Jonathan's Twingley's illo from Friday is a nice example of op-ed art that works to evoke an overall feeling rather than underscore the points of an argument. For music critic David Hajdu's commentary on hiphop gunplay, Twingley doesn't just draw a gun, he lingers over its contours with obsessive crosshatching, as if attempting to render a solid object out of lines. (For some reason I'm reminded of conceptual artist Cornelia Parker's display of "embryo firearms.") The gun looks grimy and evidentiary against the flat white background, almost aestheticized... but then he undermines that with a hastily-sketched toy flag coming out its muzzle: "Bling!" Both author and artist make strong statements against what Hajdu calls "millionaires and their friends inciting gunfights with one another because the act of shooting confers the illusion of their authenticity as desperate outlaws." But Hajdu, with his respect for the music and its traditions, hesitates to move from condemnation to contempt. I get the impression that Twingley is the harsher judge.
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