Seak, in Adrenalin Magazine #4/1998
He's a writer from a small city near Cologne. Because of his numerous
trips to other fellow writers all over Germany and Europe, he has
done more productions outside of his hometown. In the winter of 95/96
he became a member of the graff-crew 'checkin nuh skillz'.
Not too long ago he joined the 'evil sons' crew. some of you
have probably seen his styles in some other publications. At his last
trip to Hamburg, DAIM interviewed him.
So tell us how you started with graff.
In the years 88/89 some of my friends at school introduced me to graffiti
by showing me Subway Art and Spraycan Art. For about
a year I was trying to copy pieces, but somehow I dropped the whole
thing until 93. That was when I did my first piece, and I did lots
of quicks, that were not too good quality. In 1994 I did my first
SEAK style (legal) and this, I would say, was my first real
piece.
The first pieces of you that I saw were highly influenced by JASE.
3D in a way, but not really photorealistic. You started like this,
didn't you?
When I started I was influenced by the Dortmund style (in respect
to bombing). I got my first 'M' out of a KOMA wholecar published
in True Colors Magazine. I was also very fascinated by SHOE
sketches. I've always liked the esthetic of SHOE and BANDO
styles. But for myself I stuck to the 3D technique. My first outline
style was in 1996.
How come you returned to that typical outline style?
I've always followed two directions. On the one side I liked stuff
from writers like CAN2, KENT, DARE...., but on
the other I liked 3D stuff from JASE, DELTA, DAIM,
SENDER.... as well. Back then my pieces didn't rock too much
because I wasn't used to tracing outlines and doing illegal work.
When I met PASTE, he was the one to make me do outlines. He
was right, because I simply missed the experience and evolution. I
started on top with 3D and didn't follow the hard and long way of
evolving my style.
Is it OK for you to write just to get props?
I got to the point where I only painted for other people, but then
I realized that I got all the props, all the fame, every one knew
me. What else did I want? About two years ago I changed my mind. I
didn't want to write for everybody. So now I'm doing my artwork for
the people I respect, and these are basically the ones I'm writing
with.
Your pieces have still got your basic style, but now you're trying
to add a 3D touch to it. How do you plan to continue?
What's more important to me is not to get more freaky and to use the
standard combinations. I want to let my style mutate a bit and then
combine it with new background effects. I like for example the pieces
of LOOMIT, PCP Crew, SHOK, JYM, TOAST....
So you would want to change the colors and not your style, is that
right?
No, I want the outline to evolve. I want to do more canvases in the
future. Therefore I'm taking the lettering as an object that I'm placing
into a structured background. To me, style is the combination of outlines,
technique, colors and background.
Your goal seems to be the creation of a logo. A bit like NECK and
I do.
I'm not really sure about how to organize my pieces in the future.
Maybe structured like DAIM or NECK, or perhaps like
LOOMIT.
So you didn't make all your plans for the time to come?
I know exactly what my goals are. Right now I'm planning to do an
expo with my crew CNS: NECK, MORITZ.... Therefore
I'm painting lots of canvases. I'm also using the Hex-cap again to
be able to work my styles on small spaces.
Would you mind doing things that other people have done before
you?
No, not at all. Basically we're all using the elements of one another.
I wouldn't mind making stylesculptures or other things, just because
other writers have done them before. I think the graffiti culture
is pretty restrictive and does not accept new media like brushes for
example. But to me the strict rules are history, and I believe the
following generations will be able to deal much better with things
such as 3D styles, canvases, etc. |
|