Nothing to be Gained Here
Less Than Ideal Art and Ideas for a Less Than Ideal World
New edition
9781940939322
Distributed for 2Leaf Press
Nothing to be Gained Here
Less Than Ideal Art and Ideas for a Less Than Ideal World
New edition
The first-ever collection of works by a vibrant New York artist.
Vagabond is an artist, writer, filmmaker, anarchist, and idealist from New York whose work is inflected by fine art, street art, and hip-hop. Nothing to Be Gained Here is the first collection of Vagabond’s work, revealing it in all its breadth and diversity across a variety of media, including photography, painting, and drawing. Those works are set alongside Vagabond’s poetry, essays, scripts, and interviews, a nod to the influence of the broadsides of the 1960s counterculture. The result is an all-encompassing view of an artist for whom the realms of daily life and creative work constantly overlap.
Vagabond is an artist, writer, filmmaker, anarchist, and idealist from New York whose work is inflected by fine art, street art, and hip-hop. Nothing to Be Gained Here is the first collection of Vagabond’s work, revealing it in all its breadth and diversity across a variety of media, including photography, painting, and drawing. Those works are set alongside Vagabond’s poetry, essays, scripts, and interviews, a nod to the influence of the broadsides of the 1960s counterculture. The result is an all-encompassing view of an artist for whom the realms of daily life and creative work constantly overlap.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
Forward Never Backward vii
Acknowledgments xi
NOTHING TO BE GAINED HERE 1
BECAUSE (FOR MY MOTHER) 3
OL’ SCHOOL NYC SHAPES AN ANARCHIST 4
THE DISENCHANTED ISLAND 8
YOUR AD NOT HERE 13
REPUTATION WITH TROUBLE 14
BLEEDING ACRYLIC 17
CENTURY’S END 23
OL’ SCHOOL WILLIAMSBURG
MIDSUMMER NIGHTS SCORE 24
REALITY SHOW 27
NO MONEY DOWN 28
THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TINDER 31
CAPITALISM: THE THEFT OF HUMAN POTENTIAL 34
THE MATH USED TO
INVALIDATE EVERY REBELLION 39
THE SHAPE OF SILENCE 40
RISE OF THE ANTI-IMPERIALISTS 43
THE FRONTLINE HAS US SURROUNDED 45
THE IMAGINARY NATION 47
NO REFUGE 49
MY SHADOW AS GRAFFITI 50
A HUNGER FOR FREEDOM 52
FUCK COLUMBUS 57
GENTRIFICATION IS ERASING MY YOUTH 59
TERRORIST SEMANTICS 60
NO WAY HOME 63
ONE MAN’S TERRORIST IS
ANOTHER MAN’S REVOLUTIONARY 68
THE ORPHANS OF TERRORISTS 71
MOVE 30 72
ZAPATISTA 75
PURPLE REIGN 76
FILM UNMAKING 77
A REJECTION OF AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY
(PART ONE) 79
COME ALONG 82
GOD IS AN ANARCHIST 84
THE VOID 85
NO THANKS FOR TAKING 86
STOPPED AND FRISKED 89
ARM IN ARM WITH ARMS:
THE PUERTO RICAN UPRISING OF 1950 95
RESPECTABLE CRIMINALS 97
PAWNSHOP DREAM 99
THE SUN DOES GRAFFITI 105
I AM A REVOLUTIONARY?—?FRED HAMPTON 107
“FREE MUMIA”—?MLK 108
INVERSE OF JUSTICE 110
TEAR GAS DANCERS 111
FORTY FOUR 112
BASQUIAT AS ANTI-ARTIST 117
NO REFUNDS (NEW YEAR’S EVE 2013) 121
