Yard Display

Bob Marley mural at Tuff Gong studios, by Jonathan Lamb, LK MNDD and Michael Ortiz

John 2:13-25

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business... 



"I remember when a we used to sit

In a government yard in Trenchtown."

These words are how the Reggae musician Bob Marley introduced the first and second verses on "No Woman, No Cry." That hit record was how a worldwide audience was introduced to Bob Marley back in 1974. The popularity of Marley also introduced Reggae music to a much broader audience that was slowly loosing its appetite for the sleek, synthetic sounds of Disco and longed for something more earthy, exotic and authentic to appease their auditory palates. Along with its underlying

Tuff Gong studios, the Reggae record label that
Bob Marley and the Wailers first started. 

syncopated rhythms and wailing harmonies, Reggae was also introducing listeners to the narrative of Rastafarianism ( a religion that borrowed certain structural elements from the stories of the Old Testament, bound them with the 20th century message of post colonialism/Black Liberation and found the focal point of their worship in a belief that Haile Selassie I (the last emperor of Ethiopia) was the Messiah. All of these converging themes serve as an introduction to contemporary life in the city of Kingston, Jamaica in the 20th century. But it wasn't all of Kingston that fueled the creativity of the Jamaican Renaissance that inspired the world. It was just a humble, poor yet innovative section that Bob Marley and several other musicians and artists grew up in, called Trenchtown (or Trench Town). When Bob Marley introduced us to Trenchtown he was introducing us to what Jamaicans call a "yard." These government planned, single story, urban, family domiciles were  built in groups and shared cooking areas. They are similar to what is known in other areas as housing developments, tenements or projects. Trenchtown was the hood. Now if you grew up in or frequent the hood near you, then you may know that in of it's difficulties their is some beautiful to be found in the hood. Whether it's Compton, Hollygrove, East 1999, the Marcy Projects or Eight Mile, music has taught us that their is beauty in the struggle. Before Hip Hop made this idea marketable,  Reggae made it plausible. It all started in the yard in Trenchtown. The power of Reggae came from the fact that it was

Bob Marley and friends sitting on his
Volkswagen bus in Trenchtown

 just one part of a multifaceted art culture that was being formed there  in the yard. It turned the greater city of Kingston (the capital city of Jamaica) into a cultural center and in a sense the spiritual center of Reggae. The world may be familiar with the music of Reggae but the citizens of Jamaica know the overall artistic context that it arises from: Yard Art. When Bob Marley lived in Trenchtown, he knew that something dynamic, that would change the world in a few short years, was happening in this yard. An even longer time ago a similar thing occurred in the even more far away location of Jerusalem, Israel. Like Kingston is to Jamaica, Jerusalem is the capital city, cultural center and spiritual center of Israel. There arose from Jerusalem a movement whose message introduced listeners to the narrative of Christianity. ( a religion that continued the salvation history structural device from the stories of the Old Testament, bound them with the 1st century message of universal spiritual liberation and found the focal point of their worship in a belief that the Jewish rabbi Jesus was the Messiah. The Gospel of John tells us that the tense, prophetic relationship between this Savior and this city when Jesus entered the outer courtyard of the Jerusalem Temple one Passover. The gospel shares that during this tumultuous episode (that followed the Wedding at Cana), Jesus' disciples sensed that something dynamic that would change the world in a few short years was happening in this yard. In both stories the yard was the meeting place where geography and history cooperated to forge destiny.

