Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop
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Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop

Since its beginning, hip-hop has left its mark on theater, poetry, performance art, dance, visual arts, film, and video. Though it is one of the big ideas of this generation, hip-hop is often subcategorized into such themes as “spoken word poetry,” “street literature,” “post–black art,” or “urban art.” This panel discussion focuses on how hip-hop is expanding in ways that cannot be so easily defined.

Cey Adams’ graphics can be seen on countless album covers (Jay-Z, Method Man, DMX) and have been featured in clothing lines (Sean John), movies, and TV shows (Belly, Next Friday, Chapelle’s Show). Jeff Chang, author of the books Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop and Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, has written extensively on race, culture, politics, and the arts for numerous publications. Roger Cummings is the cofounder and artistic director of Juxtaposition Arts, a North Minneapolis urban art center whose mission is to empower youth and community to use the arts to actualize their full potential. Rachel Ramist is a Twin Cities-based filmmaker and director of Nobody Knows My Name, which chronicles the stories of five women in hip-hop.

Presented by the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC).