Jon Reiss' BOMB IT in Theaters and on DVD

"I was, after the fashion of humanity, in love with my name, and, as young educated people commonly do, I wrote it everywhere."  This quote from Goethe's Poetry and Truth, 1811, opens Jon Reiss' astounding documentary on global graffiti writing, aka, "bombing."  In featuring street artists and graffiti writers from five continents, the film is the first to update the graffiti story from its inception to just yesterday.  Reiss gets really wonderful and substantive interviews with his subjects, modern-day philosophers along the lines of Goethe, who articulately and poetically describe all the various reasons they are compelled to create what they do--the methods, the risks, the personal ethos behind it all.  Nunca, an artist out of Sao Paulo, Brazil, tells us that, "Your name is the only thing you own; it's the first thing you have.  That is why you have to defend it."

Cornbread, Lady Pink, Shepard Fairey, bombing twin brothers, Os Gemenos, Sixe, (pictured) and many others, share access to themselves through their public art in very profound and moving ways.  There have been other superb films made on graffiti, however, they're usually mixed with stories of other subcultures like hip hop, the aural adjunct to the visual richness of this vibrant art form.  Five Sides of a Coin and Pablo Aravena's wonderful NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting both come to mind.  Reiss' film is a pure look at street art, starting with its roots in New York and Philly and going on to explore the underground scene in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Barcelona, Berlin, Capetown, Sao Paulo and Tokyo, ending up in Los Angeles, showcasing the graffiti art I grew up appreciating from the 10 and 405 freeways, among other places.

In every part of the globe, we hear echoes of similar ways of seeing the world, with most of these artists coming from the fringe of society, focusing on the unsanctioned "interference" of public spaces to discuss the culmination of its current, pervasive presence in the "legitimacy" of advertising--another instance of the purity of a subculture being co-opted by mainstream media to sell us more stuff we don't need, which in turn, begs the question, "If public space is a forum for discussion, which voices are allowed to be heard?"  The ones who pay big bucks to use it, I guess.

The DVD release coincides with a nationwide theatrical one.  Because of the startling clarity of the camera work, sharp editing and superb soundtrack, this is definitely a film worth seeing in the theater, if you're able.  And if you're watching it at home on DVD, crank it up and immerse yourself in this vibrant, vital world of street artist/philosophers who risk their lives every day to speak out and create a brilliant open-air museum of canvases for us all to ponder and enjoy.

Click here for information on the theatrical roll-out and here to order the DVD.