Scene

Mural on the fence surrounding the Digicel construction site in Kingston on the waterfront, Artist Unknown

When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves,“Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written,“Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” 



Yard Art is art that illustrates a scene. Like the Sometimes the most captivating scene to depict is the one that captures the colorful beauty of everyday life and the ornate, subtleties of tradition. In this mural painted on a metal fence an unknown Kingston artists depicts the daily activity of the yard. Jamaican women, clothed in vibrant colorful textiles that flirt with their West African ancestry, buy produce at a market. The visual narrative comes alive in the viewers imagination as you picture them taking their wares home and preparing meals to their family based on recipes handed down from their ancestors. You can almost smell the frying plantains and taste the curry seasoning: a spice that Jamaica's British forefathers had conquered the East Indies for and spread to the West Indies. This was more than commerce and cooking, this was the power of tradition and the potency of heritage served on a plate of Jerk Chicken. The artist who painted this mural was commissioned to conceal an eyesore construct site but in doing so he revealed the beauty of the yard. The artist changed the scene by painting a scene. The scene in that Jesus walks into in the Temple is much like the scene painted by this Jamaican mural artists. It was the depiction of a marketplace. Merchants were buying and selling their wares as they had always done. Problem was that for some the activity in the Temple had devolved into just that: a business transaction. Truly this commerce was necessary in some facet because it aided the worship rituals that had been prescribed in the Law of Moses but somewhere in the flurry of all of the religious activity the heart of religion had been abandoned. The place to connect with the Creator had been corrupted. The meeting ground for mercy had been compromised. Like this Jamaican mural the scene of a marketplace was blocking an area that was originally designed to be a spiritual construction site. The building of the Temple was initially created to build up the Jewish people spiritually through acts of sacrificial sacrifice. So in fidelity to what naturally occurs at a construction site, Jesus enters the temple and starts demolishing things. Jesus is changing the scene in the yard by making a scene. Like the God of the Old Testament, Jesus is exacting judgment on His house. This leads to him engaging in a discussion about God's impending reconstruction plans. God was creating a new temple for His children. It was one that could not be corrupted by commerce. It was the One that was standing right before their eyes, yet they could not see.    

Sign

Marcus Garvey mural, Art by Mohamid

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” 

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Yard Art is an Art that acts as a sign. Walking down the streets of Trenchtown you might encounter a piece like this one that fulfills the sign requirement quite literally. In its depiction of Marcus Garvey, the great Jamaican proponent of Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism, this mural includes actual text from Garvey. Though he was also very popular in the United States and all over the African Diaspora during his lifetime, Marcus Garvey still maintains a reputation of mythical proportions in his native country. The great forefather of Jamaican art and art education Barrington Watson painted his portrait and every Jamaican creative, intellectual and religious figure since then has been required to consider him. Yet when Barrington approached the subject of Garvey he did so in a much more figurative and less textual way. Yet since his work is of such a profound thinker it still speaks as a sign. The visual presence of Garvey conjures up his text and authoritative presence. So what makes something a sign? What do signs do? Signs are an encasing medium that presents text. Text is an encasing medium that presents a message. So even when text is not featured in Yard Art if it incorporates symbols and images that are universal enough it still speaks a message.  A parallel truth can be found in John 2:13-25. After his display in the Temple, the onlookers (we can safely assume that they are the Jewish religious authorities) ask for a sign to justify himself. Like Barrington Watson, they are not referring to a literal sign that features text. They are speaking figuratively. They understood that when Jesus caused havoc in the Temple courtyard he was following in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets who would act out their Divine messages through performance and symbolism. And some (like Moses, Elijah and Elisha) would prove the Divine origin of their message by performing miracles (also known in Scripture as signs and wonders). The Temple officials were asking for the message in the medium of the miraculous. The medium of miraculous signs would be understood as the encasement of authentic, divine revelation. Jesus response was that he would perform of resurrecting a destroyed temple in three days. The crowd took him for a fool but later on Jesus' Disciples would understand that in that moment he was declaring himself to be the true Temple of God. Jesus was claiming that the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in His body. The temple sacrifice that God required would be met in the self-sacrifice of the Jesus Christ.

