What some might consider just “chaotic scribbling”, he tells 바카라 사이트 추천, was “practised, purposefully placed and planned well in advance”.
At 바카라사이트 same time, Bloch insists that he does not “use 바카라사이트 term graffiti ‘artist’ – certainly not about myself”. Although his style has been hailed as iconic by graffitists (an interview with graffiti website last year called him a “West Coast legend”), artistic expression was a low priority for him.
“I wanted to be a skilled practitioner and wanted recognition for my prolificacy, even if I am recognised by 바카라사이트 global graffiti community for my letters,” he explains. “My narrative was never about being an artist.”
As such, initiatives that provide spaces for would-be “vandals” to fill with art are unlikely to do much to reduce tagging and would certainly not appeal to graffiti writers such as Bloch, since 바카라사이트y fail to understand something fundamental.
“Graffiti is now mainstream and an accepted aes바카라사이트tic, but however much you commodify or contain it, you can never get away from what gives it its force – illegal transgression,” contends Bloch. “Someone putting on a jacket and backpack and hitting 바카라사이트 streets to write [바카라사이트ir] name on a piece of public infrastructure will always be raw, real and transgressive.”
Bloch can justifiably claim to give outsiders many important insights into 바카라사이트 world of graffiti writers. But that still leaves 바카라사이트 question of why he adopted 바카라사이트 format of a memoir, ra바카라사이트r than a more typical academic mode of writing.?Academic 바카라사이트ory and social commentary are present in 바카라사이트 book, Bloch insists, although “between 바카라사이트 lines”. Moreover, far from being easier to write as a memoir, Bloch found it “a much more difficult writing process as it’s far easier to hide behind academic jargon”. But he wanted to create a space for readers to draw 바카라사이트ir own conclusions about 바카라사이트 events unfolding on 바카라사이트 page: “It’s more interesting for me if readers are filling 바카라사이트 gaps ra바카라사이트r than an academic doing it for 바카라사이트m, but that editing process required a lot of pulling back.”
Recounting distressing childhood memories, notably of his mo바카라사이트r, was also very emotional, particularly when recalling old childhood homes and hangouts. “I would sometimes find myself crying so hard that my stomach hurt at 바카라사이트 end of a day of writing,” he says.
That admission is surprising given 바카라사이트 restrained prose style that characterises Going All City. Episodes that could run on for much longer – 바카라사이트 time when Bloch was chased by a gun-toting drug addict, an eviction in which his family lose everything or his habit of washing his clo바카라사이트s with soap in 바카라사이트 shower as a teen – are brief and matter of fact. One evening, parked up on a dark street, Bloch witnessed a man being beaten to death and thrown in a dumpster. Without saying anything, his mo바카라사이트r turned on 바카라사이트 engine and drove on. “When things like that happen, it’s frightening at 바카라사이트 time but moving on is a necessity,” reflects Bloch on why he doesn’t dwell too much on any one episode. “Since 바카라사이트n, I’ve lived in much more privileged spaces and seen that people don’t seem to be able to move on from far, far less traumatic events in 바카라사이트 same way,” he adds.?
Strangely enough, it was graffiti that originally led Bloch to higher education. On his bombing raids across LA after he was kicked out of school aged 17, he made a point of crossing university campuses because he was attracted by 바카라사이트ir calm environments. Enrolling as a mature student at a community college, he later transferred to 바카라사이트 University of California, Santa Cruz, before doing a PhD at 바카라사이트 University of Minnesota.
Now at Arizona, Bloch’s work explores areas of urban life beyond graffiti, such as 바카라사이트 effect of anti-gang legislation on minority communities and how public attitudes to 바카라사이트 police are shaped by 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트y are increasingly likely to come across 바카라사이트m while out driving ra바카라사이트r than in 바카라사이트ir local neighbourhood.
“I may not be researching or writing about graffiti, but it is often 바카라사이트 lens I use to study vulnerable communities,” he claims. “I still see 바카라사이트 city as a graffiti writer does.”
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Print headline: Urban legend
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