STYLES
Negative space style. I got this idea seeing a woman on kids TV making one of those things where you
fold the paper and cut it to make a chain of people or whatever. The first idea I had was a piece
where one letter was a paper shape, and the next one was cut out of a square of paper, and some
scissors with it. It got more minimal and abstract and now its the bits that are missing from
alternate letters that describe the shapes. It occurred to me the other day that it would be a good
style for bombing (at least clean surfaces) because you only paint half the letters.
"Raw" Notts 1999 |
"Raw" West Ham 1999 |
Mainframe style. I called it that because the outline of the letters is a frame instead of just a
line, and it looks like a computer style. It lets me do things you couldn't normally do like arrows
going into the letters and loops in the outline.
Organic style. Like I say, I tried to do this stuff around 91-92, but my paint control and the paint
we had at the time wouldn't allow it. i brought it back out for the Fresh98 jam- a piece that is
splitting open with all that twisted mutated shit coming out to attack the person who got too close
thinking it was a normal piece! I got that idea from that film "The Thing" where they don't know who
the alien is and they have to test each other? The horror film thing is an ongoing theme I'm running
right now, something i grew up on that I haven't seen many people use.
"Shok One" Wolverhampton 1998 |
"Bizar Grafitti Sex" Shok & Kar Amsterdam 1995 |
BOMBERS VS ARTISTS
I'm not going over this tired debate except to say that I think that this debate doesn't even really
exist. Somebody somewhere has concluded that because "Bombers don't like artists" (which out of all
the bombers in the world is probably not that many), that writers that do daytimes spots don't like
bombers. Bollocks! And fuck the idiot who put my pieces next to that opinion in
a certain toy extreme sports mag (I never even knew they were being used). This is crap! I can only
think of a handful of artists who have never bombed, and to me they lack that "edge" that makes a
writer in my opinion. Almost every writer I know has done heavy racking, night time action. To me
this whole fucking issue is media sensationalism- stirring shit up. I have a particular problem with
Graphotism which has contained a lot of comments that support this attitude in my interpretation.
This mag proclaims itself to "Support the UK scene" (which is a lofty claim and which it certainly
doesn't achieve. Represent the parts of it that we like would be a more honest and acceptible claim-
thats all any mag could hope to do and is fine). i just feel that the whole subtext of the editorial
is constantly criticizing and belittling whats going on over here and often, it seems to me, from
the point of ignorance. I think that this kind of thing has to be done as Kilo did it before he lost
the job- you've got to be actually out there dealing with people, different opinions, different
styles, different people. The culture is too diverse for one persons opinion to cover it.
Dunkerque 1998 |
"Raw" Derby 1999 |
THE FUTURE
I think that we are just looking at the beginnings of what our culture can become. If people can
open their eyes and also try to educate the new kids coming up, then.....
Thanks to Dan for this spot, and respect to all my friends!
You can contact Shok by email at shok1@bboy.zzn.com.
