LDR 101 mural proposal claire moore and loanni del monte

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Loanni Del Monte and Claire Moore
Dr. Korol
LDR 101
6 December 2017
Mural Proposal: Story from the Basement (The Art of the Needle Drop)
Our mural, “Story from the Basement (The Art of the Needle Drop)”, is a celebration of
hip-hop music, an iconic facet of black culture. By portraying the origins of hip-hop in the Bronx
and legendary figures of the “Boogie Down” era of the 1970’s and ’80’s, we aim not only to
provide representation to an underappreciated epoch of music history, but to also provide
political commentary on the elitism and Eurocentric supremacy rampant in considerations of
culture and classical music.
The background of our mural mimics the color palette of 70’s fashion and pop culture
from which hip-hop originated: vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges. These colors, likewise, mimic
the vibrancy and soul of hip-hop. The mural’s background, a collage of Synchromist paintings by
Stanton Macdonald Wright and Morgan Russell, also represent the aural characteristic of
hip-hop. Synchromism was founded by Wright and Russell as one of the first avant-garde art
movements in the United States and used color non-traditionally to create multi-dimensional
form and space, as opposed to simply describe subjects. Even more innovative, however, was
their likening of color in an artwork to sound in a musical score; both are examples of art, but
neither sound nor color are meant to be visually representative of anything. Instead, they
believed sound and color are intended to evoke “emotion and sensation.” This philosophy is
comparable to the innovation of early Bronx hip-hop musicians and street artists. Our mural is

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also influenced by both New York artists from the 1970s and ’80s as well as several
contemporary influences. We were inspired by the photos of Martha Cooper, the famous street
photographer who documented ‘70s street life as well as the public works of Lee Quinones, a
well-known graffiti artist who popularized subway-car art and comic book-style lettering. The
works of Cooper and Quinones inspired us because they portray the intersections of street art and
music of the era, and provided us with striking imagery from the late 1970s and early ‘80s. In
addition, Baz Luhrmann, the contemporary film and TV director of “The Get Down,” influenced
us with his uniquely stylized depiction of hip hop artists of the 70’s and vibrant color palette.
As a pioneer of record mixing and scratching, DJ Grandmaster Flash is a central figure of
hip-hop, both its origin and creation, and also a central figure of our mural, appearing twice. We
include him spinning records in the lower right hand corner and again gesturing to his jacket
reading, “FLASH,” in the upper left. Actresses Shyrley Rodriguez and Stefanée Martin (left to
right) from Netflix’s “The Get Down” also appear dancing, extracted from an episode of the
show. We included images of these two teenage girls to portray a softer image of hip-hop. Black
culture and black people are too often portrayed criminally and violently in society, while this
scene from the Netflix Original show indicates the innocence and fun in enjoying music. Behind
them, a hunched figure, originally part of the Wright painting, imitates their flowing movements
to create even more dimension in the background. Lastly, we included other colorful characters
from the era of hip-hop’s birth: ​Little Crazy Legs, a street dancer and graffiti artist clutching a
boom box, and Big Daddy Kane, a rapper in profile which emphasizes his flat-top, a hairstyle
wildly popular and symbolic of black hip-hop culture at the time. Embedded within the circular
forms of one of Morgan Russell’s synchromist works which mimic the shape of vinyl records,

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we also include the label from a record single of “Boogie Down Bronx” by Man Parrish
featuring Freeze Force, an early hip-hop hit by a Bronx musician. In the lower left corner, a train
showcasing Lee Quinones’ graffiti on a subway car propels towards Grandmaster Flash mixing.
The car reads “Fabulous Five,” the name of the graffiti collective Quinones was a member of,
and is also reminiscent of Grandmaster Flash’s hip-hop group, the “Furious Five.” The overall
composition of our mural, busy and frenetic, overwhelms the viewer with its bright, vivid colors,
and dynamic, moving figures to further evoke the qualities of hip-hop music as well as to assert
its place in music history alongside classical musicians; our mural, just as bold as the figures
depicted within it, is unapologetic, and refuses to be ignored.
We propose that our mural be painted in Presser Hall, the music department building of
Agnes Scott College, for both aesthetic and political choices. Presser Hall was originally built in
1940, and the interior of the building is constructed of dark wood and mostly plain, white walls.
As the hub of music study, practice, and performance on campus, Presser seems anything but
emotive, colorful, or expressive (many qualities associated with music). Although a historic and
beautiful building, the vibrancy inherent in music does not seem present anywhere in the
architecture or design of the building; some even describe it as looking like a church. For this
reason, we believe an eye-catching mural would inspire creativity for both musicians and music
lovers who attend the college. More importantly, musical industries and the history of music
often solely focus on the contributions made by white men, and black musical innovators are
usually not praised as much as classical artists like Beethoven or Mozart. We wish to situate our
mural on a wall in Presser Hall to comment on the elitism and racism present in musical
perceptions today. We hope our mural serves as a reminder to all those who see it of the fantastic

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creation and evolution of hip-hop music from the South Bronx, and how influential and inspiring
the genre still remains. Hip-hop, and other art forms created and utilized by Black Americans,
are often perceived to be less technical, intelligent, or important as their white counterparts, so
our mural wishes to recognize and commemorate those who helped spur this extremely
influential movement.

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Bibliography
“Hip-Hop Revolution: Martha Cooper. Joe Conzo, and Janette Beckman.” Glitterati
Incorporated,
glitteratiincorporated.com/blogs/the-click/17982384-hip-hop-revolution-martha-cooper-o
e-conzo-and-janette-beckman.
“Synchromism Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story,
www.theartstory.org/movement-synchromism.htm.