Sunday, March 21, 2010

Green printing tip no. 38: Can Hip-Hop "GO GREEN"?

We are back today with a new tip on our weekly series of green printing tips, where we bring you information on green printing in collaboration with Greg Barber, an experienced eco-friendly printer.

Today we have a great column written by SpazeCraft, who is a pioneer of the Hip-Hop "education" movement, and is collaborating with Greg on an innovative project that combines the hip-hop tradition with green printing.

Can Hip-Hop "GO GREEN"?

Tip #38


YES, Absolutely!

Hip-Hop music
at its core aggregates sounds from many sources to create its unique & ever-permeating music. In essence, it "recycles" sound from both popular & obscure past recordings, bringing new life to the sound bytes in a fresh, new context, composition & form. (it's no wonder it's thrived as a major international art platform through Dance, Music, Rap/Poetry, Visual Arts, Fashion, Philosophy & Education).

So how can the "Hip-Hop" make a difference? The basic steps still apply, don't litter & teach your kids not to, It always starts with the adults in society & educating the community is always a great start.

In the 1970's, Pioneering leaders of the Hip-Hop movement like "Afri
ka Bambaataa" & "DJ Kool Herc" brought the "GOOD" into the "HOOD", encouraging & inspiring creativity & non-violent expression to get away from the gang influences of the day. Environmental responsibility is an extension of that work. The idea of keeping ones neighbor-hood "clean" leads to keeping ones mind "clean" & works to project this concept further. Hip-hop music from the 1980's-mid' 90's are exemplary of this commitment. Lyrics were fun, educational, full of peace & community spirit, whilst still having the playful competition of skills building show through.

In the 90's, the norm for printed fliers for events were large, over-sized & glossy (& usually with the same exact information on both sides, littering the streets & the clubs). Now event producers are much more aware of their impact, and much promotion is done on the Internet to go viral & cut costs. With the advent of eco-friendly digital printing, we now have better choices for our printing & this also makes us more aware of "who" & "where" we market our performances & products.

As a promoter, If you have all your event information set on the front side of your flyer, why not donate the back of your flyer to a
cause you support? or better yet, place information that can educate your reader in the process of promoting your events.

If you set the tone & be the example, others will follow.



Graffiti & Urban arti
sts are always looking for the best ways to publish their works w/ the least impact to the environment.

Designer & hip-hop educator, SpazeCraft of Soh Nup Ink has created an eco-health project called "Hip-Hop(e) for Healing" that educates the masses on Health awareness, Disease prevention & Eco-impact using Hip-Hop Arts as the catalyst.

Soh Nup Ink partnered with Greg Barber to release a series of (business cards sized) eco-health tip
s that are simple, easy ways to make real impact in your own lives right now. Take these tips with you grocery shopping to make excellent choices in produce selection (especially when "Organic" is not an option).

SpazeCraft is a pioneer of the Hip-Hop "education" movement & is committed to bringing best practices in environmental advocacy & health awareness to the hip-hop community & linking the experts with the masses. for more information on how to become a Responsible Partner in your community: sohnup@gmail.com & for updates in the hip-hop & urban arts community go to: http://blog.sohnup.com


For additional information on eco-friendly paper options, please call Greg Barber at (973) 224-1132, or email greg@gregbarberco.com.

Also, if you have any questions you would like us to address in future tips please email us to info@ecolibris.net .

You can find links to all the tips we published so far on our green printing tips page, which is part of our green printing tools & resources.

You can also find further valuable information on Greg Barber Company's website - http://www.gregbarberco.com.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting green printing!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

is graffiti art?? or is it pollution?? HIp HOp going green?
seems like a contradiction in terms. However there is environmentally friendly art mediums that artists can now use for their walk and sidewake art, I am an avid artist and I have an online gallery at donna.mosaicglobe.com I hope you come and visit me

Unknown said...

Graffiti is most definitely ART, as evidenced by the prices of works by the likes of "Banksey" @ Sotherby's & as well, by the world-wide explosion of the artistic medium across the globe!

I think the "pollution" you refer to is called "vandalism", which is the defacement of public property. but that also opens up the debate, if the property is "public" then is it not open to the interpretation of how it is to be viewed &/or decorated by & for the public?

it is an interesting debate, however, I know from first hand experience of being a graffiti writer from the mid '80's that had we had the support from government & institutions to be creative youth, we most likely would not have defaced property, but rather had guidance to beautify our surroundings.

That is why, as an ARTIST, it is my responsibility to pass on the lessons i've learned growing up without proper support & encouragement, to the young artists of the next generation, & I have, for the past 15 years I've dedicated my life's work to teaching youth to make positive impacts through their raw creativity & passion.

feel free to take a look at my press kit for more info on my work & pedagogy. http://sohnup.com

In this day & age, graffiti has turned into a multi-million dollar machine with the advent of hip-hop culture, music & lifestyle.

It is in fact, one of the longest running ART MOVEMENTS of all time, spanning across the globe from NYC to Sydney Australia, Japan, China, Germany etc etc...

My point being...?

It is & has been for the last 10 years an established part of global urban culture & has saved the lives of countless creative individuals by providing a platform for expression, without, many would fall pray to drugs, crime (real crime) & other not so glorious venues of expressing themselves.

Not to mention that we now get paid to design works in collaboration with top brands & product platforms.

like my Sony collaboration with Pro-Keds licensing the Beatles lyrics

http://bit.ly/aQQkby
(copy & paste into your browser)

or perhaps you would like to buy one of my Iphone covers available in late April via the same link?

I think there is much room for creativity to flourish & the arts is a perfect springboard for these connections with environmental advocacy & health awareness.

In the immortal words of the mighty Marvel Comics pioneer, Stan "the man" Lee.....

"'nuff said" & "excelsior!!!"

Enjoy!
Mr. SpazeCraft