"Murals" Ivan - 10/16/88 - describes "Youth Indecision" mural Film RL #3

Transcript (Download)

You're going to be picking up the sound from the camera.

Ivan, 10 -16, Youth and Decision, photographing.

You know, I'm taking this one here because it shows what's going on in the communities.

It's showing that there's a lot of drugs around.

And that's what I see in this one.

This one here, the picture of the alcohol, is something that has been around for years, probably, to different people.

And we still have that problem, alcohol, drug abuse, dropouts.

And that's what I like about this mural that reflects something that we see every day.

Cohen, I'm about to get you.

So that's what I like about this mural that reflects what's going through our minds, our problems.

Because he's undecided.

I mean, if you take a look from this point, you can see that he doesn't know what to do.

The school is here, and he would like to go there, but someone is calling him from here.

And that's the alcohol, that's the drug.

That's something that is continuously telling him, come this way.

And there's more opportunity here, but I prefer to go this way.

Because I realize that this is the place, this is the size to take.

But he's undecided.

Having a son yourself, do you see any parallels between this teenager and yourself? Yes.

Usually he never knows what to do.

I try to guide him, I try to advise him what to do.

But he's usually undecided, because I'm telling him one thing, but when he walks out, it's another.

When he walks out of the house, someone else is telling him what to do.

So it's not me.

I have a problem, he has a problem.

The whole community has a problem.

We have to look into it.

And this, when you see those murals, every day will tell us that we have a problem that we have to face.

And that's what I like about this one, that it's different from the one we saw before.

That one was more like political, in a way.

But this one, it tells us, let's get together and let's do something about it.

Something that we have to keep trying.

And that's the reason I like to photograph this.

Because a lot of people don't see it, and I can show them on pictures what's going on.

And I don't know if the people who put up this agree with me, but we all tend to sit in different ways.

And that's how I judge this.

What do you think the strongest parts of the good side are? What do you especially like? Education.

We all know that without education, it's nothing.

We have to, if we really want to move ahead, we have to educate ourselves.

We really have to stay in school.

That's a problem that we all have.

And that's a problem that my son has, that I have to keep fighting, pushing him around.

Not to listen to the other people, but just to listen to those that are moving ahead.

Those who are trying to...

There's always someone to listen that will give him the right direction to move, to go.

So if you had Victor here, what is the lesson you think he should get from this? That even though he's confused, he's not the only one.

You can see in the picture of the young guy here, the youth, that he's confused.

And my son being 17, he's confused also.

And he's looking both ways.

I'm telling him that this is the place to go, education, to finish high school.

But some of his friends, because they're confused, they're pulling him to move to that direction.

And that's what I would tell him, to look this...

And I'm sure he will.

I don't know what will happen when he turns his back.

I mean, we as a parent, I have to be continuously pushing him around.

And I usually do.

And I know that most parents do the same thing.

But we all have to go to work.

And this, every time they pass by, it keeps repeating themselves that there are two different places to go.

I'm sure this is telling them what to do, to think about it.

So you think eventually this is a message that they're going to cross to teens better than their parents? Yeah, it does, because they won't open a newspaper.

You see, they don't buy a newspaper.

Just take a look in the mornings and see how many young guys in front of the bus stop open, buy a newspaper, drop a quarter to get a newspaper.

You don't see that many kids doing it.

Even the kids that are going to high school, because that's something that I look at when I'm waiting for the bus.

They won't buy the newspaper.

So with this, at least someone is telling them to look, to see a different world, a different point of view.

I like the colors on this one.

The color is...

But these are something that really is destroying the community.

You see the drugs, alcohol, dropouts.

I prefer to see this side.

You see, it changed.

Here's the mother and the father and the student.

It really changed.

Well, you see the mother reaching out to her son.

Or probably it could be the teacher, because it's a woman and there's a man.

And you can see the guy there reaching out for the confused young man.

They're telling him that this is the place to come.

This is the place to go.

Something else that I like about this one is that the people who put up this, the murals here, are mostly our students, young people.

You can see their names, the people who work on it.

And we're not talking about people that are...

These are people that are continuously fighting to move forward.

Date Of Production

October 16 1988

Abstract

Photographer Iván Justiniano discusses the mural Youth Indecision near N Milwaukee Ave and N California Ave in Logan Square.
This audio was recorded for an unfinished documentary about the visual language of murals in Chicago's Hispanic communities.

Identifier

A.2021-10-0099

Language Of Materials

English

Reel/Tape Number

1/1

Notes

The audio on this reel corresponds to negative picture element F.2021-10-0040.

Has Been Digitized?

Yes

Format/Extent

Open Reel 1/4" ➜ 900'

Genre

Documentary

Form

Unedited
Interviews

Subject

Art
Street art
Hispanic Americans

Main Credits

Dobinsky, Susan (is co-producer)

Bayly, Ronn (is co-producer)

Regele, Susan (is co-producer)

Kurtz, Julia (is co-producer)

Participants And Performers

Justiniano, Iván (is interviewee)

Do you know more about this item?

If you have more information about this item please contact us at info@chicagofilmarchives.com.