A watch, t-shirt, bracelet, wallet, some trainers and a few armbands. All items identified by the young men in the UK and Mexico participating in the Collaborations YOT pilot as things they felt best represented them. Over four days in September 2011 in the first floor rooms of the former Intensive Supervision Surveillance office, artists Patrick Altes and Maru Rojas photographed the items of five young men who are currently on order with YOTs in Berkshire. Posing to find their items’ best angles, little did the young men know that these items were the starting point for telling their stories through rap.
Across the ocean six boys living at Casa Junconi in Mexico (a home for boys who formerly lived on the street) were doing similar activities. Thirteen year old Luis writes about his armbands:
We are Luis’ armbands. All of the time we are with him apart from when we are dirty because he washed us. Luis is a person like any other. He is content when he is with his family and when left alone. He doesn’t always behave in a good way but he tries to. He likes to be with his friends, he likes to read, to listen to music and get on in peace.
This activity and many others were part of a project which explored positive ways in which young people can share their opinions and express themselves. Utilizing the e-community, a free on-line resource, the groups in the UK and Mexico uploaded writings, pictures and questions after their sessions. And even with the six hour time difference had an opportunity to use the video conferencing on the e-community to have a live chat.
In the UK the young men also took turns drawing each other silhouettes which were the springboard for creating their own tags or personalised signatures. Established visual artist Patrick Altes worked with the young men to create large mural paintings to serve as the backdrop for turning the written work into rap videos. Emerging artist Maru Rojas who specializes in art writing worked with the young men to shoot the videos using a professional HD camera.
This project builds on Creative Junction’s previous work of commissioning established and emerging artists to create work which is influence by the voice of young people in the UK and abroad. The murals, rap videos and work by the artists will be professionally exhibited in the autumn 2011.