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t’s a rather elementary practice— leaving one’s initials carved onto a hard surface. The letters are often awkwardly placed and sloppily dug into a wall or bark of a tree. Sometimes you’ll find a poorly written quote stating so and so was here. But regardless of rain, sleet or shine or who had walked by at what time, the letters stood waiting to find a human soul to pay it the bare minimum attention it deserved. And when you really think about it, the artist, or is it author, behind the rudimentary exercise took some time to decide what location to leave his tag behind on and if said location was worthy of his mark. Some call it vandalism. Most would say it’s a humorous and somewhat childish act that deserves to be scratched off or painted over. But to young Lesley, this was his way of leaving remnants of himself. Maybe it was juvenile, but he wasn’t known for anything: he wouldn’t say he was the high achieving type, and he didn’t stand out very much. However, when the cool blade of his beat up pocket knife pressed into the pale hard wall of the boys bathroom, or the Banyan tree of his campus, or even the back of a buses back seat with a permanent marker, he felt whole. He would be remembered or at least acknowledged when they say the scribbled L.G. He never wrote out “Lesley wuz here.” That, he felt, crossed the line. That ruined the mystery behind it and sullied it. To him those words meant he was a juvenile rather than acting like one. And he would never sink to that kind of low level behavior. Though tagging, no, that was OK, and he felt a small rush of pride when they said his initials carved out and heard the whispered murmurs questioning of who L.G was. They wouldn’t know; but he would. And that was perfectly fine with him. g
Art is an extension of your self, a reflection of your psyche and soul. However, all of these pieces in this issue of The Nine were found, unclaimed and discarded by their respective artists— their context lost but their ability to evoke questions and emotion still thrive. This issue we wonder what drives the decision to abandon? What determines the value of art, the artist or the beholder? If you or someone you know can successfully identify the artist of any piece and would like recognition, find us in Room 1-305.
MISSION STATEMENT The name is simple: there are nine Greek muses, nine majors and so comes The Nine: a decision to showcase more art in our publication as a foldable entity apart from The Muse. The Nine is art in the way that art should be experienced: in carefully curated collections of the independent work at Dreyfoos. We believe in creative decisions. We believe in beauty and expression. So we designed this space to embody the Dreyfoos artist. While The Nine will not be a formal submission-based publication, we hope that every issue will tap into your creative potential and spark conversations and collaborations. This is neither a contest, nor a countdown of “the best.” We aim to not show you who your fellow classmates are, but who your fellow artists are.