Blog Post #3

Monday's trip to Detroit opened up my eyes up to graffiti. For the first time, I saw this form of vandalism in a new light, with a different perspective along with a deep appreciation. When analyzing the murals on the graffiti walls, I was not just looking at colorful paintings, scribbled names, or landscapes of cities. I was looking at art. Each piece told its own story, each one different from the next. Each possessed a voice, a meaning, a message. Each struck me with a different sentiment, a different emotion. In fact, I was especially captivated by the mural, “Dear Dad.” A small boy with a sullen countenance crouches in the corner, his knees drawn up to his chest, his shoulders hunched, his eye wide open and weary. In his hand, he holds a paper airplane, which we will soon learn carries not just the weight of the grief he bears for his deceased father but also the legacy of that grief as he grows into a man. The central aspect of this mural is the handwritten letter this child wrote to his father. Black ink on a white lined paper contrasts the rays and flashes of bright colors whipping past. Within the letter, the individual words which form together to create the full message illicit deep emotion and carry a heavy weight – true grief, true longing, true desire to please. From analyzing the overall beautiful piece of art, I was intrigued by the colors, the vivid details, the letter, the transformation internally of the boy, and the overall deep emotion. In fact, I realized that although this mural seems to suggest a portrait of a grieving child’s communication to a deceased father, with a longer appraisal, it becomes apparent that this work is simultaneously expressing how the adult artist thinks about his father who died years ago. I found it interesting how the artist himself is present in his own work. His voice speaks through, relating himself to the boy, his life to the boy’s life.