University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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The kmle over the use of People ' s Park is perhaps Berkeley ' s larg- est producer of free ex- pression sculpture and graffiti. This recent dis- play, constructed in Oc- tober, argues the con- struction of two unused vollevhall courts. Photoby Dehhic Yuan GRlippTl doesnt al- ways express negativity: this message, scrawled on a campus road, is a testa- ment to the benefits of perseverance. Photo by Kim Stcitihachcr yeAI«: ATCAL. Free Expression ♦ I.t

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Wh e n ASUC Senator Heather Emlgh told the Oany Cal in November that she wanted to get women ' s issues off the bathroom wall and into the open, sho brought into thu spotlight not only women ' s issues, but Cal ' s cel- ebrated grattiti as well. Scribblings adorn bathroom walls, desktops, stairwells, sidewalks and more across campus, expressing humor, anger, angst i r lovf « It seems only fitting that the University that sparked the free expression movement should continue to be on the cutting edge of free expression. Graffiti here, especially in women ' s restrooms, goes beyond the usual Ian loves Stan to include an open forum on everything from date rape to S M to ex-boyfriends to venereal disease to racist issues, and sometimes a combination of these. The issues discussed here, mostly sexual in nature, tend to fall into the things you ' ve always wanted to know but were afraid to ask category, providing an opportunity for women to explore issues that embarrass or puzzle them in the safe anonymity of a locked stall. u ' owW like some information on S M from someone u ' ho prnctices, one hand timidly begins. the ivrltlns on The responses, some in cursive, some printed boldly, some attached by arrows to the original statement, trail off down the door. Another asks about the symptoms of svphilis-and those who know are not shy about answering. .■; Satan real? wonders a third writer. In this Dali-esque version of Dear Abby, someone replies, Yes, and he ' s a UC Regent. ♦ Others have penned statements instead of questions: the simple War is menstrual envy, and the final, exasperated line flung across all the others: You ail need a good mental institution NOW!!! ♦ Whether you consider graffiti vandalism or free expression sometimes depends on how you feel about the viewpoint it expresses, or whether or not you own the wall it ' s painted on. But what the wall about graffiti and self-expression as art? ♦ Richard Lists, a Berkeley landscaper, gained minor fame this year for his New Sense Museum (sounds like ' nuisance, ' he points out), a collection of Day-Glo toilets, disembodied mannequin parts and other plop art that quietly proliferated in the vacant lot at Telegraph and Haste for two years, until a citizen cleanup effort in November returned the lot to its weedy natural state. Plop art, a Berkeley original, isart plopped in a public place by theartist without all those traditional hassles like, oh. City of Berkeley approval. ♦ Lists ' impromptu art gallery soon attracted the work of other street artists and homeless people, who contributed poetry, sculpture and political slogans, among other things. Ulti- mately, whether you call it art or garbage, vandalism or self-expression may not matter. Since the first recorded graffiti some 4,000 years ago- The Persians are coming! scrawled on a wall-graffiti has been an unstoppable force. Mini-conversa- tions on bathroom walls; hastily-scrawled tags on city buses; minute expressions of tenderness, rage or school spirit; elaborate, heroically-scaled works of art- whatever form they take, graffiti and plop art seem to fill a void in our pre-formed, concrete world-the need to personalize your space, to let others know that you have passed this way before them: Ana y Paloma from Spain (Malaga) ivere here, 4th May 1993. (Moffitt Library bathroom, 3rd floor). , , by Jeni Tern trom «- ' CI 14 ♦ Student Life ■i£ -

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If siyle IS diaaied pimely by opwicit, Then ivasTf open no Tiwe m pKeseininc our pomr of view. runway I h AtvbeR Wnhycoo ke remember when parachute pants were the thing. And jelly bracelets, and and crew cuts, and Body Glove. When I was ten I begged my Mom to let me s»ej the bottom of my tee shirts and add matching vents to the sleeves. That would have looked too cool with a banana clip and a pair of pegged acid wash jeans. ♦ 1 have friends today who would still kill for that outfit, only a pair of platforms and a Texaco mechanic ' s jacket from Wasteland would be thrown in to give the ensemble a nineties flair. ♦ I ' ll admit to owning my own share of cat eye sunglasses and chokers. I ' ve got Birkenstock ' s and a backpack bigger than any twelve textbooks I ' ll ever be carrying around at one time. I ' ve even got a pair of ancientOsh Kosh overalls. Sure, I might have looked upon these items with disgust five years ago, when Cap and penny loafers were the onlv three words I knew, but today I ' m a liberated, freethinkingcoUegestudent. Thus, I ' m free to don my Dad ' s corduroy bell bottoms with a stained thermal and feel it ' s the Hippest thing since velcro ' Roos with the side pocket for milk money. Has the fashion world been thrown into a subterfuge or have I just lost all sense of style? A little of both, I guess. Of course, as I get older I care less and less of what others think of my clothes; function before style, if you will. But the quest for individuality among 30,000 other fashion slaves has spumed most of us to dress as much for shock value as personal satisfaction and affirmation of our attractiveness. Standing out in a crowd has a good deal to do with diverging from the crowd. So every pierced lip, tattooed wrist, unshaven leg, pair of Docs and string of love beads contributes a little to forming our own identities, and ensuring that they ' re obviously separate from everyone else ' s... U Student Life