The Parking Lot Entrace
5 Pointz: The Institute of Higher Burning, a place that once was an outdoor art exhibit but is now destroyed. The pictures that I have are from a couple of months ago when my family went to visit the historic site which was demolished in late August. 5 Pointz was known as the graffiti Mecca which anyone can understand due to every facet of it’s wondrous 200,000 square foot factory building, gates and garages included, being covered ground to roof in someone’s art. Artists from around the globe would come to 5 Points, located in Long Island City and named in honor of the five boroughs, to share their work. Every angle from which you look at the building gives you a different image, style and context. I wish it were still around so that everyone could marvel in its complexity.
Honestly, there is not much I can say about this art except that it gives me chills, in a very good way. It was all so personal yet public. This building started out just like any other: uniform and dreary. The artists who partook in this expression of creativity gave life to something that would have ordinarily been plain. This pictures really exemplifies different styles of art. There are the cartoon-like characters and the more realistic/human-like representations. There is so much color and everywhere you look you are drawn so there is no real focal point leaving you to see the art as you please.
This piece showed a lot of dimension. The letters spelling out the word ‘dead’ look as though they want to jump off the wall and into your face. If you look towards the bottom of the mural, you can see the tops of buildings and the focal point of the image, the gorilla, is done very well and is extraordinarily defined. The eyes are even drawn to the subtle features like the river below the scene and the change in daylight from afternoon into evening.
This image uses texture and dimension. The brick walls on top of which the image was created add another layer to the artwork. My opinion is that it makes it more creepy. The aerosol cans appear to be flying towards us.
This piece exhibits the layer over layer idea in the complex. I also wasn’t sure if more than one artist contributed the the manufacturing of one specific piece. This seems to encompass more than one person but I could be wrong and that contributes to the complexity of the building.
This is a mural on a wall that continues seamlessly over a garage door of the late guitarist Jimi Hendrix. This mural has the appearance of a tribute and contains words, imagery and emotion which can be seen in the face of Jimi.
These other pictures continue the same themes and trends of the ones above. There is also the overwhelming feeling of freedom. This building was dedicated to the creation of art and was taken advantage of in the best way possible. I wish there were another Martin Wong who could have saved all of this amazing work for more people to see before the building was torn down.
This place was truly historic and I, like many artists and other spectators, am incredibly sad to see it go.
R.I.P 5 Pointz