Two University of Oregon first-year interest groups, Hip Hop and the Politics of Race, and Remixing Media, ©ritiquing ©ulture, collaborated on Dec. 4 to simultaneously host their annual Hip Hop Jam and Critical Art Show in the Erb Memorial Union ballroom.
The Critical Art Show
The Remixing Media, ©ritiquing ©ulture FIG held its ninth annual Critical Art Show, where first-year students and members of the local community showcase art pieces that critique issues in society.
Andre Sirois has led both FIGs for nine years and said he created the Remixing Media, ©ritiquing ©ulture FIG because he “wanted to do something that was pragmatic and practical with activism and praxis involved, that involved students and the community.”
Around 30 art pieces were featured in the gallery from first-year UO students.
“The critical art and remix FIG was my idea. It actually stemmed from a class project that we did in a summer class where students made pieces and then we had an exhibit. I thought, ‘this would be a really cool idea for something larger,’” Sirois said.
Sirois showcased a piece of his own: four blocks of ice spelling out the word “F*CK,” to represent disdain for recent ICE activity nationwide.
“Everybody can be an artist if they have something to say,” he said.
One freshman artist, Marcy Johnson, displayed a digital collage that criticized the popularity of music made by artificial intelligence, which she believes is “devoid” without a person giving it soul.
“I did it by collaging different musical protests and crowds, such as Beatlemania, K-pop and Woodstock,” Johnson said. “And I kind of put that together to mirror the power that art has had, and throughout the year, this new force of AI is coming in and stopping all of its progress.”
Johnson said the art show gives artists and viewers the opportunity to look deeper into what they’ve been told their whole lives.“It’s important to be critical and question the values that are kind of pushed upon us by bigger media and the government,” she said.
Ossean Barbès created an interactive art piece in which viewers could arrange magnetic words to create headlines. She wanted the display to comment on the lack of reliability in modern media. “This one really stood out to me because media is so important, always has been.”
Barbès added she was grateful to have the chance to showcase an issue she feels strongly about.
“I think it’s really interesting for young people like us to highlight some issues … we’re young and we have a lot of things to say,” Barbès said.
Another artist, Keira Mulligan, made a similar comment, saying that “Pointing out the things that affect us as a society is really important for us to grow.” Mulligan’s piece showed the polarization of the American political sphere in a miniature diorama, painted red, white and blue.
Khushi Mishra, a junior at UO who attended the events, said she often finds herself amazed by the creativity of first-year artists.
“I think this sort of cultural and social commentary art is always really interesting,” Mishra said. “I feel like I always see things here that make me kind of uncomfortable or shocks me a little bit, and I think that’s really cool.”
UO’s 12th annual hip hop jam
The 12th annual UO Hip Hop Jam was held at the EMU on Dec. 4. The event was put on by the Hip Hop and Politics of Race FIG.
The event hosted eight hip hop artists, two dance troops and a graffiti artist named “graffiti by Tasko.”
“We have a ton of amazing student artists on campus and we’re having at least one: ‘Scumbag,’” Ellen Parker, a student in the Hip Hop and Politics of Race FIG, said. “We have an audience that’s hungry for younger performers, something to relate to, so I think most of it was just networking and DMing.”
Scumbag is a hip-hop group originally based in Portland, Oregon, that creates and performs music together.
“We are a bunch of college kids (who) love making music, love creating energy and stuff together,” Scumbag member Jaden Bells said. “We were a solo artist prior to being a band and we loved each other’s solo work and we decided, well, you know, why don’t we just put forces together? And (it) ended up being something super important to all of us.”
The event lasted from 6:30 to 10 p.m. and was free and open to all ages. According to students in the Hip Hop and Politics of Race FIG, the event planning had been underway since the start of the term.
“From what I’ve heard from past experiences with our FIG assistants, they said that depending on how much energy and time we put into it depends on that outcome of it. So I think we’ve worked really hard in trying to promote and put stuff out there for it to become a really big hit because I know it’s going to be fun,” Zaki Armas, a first-year student in the Hip Hop and Politics of Race FIG, said.
The jam hosted a variety of groups, such as Vary, Northside Tego, Kings Krew, Scumbag, Hex Studios, K.I. Design, Prim8s and DJ DV8. Each group performed its own set. The jam gave these groups the opportunity not only to perform, but also to get their music recognized.
“I love performing because I get to be as loud as I want and I get to be free and do music in real time with the people I love and make new friends,” Scumbag member Louis Smith said.
For many of the FIG students, this event allowed them to connect their love of hip-hop to something bigger.
“I think growing up, I feel like different hip-hop artists have spoken so vaguely but also widely about specific situations in people’s lives … I think hip hop is more of a community. You can definitely relate to it, you can listen to it and empathize or sympathize,” Armas said.
