Krumping? ...what do you think about it?

Frank 013 · Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:47 pm Post subject:

Break dancing I get, I have been watching that since its inception. But the krumping… the only reason I would stop to watch that would be to check if any of the dancers needed medical attention (thinking that they were stroke victims) Laughing

Later

MadArchitect · Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:56 pm Post subject:

Don't you mean seizure victims, Frank? Not that it's amusing either way.

But to get back to the point, what is it that you get about break dancing? The athleticism involved can be impressive, but I feel like I get krumping in a way that I don't with break dancing. I don't know what break dancing is about (which is probably why it seems to be coming back as a novelty more than anything else), but with krumping, I almost immediately recognize the posturing, and can draw a connection between krumping and the sort of cultural frustration that might have given rise to the style. Break dancing's cool and all, but what does it mean?

irishrosem · Doctorate Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 536 Gender:

Frank 013 · Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:19 pm Post subject:

Frank 013 · Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:23 am Post subject:

Something occurred to me last night at work, as a person somewhat familiar with violence I suspect that krumping moves me differently than others.

The angry, threatening, violent, spastic flailing associated with krumping does remind me of something; it reminds me of the violence I have seen in the past, and the violence I will likely see in the future.

(Keeping my profession in mind) The next time I see someone acting out like that the flow of blood is likely going to follow, possibly mine; it could also mean someone’s death or that I be required to kill.

So no I do not see anything particularly artful about it and I certainly would not call it beautiful.

Later

irishrosem · Doctorate Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 536 Gender:

Frank, what you’ve described here is exactly what the artists I know strive for. Not to say they want their art to make you fearful of impending violence, per se. But they want their work to affect their audience, to speak to their audience’s lives in a very real way. That’s apparently what krumping does for you. And you’ve described how krumping touches you so much more successfully than I was able to do in my attempts at description. Your violent background makes you able to relate to the artist, you experience the expression of violent emotion differently than others who have not experienced violence, or that type of violence. And the artist, in expressing that emotion, is hoping to draw a relationship with his audience; and you, having comparable experiences, are able to connect with the artist. It's because of your common experience that you are able to relate to the artist in the personal way that the artist, I am almost certain, is trying to elicit from at least some of the audience. That type of emotional response to art is beautiful.

Art isn’t always pretty flowers. Nor is it always meant to make you feel blithely happy. Sometimes it is powerful, and uncomfortable, and affecting. Many artists aren’t trying to create something that is only aesthetically pleasing. They are trying to create something that makes the audience think, and feel, and that elicits a powerfully, personal response. That’s precisely what it sounds like krumping did for you.

Now that doesn’t mean the personal response is always welcomed, sometimes it is just too distressing to be withstood. But, I’d argue that it’s still art. In fact, in certain instances, I’d argue that’s the best art of all.

MadArchitect · Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:23 am Post subject:

irishrosem · Doctorate Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 536 Gender:

And, considering what you wrote here Mad, do you think krumping might help these artists to avoid engaging in the violence they might otherwise, considering some of the neighborhoods or situations in which they live?

Frank 013 · Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:39 pm Post subject:

MadArchitect · Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:17 am Post subject:


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