Statement




Street Art in Kingston, Jamaica, C215

...Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

Street Art in Kingston, Jamaica, C215

Yard Art is Art that makes a statement. Making a statement is a decisive thing. Making a statement is a proclamation of your belief about and appreciation of a certain thing. Making a statement is a definitive thing. Therefore, making a statement can be a dangerous thing. One dangerous thing about making a statement is that it will be misunderstood. Understanding a statement is a complicated thing. To do so you must appreciate the nuances, subtlety and full implications of a statement. Sometimes we miss key details in a statement and misunderstand the whole matter. Such is the case with much contemporary Yard Art. Through either the accident of time or placement by Providence, contemporary Yard Art has found a peer in the worldwide phenomenon of Street Art. Street artists from around the world, like the French artist C215, have visited Jamaica to add their visual voice to the rich tapestry that is historic Yard Art. This phenomenon has an enemy in the local police force for two reasons. The first reason is that many Street Artists work illegally, playing the role of an aesthetic Pied Piper as they post their popular images around town without permission. The second is that on the streets of Kingston local artists have increased the inductees into their artistic pantheon. They not only include musical legends, political ideologues and religious icons but now also paint about local benevolent, drug dons who possess the allegiance of many in the populace and sunrise/sunset murals to those rude boys and shottas whose lives were taken by violence. So armed commando brigades of the local police forces have engaged in a campaign to paint over any unsanctioned Yard Art. The Authority over the people of Kingston do not always agree with the statements that are made in the yard.

Appreciating the scene (context), seeing the sign but not understanding the message. That is what happens when we don't get the overall statement. The gospel tells us that Jesus performed many signs in Jerusalem that Passover and this led many to believe. Yet the scene closes with a discontented Jesus. The crowds see the signs and believe on him yet he does not believe in them. The gospel writer alludes that Jesus knows better than this. Even in the midst of all of those who "believed" him due to the signs, Jesus is pictured as if he just sat back and looked at them with a knowing stare. As if to say "Yeah, they don't get it." Could it be that Jesus doesn't just want the crowds to believe in the miraculous signs but to believe in the merciful message that is encased in the medium of the signs? Could it be a case of appreciating the scene (context), seeing the sign but not understanding the message. Were they missing Christ's overall statement... his big picture?  If so, then what was (and is) Jesus' big picture all about?

Synthesis



Portrait of Bob Marley in his hometown. C215



The resolution of both of these stories meet at the same place: synthesis. When the street artist C215 brought his work to the heart of Trenchtown he showed that he understood the roots of the Yard Art movement. In his portrait of a young (pre-dreadlocks) Bob Marley in the Roots Reggae legend he salutes the aesthetic tradition that the music icon embodied in music. The contemporary Frenchmen produced an image that merged with the natural no frills cityscape while simultaneously honoring the vibrant traditions of the yard and crafting a street art piece with contemporary viability.  C215 captured the essence of what Yard Art always aspired to celebrate. He illustrated the story of the humble government yard that became the meeting place where geography and destiny cooperated to forge history. If we, like C215, go back of the beginning of this gospel story we find that Jesus is also performing a synthesis that captures the essence of the original intention. Before telling us about the location or the action the witer tells us about the time. He writes, "Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand." With that chronological detail in the setting of the Temple of Jerusalem, we as readers are pointed to the theme of worship. The context of the Old Testament stories of the Passover and the Temple form the two bookends of the story of Jewish worship. In the Exodus, Moses had initially asked Pharaoh to free the Israelites so that they might go and worship God in the desert. The actual wording was to let "God's Son" Israel worship Him in the desert. When Solomon constructed the original Temple in Jerusalem as a replacement for the traveling Tabernacle, it was with the understanding that it would be the House of Worship for all of God's children. All of those who God would call to be His sons and daughters. So when Jesus, the unique and firstborn Son of God, stepped into the yard he did so as a replacement of the temple that had been erected to replace the Tabernacle. Yet when he was resurrected from the grave, it was to be an eternal Temple for the Children of God. The Old Covenant had been synthesized with the New Covenant in the fulfillment of the original intention of God.