THE RISING PHOENIX OF MALCOLM 122
A CINEMA OF UNDERSTANDING 124
BUSTELO COFFEE CAN CROWDFUNDING 127
HOW YOU LIVE 128
GOD IS NOT AMERICAN 131
FACING LIFE WITH DEATH 133
LEARNING TO DIE 135
TO OCCUPY AND UNOCCUPY 136
BOTH ENDS OF A MYSTERY 139
APOCALYPSE NOW 12/21/12 140
BLUE SUPREMACY IS THE NEW WHITE SUPREMACY 142
A POST RACIAL FRACTION 149
FOR MYA 152
THE HORROR COMES HOME 154
THREATS BECOME PROMISES 159
OF BALLOTS AND BULLETS 160
FOR CHA-CHA 162
CAPITALISM: IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AND
YOU KNOW IT AND I FEEL FINE 165
ZERO GENERATION 166
A LOVE WORTH FIGHTING FOR 167
GUERRILLA CHRIST 169
STILL TOGETHER 170
NEW YEAR’S COVENANT 173
ART WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME 174
ABOUT VAGABOND 181
OTHER BOOKS BY 2LEAF PRESS 183
Forward Never Backward vii
Acknowledgments xi
NOTHING TO BE GAINED HERE 1
BECAUSE (FOR MY MOTHER) 3
OL’ SCHOOL NYC SHAPES AN ANARCHIST 4
THE DISENCHANTED ISLAND 8
YOUR AD NOT HERE 13
REPUTATION WITH TROUBLE 14
BLEEDING ACRYLIC 17
CENTURY’S END 23
OL’ SCHOOL WILLIAMSBURG
MIDSUMMER NIGHTS SCORE 24
REALITY SHOW 27
NO MONEY DOWN 28
THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TINDER 31
CAPITALISM: THE THEFT OF HUMAN POTENTIAL 34
THE MATH USED TO
INVALIDATE EVERY REBELLION 39
THE SHAPE OF SILENCE 40
RISE OF THE ANTI-IMPERIALISTS 43
THE FRONTLINE HAS US SURROUNDED 45
THE IMAGINARY NATION 47
NO REFUGE 49
MY SHADOW AS GRAFFITI 50
A HUNGER FOR FREEDOM 52
FUCK COLUMBUS 57
GENTRIFICATION IS ERASING MY YOUTH 59
TERRORIST SEMANTICS 60
NO WAY HOME 63
ONE MAN’S TERRORIST IS
ANOTHER MAN’S REVOLUTIONARY 68
THE ORPHANS OF TERRORISTS 71
MOVE 30 72
ZAPATISTA 75
PURPLE REIGN 76
FILM UNMAKING 77
A REJECTION OF AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY
(PART ONE) 79
COME ALONG 82
GOD IS AN ANARCHIST 84
THE VOID 85
NO THANKS FOR TAKING 86
STOPPED AND FRISKED 89
ARM IN ARM WITH ARMS:
THE PUERTO RICAN UPRISING OF 1950 95
RESPECTABLE CRIMINALS 97
PAWNSHOP DREAM 99
THE SUN DOES GRAFFITI 105
I AM A REVOLUTIONARY?—?FRED HAMPTON 107
“FREE MUMIA”—?MLK 108
INVERSE OF JUSTICE 110
TEAR GAS DANCERS 111
FORTY FOUR 112
BASQUIAT AS ANTI-ARTIST 117
NO REFUNDS (NEW YEAR’S EVE 2013) 121
THE RISING PHOENIX OF MALCOLM 122
A CINEMA OF UNDERSTANDING 124
BUSTELO COFFEE CAN CROWDFUNDING 127
HOW YOU LIVE 128
GOD IS NOT AMERICAN 131
FACING LIFE WITH DEATH 133
LEARNING TO DIE 135
TO OCCUPY AND UNOCCUPY 136
BOTH ENDS OF A MYSTERY 139
APOCALYPSE NOW 12/21/12 140
BLUE SUPREMACY IS THE NEW WHITE SUPREMACY 142
A POST RACIAL FRACTION 149
FOR MYA 152
THE HORROR COMES HOME 154
THREATS BECOME PROMISES 159
OF BALLOTS AND BULLETS 160
FOR CHA-CHA 162
CAPITALISM: IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AND
YOU KNOW IT AND I FEEL FINE 165
ZERO GENERATION 166
A LOVE WORTH FIGHTING FOR 167
GUERRILLA CHRIST 169
STILL TOGETHER 170
NEW YEAR’S COVENANT 173
ART WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME 174
ABOUT VAGABOND 181
OTHER BOOKS BY 2LEAF PRESS 183